2008 Budget Fact Sheet [PDF Format - 1.67 MB]

2008 Budget Fact Sheet Fish and Wildlife - 2008 Legislative Session Selective chinook salmon fisheries in Puget Sound After successful negotiations with tribal fishery managers in 2007, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) added seven new chinook salmon selective fisheries in Puget Sound. As in dozens of other areas throughout the state, these new selective fisheries allow anglers to catch and keep abundant hatchery salmon but require that they release wild salmon – many of which are listed for protection under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA). Without the mass-marking of salmon at state hatcheries, these selective fisheries would not possible. Since the mid-90’s, salmon produced at WDFW hatcheries have had their adipose fins clipped, making the fish easily identifiable to anglers on the fishing grounds. About 63 million salmon are currently marked at state and tribal hatcheries annually. These selective fisheries also play an important role in the current Pacific Salmon Treaty negotiations with Canada, which has not yet established chinook selective fisheries. With long-term conservation issues at stake, Washington’s commitment to selective fishing is a major negotiating tool in moving Canada toward protecting wild chinook salmon, many bound for Washington waters. Funding in the 2007-09 Biennial Budget was insufficient to support monitoring and enforcement of these seven new selective fisheries. Because of their importance, Gov. Gregoire last year provided $185,000 from her emergency fund as a stopgap measure to allow the implementation of these fisheries. She has also proposed additional funding in her supplemental budget proposal to maintain these fisheries through the 2007-09 biennium. In the last decade, WDFW has established more than 50 selective salmon fisheries in marine and freshwater areas throughout the state. These fisheries protect wild salmon, while providing recreational opportunities and economic benefits from Puget Sound to the Snake River. Chinook selective fisheries alone brought in several million dollars to the state’s economy last year. WDFW is charged with preserving and protecting fish populations, as well as providing and enhancing fisheries in state waters. In an era of ESA listings, WDFW achieves those goals by allowing anglers to fish for abundant hatchery stocks, but not at the expense of wild salmon populations. Supplemental Operating Request: $847,347 | FTEs: 7.2 | General Fund State 07-09 BN Policy Lead: Heather Bartlett, Salmon & Steelhead Mgr. Phone: (360) 902-2662 E-mail: bartlhrb@dfw.wa.gov Legislative Liaison: Tom Davis, Special Assistant Phone: (360) 902-2226 E-mail: davistmd@dfw.wa.gov Support for Skagit tidegate, drainage and fish initiatives In recent years, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) has worked closely with the farming community in the Skagit River Delta along with tribes and other resource managers to create two significant initiatives that will meet both the needs of local farmers and those working to restore Puget Sound chinook in the delta. WDFW is requesting $155,000 in one-time and ongoing funding for equipment and staffing to ensure the success of these initiatives. For years, WDFW faced regulatory challenges in the delta due to permitting processes that did not adequately address diking, drainage and irrigation issues. This situation frustrated the agricultural community and contributed to conflicts between farmers and those involved in salmon recovery and habitat restoration. To resolve this situation, WDFW began meeting with the Western Washington Agriculture Association (WWAA) and the Skagit River System Cooperative (SRSC) to create a collaborative plan called the Skagit Drainage and Fish Initiative (DFI). Through DFI, WDFW worked with the delta’s 11 drainage and diking districts to create a plan that would provide a clear and effective permitting framework for drainage maintenance. In return, the districts agreed to support habitat enhancement projects by providing funding support, equipment and access to project sites within district boundaries. Tidegates on Edison Slough in Skagit County. Building on this collaboration, WDFW joined the farming community and other state and federal agencies to develop the Tidegates and Fish Initiative (TFI) to address federal requirements for fish passage at tidegates throughout the delta. In June 2007, those involved in TFI completed a framework agreement intended to provide drainage and diking districts a clearer permitting process for maintaining their tide- and floodgate infrastructure, while WDFW, tribes and other agencies are assured that estuary restoration will proceed in accordance with the Skagit Chinook Recovery Plan. Through this agreement, the farming community will support the restoration of 2,700 acres of intertidal habitat, as identified in the recovery plan. An implementation agreement, which will include details of the project, is expected to be finalized and signed by affected parties in early 2008. In both the DFI and TFI agreements, the ability of the drainage and diking districts to maintain their infrastructure