Hood Canal Recovery Region
The Hood Canal/Eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca summer chum salmon recovery area includes portions
of Jefferson, Mason, Clallam, and Kitsap Counties. Hood Canal, a natural, glacier-carved
fjord more than 60 miles long, forms the westernmost waterway and margin of the Puget Sound
Basin. Estuaries and lower river habitats are primary considerations in recovery of
salmon in this region.
Major Factors Limiting Recovery
- Degraded floodplain and channel structure
- Degraded nearshore/marine and estuarine conditions
- Riparian degradation and loss of in-river woody material
- Degraded water quality and temperature
- Excessive sediment
- Barriers to fish passage
Hatchery and Harvest Priorities
Two different types of harvest have contributed to the decline of summer
chum salmon in the region: pre-terminal fisheries in the Strait of Juan de Fuca
(marine waters seaward of Hood Canal and Discovery and Sequim Bays) and terminal
fisheries in most of the marine waters of Hood Canal. For Hood Canal summer
chum stocks, pre-terminal harvests occur annually, primarily in fisheries for pink and
sockeye salmon in the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
The impact of these fisheries during the period of decline of Hood Canal stocks
has been rated low. After 1974, an added level of fishery exploitation began to
occur in the terminal area, resulting in high exploitation rates through the 1980s. Terminal
harvest has been rated as a major impact on Hood Canal summer chum salmon.
To address this impact, the co-managers instituted harvest management regimes designed
to allow the rebuilding and maintenance of self-sustaining summer chum populations
throughout Hood Canal and eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca. The regimes that were
established are part of an ongoing program that the co-managers
monitor and adapt to new information.
The recovery plan concluded that the harvest management regime established by
the fisheries co-managers for Hood Canal/eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca
summer chum salmon is working according to expectations and contributes
to recovery of the species. The recovery plan supports the continuation
of these regimes, which includes zero direct harvest of listed species
and conservative fishing regulations for other stocks to reduce the
incidental harvest of summer chum.
The co-managers initiated a supplementation program in 1992 that releases hatchery raised
fish to address the high risk of extinction of certain summer chum stocks. These
efforts are also intended to reintroduce summer chum into watersheds where they
have become extinct and to generally increase the likelihood of recovery of summer
chum to a healthy status. This program uses strict criteria and monitoring to
minimize the potential negative impacts of hatcheries, such as reducing diversity
within and between wild stocks.
Summer chum salmon supplementation programs are operated on Lilliwaup Creek,
Hamma Hamma River, and Jimmycomelately Creek. Summer chum salmon are being
reintroduced into two streams where they had gone extinct: Big Beef Creek and
the Tahuya River. Supplementation or reintroduction programs have been terminated
on several streams because they have met the production level goals. Projects that
have been terminated include Big Quilcene River, Salmon Creek, Chimacum Creek, and
the Union River. The last releases of fish from these programs occurred in 2004.
The recovery plan supports the continuation of the supplementation programs underway or
planned in the planning area.
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