2021 Columbia River Steelhead Crisis (rev. 9-15-21) by The Conservation Angler

2021 Columbia River Steelhead Crisis (rev. 9-15-21) Current Summer Steelhead returning to the Columbia River above Bonneville Dam1: April 1 thru September 14 Ø 54,313 total hatchery and wild steelhead (H + W) have passed Bonneville Dam o The pre-season estimate was 96,800 steelhead, half of which (48,400) were expected to pass Bonneville by August 20 – 2021 passage on August 20 was half of expected passage of the second lowest steelhead run since 1975. The updated run is now 60,200 total hatchery and wild steelhead. Ø 21,134 total wild, unclipped steelhead have passed Bonneville Dam • •

The current 10-year average steelhead passage is 168,761 combined hatchery & wild steelhead The current 10-year average wild fish passage is 64,881 wild summer steelhead.

Comparing current passage with the Current Ten-year Average (CTYA) (2011-2020): v The current 2021 return of combined wild and hatchery steelhead is 32.2% of the CTYA. v The current 2021 return of wild (or unclipped) summer steelhead is 32.6% of the CTYA. Hatchery fish outnumber wild fish 33,179 to 21,134 fish (some adipose-intact fish are hatchery-origin). What we have lost: Avoid the declining baseline syndrome, compare current run with a longer data set The “best” 10-year average for H+W steelhead since 1984 was between 2001-2010 (355,508 steelhead). The “best” 10-year average for wild steelhead since 1984 was from 2001-2010 (107,447 wild steelhead) Ø The 2021 combined run is 15.3% of the best 10-year average (321,618 H+W fish during 2001-2010) Ø The 2021 wild run is 20% of the best 10-year average (107,447 wild fish during 2001-2010) Current Summer Steelhead returning to the Columbia River above Lower Granite Dam2: June 1 thru Sept. 14 Ø 4,754 combined hatchery and wild steelhead have passed Lower Granite Dam Ø 1,924 total wild steelhead have passed Lower Granite Dam The current 10-year average steelhead passage is 14,675 combined hatchery & wild steelhead. The current 10-year average unclipped/wild fish passage is 5,499 wild summer steelhead. Comparing current Steelhead passage with the Current Ten-year Average at LGD (CTYA) (2011-2020): v The current 2021 return of combined wild and hatchery steelhead is 32.4% of the CTYA. v The current 2021 return of wild (or unclipped) summer steelhead is 35% of the CTYA. What we have lost: Avoid the declining baseline syndrome, compare current run with a longer data set The “best” 10-year average for H+W steelhead since 1984 was between 2001-2010 (33,581 steelhead). The “best” 10-year average for wild steelhead since 1984 was from 2001-2010 (9,942 wild steelhead) Ø The 2021 combined run is 14.2% of the best 10-year average (33,581 H+W fish during 2001-2010) Ø The 2021 wild run is 19.4% of the best 10-year average (9,942 wild fish during 2001-2010)

Numeric Data is from the UW Columbia River DART website: http://www.cbr.washington.edu/dart/query/adult_graph_text

Bonneville Dam Fish Passage Counts comparing current year (red) to 2020 (blue) and the 10-year Avg. (black)3

Lower Granite Dam Fish Passage Data with current year (red), 2020 Passage (blue) and 10-year Avg. (black)4

3 4

Fish Passage Center (https://www.fpc.org/adults/R_dailyadultcountsgraph_resultsV6.php) Fish Passage Center (https://www.fpc.org/adults/R_dailyadultcountsgraph_resultsV6.php)

More fishing Pressure = More Encounters = Fewer Successful Spawners The extremely low steelhead run will face fishing pressure from the following fisheries: 1. Non-tribal commercial fisheries approved in Zone 4+5 began on August 9 & do not end until September 2 2. Current sport fisheries for salmon in the mainstem lower Columbia from the CR mouth to The Dalles Dam that do not prohibit fishing for steelhead, but they do prohibit steelhead retention. 3. Current sport fisheries in the mainstem Columbia from The Dalles Dam to the Hwy. 395 at Pasco, WA. 4. Current sport fisheries in the lower Cowlitz, Lewis, Kalama Rivers in WA 5. Steelhead fishing is open in multiple OR and WA tributary rivers that flow into the Columbia including Wind, White Salmon, Hood River, Klickitat, Deschutes. The extremely low steelhead run will likely face additional fishing pressure in future possible fisheries: 1. Steelhead fishing will likely open in Snake River Basin fisheries by September 1 in the Snake, Clearwater, Salmon, Grand Ronde and Imnaha. 2. Steelhead will likely be encountered by non-tribal commercial fisheries for coho salmon in the lower CR 3. Steelhead will be taken in Tribal Commercial mainstem fisheries in Zone 6 approved on September 1. Impacts on steelhead from the non-selective, mixed-stock Commercial Fisheries in the Columbia River? 1. There is no level of confidence in the monitoring, observation, and evaluation (MOE) Plan on the impacts of these fisheries in terms of by-catch. 2. There has been no sound scientific evaluation of encounter and mortality rate on gill nets. 3. The authorization of the fisheries is based on weak knowledge of the general presence and migratory trajectory of non-target, fishery-limiting species, 4. There is no recognition of the ecologic and biologic impact of constantly fishing on the tips and tails (beginning and ends of specific migration periods) for a species such as summer steelhead which is not in a hurry to reach their home river and thus has a wandering migration. 5. There is no accounting in the encounter and mortality estimates for drop-outs (fish caught and killed or injured in a net but not landed). What are the impacts on steelhead from the Recreational Fisheries on the Columbia River? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

The Sport fisheries are on the water for many months. There is no limit to the number of fishers who may choose to buy a license and tag and go fishing. There are many guides (unlimited numbers in some fisheries) who are essentially commercial fishers. The Party Boat rule keeps angler effort high the entire time a boat is on the water in certain waters. Sport anglers will encounter many wild fish while fishing for hatchery fish. Creel Surveys, boat ramp counts and aerial surveys are not robust enough to capture effort or success. Illegal harvest cannot be prevented but nor is it adequately patrolled for nor calculated in any analysis.