is strategically linked to the successful implementation of habitat restoration projects supported by the districts. The funding requested will allow WDFW to work collaboratively with the agricultural community, agencies and tribes to successfully complete and implement agreements developed by both initiatives. Supplemental Operating Request: $155,000 | FTEs: 1.0 | General Fund State FY 2009 Policy Lead: Bob Everett, Region 4 Director Phone: (425) 775-1311 Ext. 118 E-mail: everirde@dfw.wa.gov Legislative Liaison: Tom Davis, Special Assistant Phone: (360) 902-2226 E-mail: davistmd@dfw.wa.gov Responding to the ESA listing of Puget Sound steelhead In May 2007, Puget Sound steelhead were listed as “threatened” under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA), presenting the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) with an immediate challenge. Starting in spring of 2008, state and tribal fishery managers must seek federal authorization to initiate any recreational or commercial fishery in Puget Sound that could kill or harm even one listed steelhead. To meet this requirement, WDFW immediately began working with tribal co-managers to develop a joint steelhead Resource Management Plan (RMP), documenting current fishing practices in relation to impacts on newly listed steelhead. While much of this work had been done in developing the state’s Steelhead Management Plan, additional research will be necessary to meet federal requirements. This winter, for example, WDFW plans to conduct studies to refine estimates of encounter rates and mortalities in salmon fisheries and steelhead catch-and-release fisheries. Because the ESA listing occurred after the 2007-09 budget was passed into law, no funding was provided to WDFW to meet the immediate challenge of securing federal approval for steelhead or salmon fisheries in the Puget Sound area. For that reason, the Governor has requested funding for this work in her supplemental budget. A wild steelhead leaps at the barrier dam at Kalama Falls Hatchery. It is important to recognize that steelhead fisheries must have legal “coverage” under the ESA, even though NOAA Fisheries did not identify those fisheries as a risk to the viability of wild steelhead populations in Puget Sound. In fact, the catch of wild steelhead has dropped to less than 1 percent of the total run since the mid-1990s, when selective fishing rules were adopted requiring the release of wild fish. Addressing the loss of habitat and other issues contributing to the decline of Puget Sound steelhead stocks will likely take many years. But WDFW and tribal co-managers have only a matter of months to avert the interruption of sustainable fisheries that provide economic, recreational and cultural benefits for the entire region. Supplemental Operating Request: $1,021,543 | FTEs: 4.1 | General Fund State 07-09 BN Policy Lead: Heather Bartlett, Salmon & Steelhead Mgr. Phone: (360) 902-2662 E-mail: bartlhrb@dfw.wa.gov Legislative Liaison: Tom Davis, Special Assistant Phone: (360) 902-2226 E-mail: davistmd@dfw.wa.gov Federal grants for Regional Fisheries Enhancement Groups Replacing this culvert opened up more than three miles of salmon rearing habitat on a tributary to the Wynoochee River. Regional Fisheries Enhancement Groups (RFEG) play an integral role in salmon and steelhead recovery throughout the state. To support their efforts, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) is requesting an increase in spending authority to access $2,249,000 in federal pass-through grants for the remainder of the biennium. The RFEG program was created by the Legislature in 1990 to involve local communities, citizen volunteers and landowners in the state’s salmon recovery efforts. As project sponsors, the 14 non-profit RFEGs throughout Washington work with state and federal agencies, tribes, and local businesses and landowners on a number of projects such as restoring stream-bank vegetation, replacing culverts, releasing fish, planting salmon carcasses and conducting research. RFEG Accomplishments since 1995: 2,600 total salmon projects 885,000 volunteer hours 61.5 million salmon released into Washington waters 600 fish passage problems fixed 650 miles of fish habitat opened 400 additional miles of habitat restored 671,000 fish carcasses placed for nutrient enhancement $87.5 million in leveraged funding for salmon restoration To date, the RFEGs have completed more than 527 fish-passage projects (opening 560 miles of streams), completed 400 miles of stream restoration and released 59 million salmon and steelhead into Washington state waters. With increased spending authority, the RFEGs will be able to access available federal pass-through grant funds awarded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The $2,249,000 increase will bring the total spending authority to $5 million in the 2007-09 biennium and will allow the RFEGs to implement their restoration projects, which are a part of the recovery plan implementation process in each salmon recovery area. Supplemental Operating Request: $2,250,000 | FTEs: 0.0 | General Fund Federal 07-09 BN Policy Lead: John Kerwin, Fish Program Outreach Lead Phone: (360) 