California Lists
Coho Salmon Under
State Endangered Species Act (ESA),
Adopts Recovery Plan
SUBLEGALS v.9, n.6, 6feb04
On 4 February, the California Fish & Game Commission officially listed coho salmon populations from San Francisco to the Oregon border under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA). Populations of these fish south of San Francisco were previously listed under CESA, and all California coho stocks have been listed under the federal ESA since the mid-1990's. There is, however, still no federal recovery plan for the silver salmon. Coho once made up as much as half of the state's salmon catch, but in-river habitat destruction - mostly poor logging practices - ravaged the populations, causing a 70 percent drop in population since 1960. All directed fishing in California - commercial and sport - for coho has been prohibited since the early 1990's. For over four years, members of the Salmon & Steelhead Restoration Coalition (SSRC - formerly the "Gang of 7"), an alliance of fishing and conservation groups (including PCFFA) that came together under the administration of former California Governor Pete Wilson to develop a recovery strategy for this species of salmon, found mostly in forested coastal watersheds, had petitioned the Commission to take action to protect the fish. A CESA listing provides additional protections over those found under the federal act, particularly on private lands.
In late August 2002, the Commission made the finding that populations of coho from San Francisco to Punta Gorda warranted listing as "endangered" under CESA, and populations north of Gorda warranted a CESA "threatened" listing. The Commission then directed CDFG to prepare a recovery plan for coho, but delayed regulatory action, which would have listed the fish under CESA, until the Department prepared a recovery strategy. At the time CDFG was singing the budget blues, so the Sonoma County Water Agency (SCWA) stepped in and offered to fund the effort with the goal of having a plan within a year. One stakeholder group was appointed involving members of the SSRC, including PCFFA's Vivian Helliwell (as the alternate for Humboldt County Supervisor Jimmy Smith), Tom Wesseloh (California Trout) and Craig Bell (Sierra Club), among others. A second group was established for the Shasta and Scott river valleys in Siskiyou County. The 786-page California Coho Salmon Recovery Strategy with over 1,000 recommendations was completed in 18 months and was released this past fall.
At the special Commission meeting 4 February, CDFG along with the timber industry and the Farm Bureau were arguing for a six-month delay, while fishing and conservation groups were pushing for immediate action to list and adopt the recovery strategy. Logging and ag interests thought they had a lock on a delay, figuring on a deadlocked 2-2 vote (there is one vacancy on the Commission due to Mike Chrisman's resignation to become Resources Secretary), but were shocked when the vote came out 3-1 (Commissioners Jim Kellogg, Sam Schuchat and Bob Hattoy voting to take action; Mike Flores voting against). The cost of the plan is pegged at $5 billion. For additional information, see the following past articles in Sublegals: 8:18/06; 8:17/12; 6:22/04; 6:09/07; 6:03/11; 5:22/01; 3:14/03; 3:03/11; 2:13/11. To read the draft report, go to: http://www.dfg.ca.gov/nafwb/coho.html; the Coho Salmon Recovery Project can be found at: http://www.cohorecovery. The final Recovery Strategy as adopted by the Commission will be available soon.
source: email 23feb04
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