[ODFW-News] Commmission Adopts Hatchery Management Policy

[ODFW News]

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife 	
Contact: 	Anne Pressentin Young (503) 872-5264 x5356	
Internet: www.dfw.state.or.us  Fax: (503) 872-5700
	

For Immediate Release	Friday, May 09, 2003

Commission Adopts Hatchery Management Policy
Biologists Recommend Slight Drop in Big Game Tags for 2003

PORTLAND - The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission unanimously adopted Friday a new policy for fish hatchery management that aims to benefit fisheries, conserve wild fish and maintain watershed health.

Consistent with hatchery reforms undertaken in Washington, the new policy links individual hatchery programs with basin-wide management and Oregon's Native Fish Conservation Policy, establishes a strong commitment to monitoring and evaluation and calls for strong public input on hatchery program management plans. In a departure from historical management, future monitoring and evaluation programs will focus on the post-release survival of hatchery fish and impacts to natural populations. Previous monitoring programs focused on in-hatchery survival and contribution to fisheries. The policy goes into effect immediately.

The Commission is the rule-making body for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. The seven-member panel meets monthly to establish policies and administrative regulations for the agency to implement.

The Hatchery Management Policy calls for the creation of hatchery program management plans that clearly define the role of the program to benefit harvest opportunities or conserve wild fish, provide a survival advantage over wild fish, sustain production over time and minimize adverse impacts to wild fish and watersheds. 

Under the new policy, conservation hatchery programs will be kept distinct from those programs managed to produce fish for fishing. Harvest programs will provide fisheries consistent with protection of wild fish and will generally aim to separate hatchery-bred fish from naturally-produced fish both in fisheries and on spawning grounds. Conservation hatchery programs will be used to increase the number of wild fish without affecting the genetics and behaviors of targeted wild populations. However, these programs will be used in limited areas until research shows the programs are succeeding. In addition, conservation hatchery programs will be used in conjunction with other projects to address the root causes of declines in the wild fish population.

The Hatchery Management Policy also provides statewide guidelines for fish culture, which includes broodstock source and collection, disposition of adult surpluses, spawning and incubation, rearing, marking and handling, and release. 

Earlier versions of the draft hatchery policy included language to protect fish health. As a result of public comments, a separate Fish Health Policy will be drafted later this year to address fish health of both hatchery and wild fish. 


Biologists Recommend Slight Drop in Big Game Tags for 2003

State wildlife biologists recommended Friday that 167,381 tags be allocated for this fall's hunting seasons for deer, elk, bighorn sheep, mountain goat and pronghorn, and for next spring's bear seasons, which is a 3 percent drop from 2002.

The Fish and Wildlife Commission heard reductions are necessary in deer and Rocky Mountain elk hunts due to the effects of drought, low ratios of young to adult, reduced agricultural damage, disease and populations that are near management objectives. However, the number of tags for Roosevelt elk, pronghorn and bighorn sheep are proposed to increase from 2002. Biologists have documented good recruitment in bighorn and pronghorn populations and increased agricultural damage from Roosevelt elk. 

The Commission will adopt the final tag allocation at its next meeting June 6 in Pendleton. 

Many hunts in Oregon are "controlled" by limiting the number of hunters who can participate in a particular hunt. Hunters must apply for most big game controlled hunts by May 15. A lottery is held to award the tags to applicants. General season tags are not limited in number. 

Also in June, the Commission will give its early guidance on several proposals for regulation changes. They include:
·	A permanent rule change related to the import of deer and elk parts that could go into effect this fall. The proposal is aimed at protecting Oregon's native deer and elk from chronic wasting disease, which has affected herds in several other states and provinces. The rule would be similar to one adopted in October 2002 to place restrictions on the importation of deer and elk parts from states or provinces known to have CWD. 
·	A clarification in the rule language for 2004 that would require hunters to retain evidence of the sex of harvested deer and elk when transporting them. 
·	A new proposed bag limit for 2004 would be "one doe/fawn pronghorn" for eight hunts currently with a "horns shorter than the ears" bag limit. The change was proposed to decrease the number of bucks harvested. 
·	The addition of three new bighorn hunts, one new Rocky Mountain goat hunt and one new pronghorn hunt. 
·	A change the general archery deer season bag limit in the Maupin, Silver Lake, Hood and Biggs wildlife management units from a buck to a deer of either sex. 
·	An increase in the cougar harvest quota due to increasing populations. 
·	A 500-tag increase in spring bear tags in southwest Oregon. 

Information on the proposals is posted to the ODFW Web site at http://www.dfw.state.or.us/ODFWhtml/InfoCntrWild/biggame2001_2.html .


Commission Approves 16 Fish Restoration and Enhancement Grants

The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission approved $1.4 million in grant awards for 16 projects that restore or enhance fisheries. 

Revenue for the grants comes from a $2 surcharge on fishing licenses. The Restoration and Enhancement Board reviews project proposals and makes funding recommendations to the Commission.

