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Remarks at Lead Entity Strategies Workshop
Good morning. Most of know me, but for those who don't I'm Dr. Jeff Koenings, director of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
I enjoyed talking with some of you at last night's dinner-both those new to the process and the veterans.
I want to welcome all of you back for the second day of this year's Lead Entity workshop. I know all of you are very busy, and I greatly appreciate the commitment in time and energy you have brought to this workshop. After all, Lead Entities and I emerged on the scene in Washington at about the same time. We've grown and matured together, so I'll continue to use the word "we" when I talk of salmon recovery.
I'd like to take a few minutes to review where "we" are with respect to salmon recovery and, in my view, the challenges that lie ahead.
I think we are entering a critical period with regard to salmon recovery, a period that will demand even greater accountability and consistency from all of us-the old saying, "it is the best of times, it is the worst of times."
The "best of times" in terms of better ocean conditions for salmon - a decades long but fairly short window of opportunity - however - the funding window may be closing, and that may be happening at the worst of times.
As such, I want to underscore to you that my Department remains committed to providing Lead Entities with the tools needed to attain this accountability and consistency, namely the science, technical and administrative assistance.
When we embarked not long ago on the gigantic job of salmon recovery, we were entering uncharted waters, so to speak. We simply did not know what tools might emerge to help us accomplish this highly complex, difficult job. What we are attempting hadn't been done before.
But I think we're now at a point where we can confidently say that the tools we need are emerging, that tools such as SSHIAP, EDT and others that have been developed - and are now being widely used- can help us get the job done.
These tools may not be perfect - what tool out there is? - But they are good tools nonetheless. They can help us be accountable and consistent in our efforts within and between watersheds.
I think it's also important for all of us involved in salmon recovery to keep in mind that we are competing on the national level for funding. Salmon recovery in the Pacific Northwest is just one of a plethora of environmental restoration projects throughout the United States in search of financial support. Many conservation programs died this year because of dollars needed for fighting terrorism and the looming tax cuts. And the state picture isn't any brighter!
Given this environment, it is imperative that we can demonstrate meaningful progress today as well as next year or the year after that. If we are to remain competitive, we must clearly articulate that we have put in place a long-term salmon recovery process that is efficient and accountable.
Last year, in my remarks to all of you, I emphasized the following four themes:
First, we were entering a new phase in salmon recovery in that regional recovery plans were under development throughout the state. Recovery plans that needed to address and then numerically integrate the 4 H's.
Second, the role of Lead Entities would evolve as these regional recovery plans were developed and implemented and I believe that is happening, hence this workshop.
Third, part of that evolution would require a more strategic approach to salmon habitat protection and restoration - an approach that linked Lead Entity efforts with regional recovery planning. And one that moves toward the portfolio approach Tim outlined yesterday.
Fourth, that the Department of Fish & Wildlife was committed to assisting Lead Entities in meeting the new challenges presented by offering:
Since last year's workshop, I think we've made significant progress in addressing many of these issues and meeting some of our goals.
As you all know, Regional Recovery Boards are now aggressively working towards the goal of completing all recovery plans by the end of 2005 - an ambitious goal that my Department supports.
At the same time, the Lead Entities continue to develop strategies with the goal of obtaining greater consistency among all the Lead Entity strategies and making them more understandable to those who review them for funding decisions.
While these regional plans and Lead Entity strategies dealing with habitat restoration were being developed, my Department this past year has continued to work on a variety of fronts to assist in both the planning and restoration efforts. These include:
I would like to add that as my Department continued work in these areas, we also continued our parallel progress on the harvest and hatchery fronts.
For example, we continue to make significant strides in the area of selective fisheries. One element is continuing to develop mass marking programs at hatcheries and employing selective gear fisheries where appropriate and agreed upon. Through such actions we've been able to work with the tribes toward immediate wild salmon conservation and recovery; and still provide for sustainable fisheries and their economic value to communities. Spawning surveys show that the numbers of spawners-fish that have cleared fishers-have increased recently in 51% of listed salmon populations. These are results of harvest reforms.