What are the impacts on steelhead by the Tributary Sport Fisheries in the Columbia Basin? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

The Sport fisheries are open to fishing for salmon, trout and bass and on the water for many months. There is no limit to the number of fishers who may choose to buy a license and tag and go fishing. There are many guides who increase the number of anglers encountering steelhead. Sport anglers will encounter more wild fish while fishing for hatchery fish. Creel Surveys, boat ramp counts and aerial surveys are not robust enough to capture effort or success. Steelhead fishing seasons often never end, meaning there are anglers fishing for them when the fish are staging and spawning, and some steelhead tributaries have open year-round trout fisheries.

Actions Necessary to Conserve Columbia and Snake River Wild Steelhead Immediately: v Close fishing in the Columbia and Snake River Basins as follows: 1. 2. 3. 4.

Close sport steelhead fisheries in Zones 4 & 5 of the Columbia R. through October 31, 2021. Close non-treaty commercial fisheries in Zones 4 & 5 of the Columbia through October 31, 2021. Close sport steelhead fishing from Bonneville to Lower Granite Dam through March 31, 2022; and Close all steelhead fishing in the tributaries above Bonneville Dam, except for the Hood River winter steelhead fishery, through May 31, 2022. Too late!

v If states adopt meaningful non-tribal fishery conservation action, ask the Tribes not to use gillnets in the Herman Creek Lagoon and not in Drano Lake. v Tribal commercial drift and set nets fishing days have been limited in duration, and they are being planned and operated to minimize their impact on migrating steelhead. v Request safe release of adipose intact steelhead by Tribal platform fishers. v OR and WA should consider suspending rules that authorize sales of tribal caught adipose intact steelhead. v For all authorized fisheries, the states and tribes must conduct real-time onboard monitoring non-tribal & tribal commercial drift and set net fishers as well as increase observation and monitoring of mainstem and tributary sport fishing. v If sport fishing is not suspended, the following measures must be adopted: ü Create Thermal Angling Sanctuaries (TAS) in WA and designate more OR TAS: WA- Kalama, Cowlitz, Lewis, Wind, Little White & Big White Salmon, Klickitat OR- Sandy, Hood River, John Day ü Expand the TAS at the Deschutes – Columbia confluence (the current TAS boundary leaves one-quarter of the Cold Water Refuge open to angling). ü Extend the TAS closure dates through October 31. ü Enact emergency sport angling regulations requiring single barbless hooks. ü Enact emergency sport angling regulations prohibiting the use of bait. ü Require that all wild steelhead be kept in the water during landing and release. ü Going forward, close all steelhead fishing pre-season in WA, OR, and ID if the pre-season steelhead forecast is less than 50% of the current ten-year average. v Require all hatchery steelhead entering hatchery traps to be retained by the hatchery. v If fishing is closed. Consider removing hatchery fish at fish passage facilities and transport PIT-tagged hatchery fish to home hatcheries for meeting broodstock collection criteria only. Excess hatchery fish should be donated to food banks and habitat restoration projects.

Management Changes to Plan Now and Implement beginning in 2022

Deleted: Rescind nontribal mainstem gillnet fisheries authorized on July 27 for Zones 4 & 5. Deleted: ¶

v All States must set wild steelhead spawner abundance requirements on all natal steelhead rivers and ensure that river-specific management includes spawning escapement and egg deposition criteria. v Plan, fund and staff spawning escapement surveys beginning in 2022.

To anglers, guides, fishing shops: v Top Ten Actions You Can Take to Protect Steelhead this Season o o o o o o o o o o

Reduce your own fishing effort If you fish, do not fish when the water temperatures are higher than 66F Use appropriate tackle to be able to land and release wild steelhead quickly Use single barbless hooks Fish a fly or lure with the bend of the hook removed to feel the tug Don’t fish with bait Don’t take a wild fish out of the water when you land them Read about proper catch and release techniques at @Keepemwet Kill hatchery steelhead if allowed by law Don’t buy tribal caught steelhead at your market or via online sales.

Note: These recommended actions were compiled solely by The Conservation Angler. They represent our organization’s best professional judgment on measures that could be enacted which are not currently in place to reduce the encounter and mortality rate on returning Columbia and Snake Basin steelhead during the lowest return since 1943. TCA believes that the existing fisheries regime (based on modeled impacts using flawed observer data and research efforts that underestimate fishing encounter and mortality rates) were followed to their logical conclusion, would continue to authorize fisheries until there were not enough wild fish returning to natal rivers to spawn and replace themselves. How low must actual returns of adult steelhead or salmon go before the managing agencies stop authorizing more fishing?

The Conservation Angler * www.theconservationangler.org * david@theconservationangler.org