The projects include:
·	Cole Rivers Hatchery Universal Angler Access: $58,800 toward a $80,000 project to build a fishing platform at the hatchery to provide anglers safe and universal access;
·	Restoration and Enhancement Program Administration: $215,976 to fund ODFW R&E Program staff and administrative costs for two years;
·	Elk River Hatchery Improvements: $183,000 to fund improvements to the hatchery raceway water supply and drain system;
·	Klamath Hatchery Improvements: $123,750 to fund improvements to the hatchery water supply line;
·	Butte Falls Hatchery Improvements: $250,000 to fund improvements to the hatchery's water pollution abatement system;
·	Umpqua Basin Riparian Fencing Project: $20,000 toward a $85,000 project to provide fencing to landowners to restore riparian vegetation, reduce streamside erosion, promote bank stability and shading through vegetation growth, and enhance insect production;
·	Youngs Bay Net Pen Coho Acclimation: $31,380 toward a $52,174 project to acclimate 2 million hatchery-bred coho smolts in net pens in the Columbia River;
·	Willamette Hatchery Educational Display: $4,500 toward a $24,500 project to install a pre-fabricated building for year-round educational facility at the hatchery;
·	McIntyre Creek Channel Restoration: $15,000 toward a $138,405 project to complete a multi-phase project in northeast Oregon to restore a historic creek channel;
·	 Waterloo Park Boat Ramp: $6,270 toward a $15,270 project to construct a concrete boat ramp along the South Santiam River in Linn County;
·	Umatilla National Forest Fishing Pond Improvement: $6,300 to fund improvements to gravel pit ponds that are stocked with legal-sized trout;
·	Greenwaters Rest Area Boat Ramp: $9,500 toward a $37,625 project to construct a boat ramp along the Middle Fork Willamette River;
·	Willow Valley Reservoir Habitat Improvements: $7,232 toward a $14,610 project to develop tree and boulder underwater structures to provide cover for warmwater fish in a southern Oregon reservoir;
·	Clackamas River Downstream Migrant Traps: $20,000 toward a $84,000 project to operate seven downstream migrant fish traps throughout the Clackamas River Basin to evaluate the success of a large-scale carcass supplementation project;
·	Youngs Bay Fall Chinook Net Pen Program: $438,244 toward a $692,255 project to rear stock on hand, spawn the 2003 brood and begin a 2004 brood for the net pen program in the Columbia River; and
·	Mini-Grant Program: $25,000 to fund small grants up to $750 to benefit the Salmon and Trout Enhancement Program.

Lamprey Harvest Cap and Season Adopted for 2003

The Commission adopted Friday a harvest cap of 6,000 lamprey for the 2003 season at Willamette Falls.

The adopted fishing season is June 1 - July 31, 2003, or until the harvest cap is met. Harvest for personal use may occur from sunrise to sunset Saturday through Monday on the east side of the falls. The rules also require harvesters to report their catch to ODFW by Aug. 31, 2003. 

Commercial harvest of lamprey is not allowed under the adopted rules.


Commission Approves Waiver of Fish Passage Laws at Rogue Basin's North Fork Dam
 
The Fish and Wildlife Commission approved a waiver to fish passage under fish migration laws at the North Fork Dam in the upper Rogue River because the hydropower company has agreed to improve fish passage at Little Butte Mill Dam in the Rogue Basin.

As a result of the waiver, PacifiCorp will pay about $175,000 to improve a non-functional fish ladder, notch the dam crest and modify the channel to improve fish passage during low flows at Little Butte Mill Dam. The project, located near Eagle Point, will improve fish accessibility to 68 stream miles above Little Butte Dam for rainbow trout, cutthroat trout, chinook, steelhead, coho, Pacific lamprey, Pacific brook lamprey and Klamath small scale sucker. If fish passage was provided at North Fork Dam, only an additional 0.9 miles of stream would be available to resident rainbow and cutthroat trout. 

State law requires fish passage at artificial obstructions, but allows the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission to waive requirements if the alternatives proposed provide a net benefit to native migratory fish. The Commission considered the waiver request because PacifiCorp's federal hydropower license for the Prospect 1, 2 and 4 Hydroelectric Project expires in July 2005. The relicensing process is considered a "fundamental change" in project status, which triggers a review of fish passage under state statute.


In other action, the Commission:

·	Approved the continuation of existing rules for the annual selection of the artwork for the upland bird stamp;
·	Approved a temporary rule to allow ODFW to trap nuisance wildlife in the city limits of Lakeview and Paisley, two small towns in southeastern Oregon;
·	Denied four requests for developmental fisheries permits because the applicants did not make the required nearshore groundfish landing requirements; 
·	Approved two requests for a permit renewal because the applicants' illnesses prevented them from meeting legal requirements of the sardine fishery; 
·	Delayed the opening of the commercial sardine fishery until June 22 to ensure the fishery stays open through the summer; and 
·	Rejected a petition to change the unweighted fly rule for the North Umpqua River.

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