Exhibit E: Southwest Zone Winter Steelhead Petition Chris Lorion Native Fish Conservation Coordinator January 17, 2020 1
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 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. 4
Is there a concern for 2020 that current rule does not address? Existing regulations and conservation plans Status of SW Zone steelhead populations Indicators for 2020 adult steelhead return 5
Current Harvest Protections 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 6
Wild Winter Steelhead Harvest Trend 2,500 16,000 Coastal Basins Rogue Basin 14,000 Winchester Dam Count 2,000 12,000 Wild StW Harvest Winchester Dam Count 10,000 1,500 8,000 1,000 6,000 4,000 500 2,000 0 0 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Run Year 7
Conservation plans for SW Zone steelhead are complete or in progress 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 8
Current Conservation Status 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 9
Current Status Half-pounder counts are historically correlated with adult winter steelhead returns in the Rogue 10
Current Status Wild half-pounder counts have been strong in recent years Wild Half-Pounders Captured 2,000 1,800 1,600 at Huntley Park 1,400 1,200 1,000 800 600 400 200 0 Year 11
Current Status – Juvenile Steelhead 0.06 Juvenile Steelhead per m 2 (± SE) 0.05 (pools in wadeable streams) 0.04 0.03 0.02 0.01 0.00 Lower Columbia SMU Coastal SMU Rogue-South Coast SMU 2009-2018 12
Is there a biological basis for a harvest emergency in 2020? 13
2020 Indicators - Juvenile Steelhead Index Rogue-South Coast SMU 200,000 Age-1+ Abundance Index 150,000 100,000 50,000 0 Year Based on pool snorkel counts in wadeable streams 14
2020 Indicators – Half Pounders Wild Half-Pounders Captured 2,000 1,800 1,600 at Huntley Park 1,400 1,200 1,000 800 600 400 200 0 Year 15
2020 Indicators – Ocean Conditions Cape Blanco 16
Conclusions 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 17
Staff Recommendation Deny the petition and maintain current regulations for 2020 as described in the Sportfishing Regulations. 18
Public Comments 19
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