I am slightly uncomfortable writing an op-ed piece that addresses the Harvest portion of the ESA since county government has no jurisdiction regarding harvest, but since you asked, I’ll try.

The four H’s of salmon recovery are Harvest, Hydro, Hatcheries and Habitat. Salmon will only recover if each of the H’s does its part for recovery. We cannot recover salmon if they are over-fished or if they cannot access streams so they can reproduce. Once in those streams the conditions need to be present to allow the eggs to mature and grow.

The following two paragraphs are paraphrased from a harvest issue presentation at the Shared Salmon Strategy conference. A more thorough report is available at www.sharedsalmonstrategy.org/files/harvest.pdf

Tribal, state and federal harvest managers put in place a system of determining sustainable harvest levels. The result has been a drastically reduced harvest. In 1985 about 65 percent of the fish returning to the Stilliguamish were caught; now only about 15 percent are harvested.

• Overall (commercial, tribal, sport) Chinook harvest levels have decreased 84 percent from about 800,000 in 1976 to about 129,000 now (those caught are almost exclusively hatchery fish, not wild fish).
• Puget Sound net fisheries directed at wild Chinook has been practically eliminated.
• The Puget Sound recreational fishery season has been reduced (in our area the length of the sport fishing season has declined by 77 percent from about 325 to about 75 days from 1987 to 2000).

Habitat conditions affect the productivity of salmon. One pair of spawning Chinook salmon produce about 4,500 eggs. Under good freshwater conditions these will result, typically, in seven returning adults. Under poor freshwater conditions these same 4,500 eggs will result in one returning adult. A major influence in the sustainability of salmon is the percentage of eggs that survive long enough to make it to the ocean. Under good habitat conditions about 22 percent of the eggs survive, but under poor habitat conditions only about three percent survive. The quality of the habitat, to a large extent, determines what percentage of eggs survives to migrate to the ocean. (end paraphrase)

While all harvest has not stopped, there have been significant cut backs in fishing. Are the cut backs enough? Those discussions are happening right now at the Pacific Fishery Management Council. I read with interest that runs will be greater than expected. I believe that instead of increasing the fish available for catch we should let them reproduce. With the drought there needs to be additional spawners for future salmon runs. If you agree, please contact your congressional and legislative delegation in Washington DC and Olympia, as well as the Governor.

Salmon are survivors. It has taken a long time to diminish their numbers to the point of extinction. It will take all of us, each doing our part, to bring the salmon back for future generations.