Through such date, we are proving that the co-managers salmon harvest programs are compatible with ESA recovery programs.
We also are continuing to make significant strides in our efforts to ensure our state's hatchery system performs the dual role of helping to recover and conserve naturally spawning salmonid populations as well as supporting sustainable fisheries.
In its third year, the science-based Hatchery and Scientific Review Group, a group of independent scientists, is moving ahead with its groundbreaking, region-by-region review of hatchery operations and is drafting specific recommendations on how hatchery operations can be improved to achieve this dual role. All regional reviews in Puget Sound and the coast will be done by the end of this year.
I strongly believe that sound hatchery management practices are an important component of ESA recovery. Juvenile salmon appropriately produced from our hatcheries can immediately seed new habitats-jump starting the recovery process. I believe NOAA's new hatchery policy will be consistent with this approach.
In short, the past year has been a busy and productive period for all of us involved in salmon recovery:
Hatchery reviews are almost done and reforms are now underway!
More may be needed, but we have made a good start.
But despite our progress, we now face new challenges. And in my opinion, the chief challenge faced by all of you here today is this:
How do we seamlessly integrate Lead Entity strategies as well as harvest and hatchery reforms into regional recovery plans?
At the Department of Fish and Wildlife, we have been using EDT to accomplish the numerical integration of recovery actions in the 4Hs within watersheds, thereby making across watershed integration possible. Salmon populations are recovered in the watersheds but a multiple watershed ESU is what is delisted.
EDT is commonly described as an information-based decision support tool for ecosystem management, EDT has proven to be a good tool for integrating and analyzing the effects of harvest, hatchery and habitat practices by employing a common currency to address numerical targets for salmon abundance, productivity and life history diversity-the necessary ingredients of a recovered salmon population in any watersheds.
By reducing the overwhelming complexity of all the factors affecting salmonids in freshwater, EDT helps us to focus and become more efficient. It can identify the potential for a stream under present or potentially future conditions, thereby giving us a scientifically-based assessment of conditions and a prioritization of restoration needs.
EDT can help develop watershed strategies, prioritize projects within the watershed, and numerically assess the benefits of those projects.
In the weeks ahead, we will be making EDT analysis available to many of our watershed stewards so that they can assist you with bringing this information into your habitat strategy discussions. And I urge all of you to consider using EDT as a tool in your salmon recovery toolbox.
It is apparent that salmon recovery dollars will continue to be tight for the next several years as we continue to face these recessionary times.
But with EDT or similarly effective tools, I think we can be assured that projects that are developed and submitted for funding consideration are addressing the highest biological priorities in more of a strategic portfolio approach.
Moreover, by employing tools such as EDT, we can demonstrate our effectiveness. We can show how we have targeted our dollars, how we are putting the right project in the right place and in the right sequence.
Many of you are probably familiar with the cyclical change in ocean conditions known as the Pacific Decadel Oscillation and its effects on salmon populations. We are now seeing an upswing in salmon populations in the coastal rivers of the Northwest in response to naturally improving, or colder, ocean conditions brought about by this phenomenon.
If the ocean cycle behaves as it has in the past, most species of Pacific salmon could continue to enjoy favorable ocean conditions for up to two decades before the next downturn. A short time frame, in many of our minds.
I believe that we should seize this opportunity that Mother Natures has provided us - an opportunity really to jumpstart our recovery efforts and reverse the historic decline of native salmon and steelhead stocks.
We cannot afford to turn our back on this critical window of opportunity. Simply put, stocks now threatened with extinction may not survive the next major downturn in ocean conditions.
Your efforts as Lead Entities for salmon habitat restoration are indispensable to these efforts. And through your strategies, you are making significant contributions toward implementing recovery, both in the short and longer terms.
My Department is looking forward to working with all you in the coming biennium to build not just recovery plans, but a wider recovery program based upon the best tools, scientific knowledge and community support available.
Thank you and may "we" both continue to jointly advocate for the fish by proving that people and healthy fish populations are not mutually exclusive!
Seatac, Washington - May 16, 2003
Remarks by Dr. Jeff Koenings, WDFW Director
Harvest reforms are producing results!
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