902-2681 E-mail: kerwijek@dfw.wa.gov Legislative Liaison: Tom Davis, Special Assistant Phone: (360) 902-2226 E-mail: davistmd@dfw.wa.gov Rufus Woods Lake Agreement In 2007, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) signed a five-year agreement with the Colville Confederated Tribes to improve recreational fishing access to Rufus Woods Lake and resolve jurisdictional issues regarding licensing, enforcement and fisheries management. The 51-mile-long, 7,800-acre reservoir on the upper Columbia River forms the boundary between Douglas and Okanogan counties, as well as the southern boundary of the Colville Indian Reservation. Over the past several years, the lake has produced record-setting fish and has become a premier destination for anglers fishing for walleye, kokanee, and rainbow trout. “We greatly appreciate the Colville Tribes working with us to both simplify fishing license requirements and improve access to the lake.” —WDFW Director Jeffff Koenings But taking part in the fishery can be difficult for some anglers. Access to Rufus Woods Lake is limited to only two public boat ramps at either end of the reservoir, and fishing license requirements can be confusing. To help resolve these issues and develop this popular fishing opportunity, the Governor has requested $686,000 in her supplemental budget proposal. Those funds would be used to implement the first year of the agreement, adding state biologists and both state and tribal enforcement officers needed to jointly manage the fishery and jointly enforce overlapping jurisdictions. With legislative approval, the agreement also will simplify license requirements by allowing non-tribal anglers to fish with either a Washington state fishing license or a Colville tribal fishing permit while they are fishing from a boat or from one of the three proposed designated fishing access areas on the reservation. Through this collaborative initiative, the state and Colville Confederated Tribes will improve access, make licensing rules for anglers more consistent and predictable, and ensure sound stewardship of an important resource. Supplemental Operating Request: $686,000 | FTEs: 1.5 | General Fund State 07-09 BN Policy Lead: Bill Tweit, Columbia River Policy Lead Phone: (360) 902-2723 E-mail: tweitwmt@dfw.wa.gov Legislative Liaison: Tom Davis, Special Assistant Phone: (360) 902-2226 E-mail: davistmd@dfw.wa.gov Creating an incentive for Puget Sound sports crabbers to submit catch reports Last September, approximately 66,000 Puget Sound sport crabbers submitted catch record cards (CRC) for the summer season – about one-third of the number required to report their catch of Dungeness crab. This was an improvement from a prior reporting compliance rate that hovered around 15 percent. While the CRC return rate was up from previous reporting periods, lack of cooperation by many sport crabbers continues to compromise efforts by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) to improve catch accounting in the Puget Sound recreational crab fishery. Catch-accounting improvements in the Puget Sound crab fishery: 2000 – Added Dungeness crab to the catch record card for other species. 2003 – Added Puget Sound Dungeness crab license endorsement. 2006 – Initiated a drawing for 20 free fishing licenses for crabbers who submit reports on time. 2007 – Issued separate catch record cards for Puget Sound recreational crab fishery. Added summer card to improve mid-season catch estimates. Developed website for online reporting. As a result, constituents remain skeptical about the quality and accuracy of the catch data WDFW uses to allocate the Dungeness crab harvest between recreational and commercial fisheries in Puget Sound. To address this situation, WDFW is seeking legislative approval to assess an administrative penalty on Puget Sound sport crabbers who fail to comply with state catch-reporting requirements. A crabber who fails to report one time would be assessed $10 at the WDFW license vendor before a new catch record card is issued for a subsequent season. The penalty could be increased to $25 for those who repeatedly fail to report their catch. Revenue generated by these administrative penalties would be used to hire one scientific technician to process the larger anticipated catch record cards, and two additional WDFW enforcement officers to monitor and enforce the recreational crab fishery rules in Puget Sound. The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission, recreational fishing organizations and WDFW advisory board members, representing both recreational and commercial fisheries, support this approach. Higher returns of catch record cards would benefit catch accounting in the Puget Sound crab fishery in several ways. A 75 percent return rate would greatly increase the accuracy of recreational catch estimates, significantly improving public confidence in fishery management. In addition, WDFW could discontinue costly phone surveys of recreational crabbers, used in tandem with data from catch record cards to estimate the catch. Agency Request Legislation | HB 2561 - SB 6289 Legislative Liaison: Tom Davis, Special Assistant Phone: (360) 902-2226 E-mail: davistmd@dfw.wa.gov