Exhibit E: Southwest Zone Winter Steelhead Petition Chris Lorion - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Exhibit E: Southwest Zone Winter Steelhead Petition

1

Chris Lorion Native Fish Conservation Coordinator January 17, 2020

Petition

• “Request for Temporary Rule Change to Oregon Sport

Fishing Regulations affecting wild winter steelhead harvest in the Southwest Zone for the year 2020”

• Received on November 7, 2019
• Qualifies as a valid petition under the Administrative

Procedures Act

2

Background

• Petition requesting permanent prohibition of wild

steelhead harvest in the SW Zone received in August 2018

• Commission denied petition, and
• Lowered harvest limits to 1 per day, 3 per year
• Directed staff to address harvest regulations for wild

steelhead through development of a conservation plan for the Rogue-South Coast SMU

3

Petition Analysis

4

• 1. The continued need for the rule.
• 2. The nature of complaints or comments received concerning the rule

from the public

• 3. The complexity of the rule.
• 4. The extent to which the rule overlaps, duplicates or conflicts with other

state or federal regulations and, to the extent feasible, with local government regulations.

• 5. The degree to which technology, economic conditions or other factors

have changed in the subject area affected by the rule.

• 6. The statutory citation or legal basis for the rule.

Is there a concern for 2020 that current rule does not address?

5

• Existing regulations and conservation plans
• Status of SW Zone steelhead populations
• Indicators for 2020 adult steelhead return

Current Harvest Protections

6

• Conservative bag limit reduced from 1 per day/5 per year

to 1 per day/3 per year in January 2019

• Tributary & seasonal closures protect spawners & juveniles
• Harvest rates appear to be low based on available

information

• Additional resources being allocated to monitor harvest

rate in the Sixes River in 2020

Wild Winter Steelhead Harvest Trend

7

2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 10,000 12,000 14,000 16,000 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Winchester Dam Count

Wild StW Harvest

Run Year

Coastal Basins Rogue Basin Winchester Dam Count

Conservation plans for SW Zone steelhead are complete or in progress

8

• Sixes River & EF Coquille River covered by the CMP
• Wild harvest in EF Coquille offset loss of hatchery opportunity
• CMP established stratum-level critical abundance thresholds;

Mid-South stratum has not fallen below that level through 2019

• Development of Rogue-South Coast Plan (RSP) began

in November 2018

• Stakeholder process begins in February 2020
• Plan adoption expected by the end of 2020

Current Conservation Status

9

• Draft Rogue-South Coast Plan status assessment indicates

that winter steelhead populations are viable

• CMP (adopted in 2014) found that populations in northern

portion of SW Zone are viable

• SW Zone Winter Steelhead are not on Oregon’s

Threatened, Endangered, or Sensitive Species List

Current Status

10

Half-pounder counts are historically correlated with adult winter steelhead returns in the Rogue

Current Status

11

Wild half-pounder counts have been strong in recent years

200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200 1,400 1,600 1,800 2,000

Wild Half-Pounders Captured at Huntley Park Year

Current Status – Juvenile Steelhead

12 0.00 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06

Lower Columbia SMU Coastal SMU Rogue-South Coast SMU

Juvenile Steelhead per m2 (± SE)

(pools in wadeable streams)

2009-2018

Is there a biological basis for a harvest emergency in 2020?

13

2020 Indicators - Juvenile Steelhead Index

14

50,000 100,000 150,000 200,000

Age-1+ Abundance Index Year

Rogue-South Coast SMU Based on pool snorkel counts in wadeable streams

200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200 1,400 1,600 1,800 2,000

Wild Half-Pounders Captured at Huntley Park Year

2020 Indicators – Half Pounders

15

2020 Indicators – Ocean Conditions

16

Cape Blanco

Conclusions

17

• Current regulations are conservative
• Status assessments indicate populations are viable
• Biological indicators for 2020 do not support need

for emergency regulations

• Management strategies and actions are being

developed in Rogue-South Coast planning process

• Social and biological aspects of wild steelhead harvest

fully considered during this process

• Commission action before next winter’s fishery

Staff Recommendation

 Deny the petition and maintain current regulations for

2020 as described in the Sportfishing Regulations.

18

Public Comments

19