Chinook salmon under water
Washington state made “salmon history” recently when NOAA’s Fisheries Service adopted the Puget Sound Chinook recovery plan- the largest and most comprehensive plan ever approved by the federal government. Crafted through a bottoms-up approach that included input from farmers and ranchers, the recovery plan is a requirement of the Endangered Species Act. In 1999, the Puget Sound chinook, as well as the Hood Canal summer chum and the Lake Ozette sockeye, were listed as “threatened” under the ESA. Today’s formal adoption of the plan by NOAA’s Fisheries represents the culmination of more than 5 years’ effort by communities across the 14 river basins that drain into Puget Sound. The plan was developed through the Shared Strategy for Puget Sound, a collaborative conservation effort that included a wide range of participants, including farmers and ranchers.] It integrates management of habitat, harvest and hatcheries. Fish biologists say that management of each of these must complement the others to enable salmon recovery.