[ODFW-News] Public invited to comment on native fish status report

[ODFW News]

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife


For more information call 503-947-6021


Internet: www.dfw.state.or.us <http://www.dfw.state.or.us/>   


 


 


For immediate release
Friday, August 26, 2005


 

Public invited to comment  on native fish status report

 

SALEM - The results of the first statewide assessment of native fish
populations in 10 years are now available for public comment, the Oregon
Department of Fish and Wildlife announced today. The Oregon Native Fish
Status Report will be used to help fish and wildlife managers identify
priorities for developing conservation plans for at-risk native fish
populations throughout the state.

 

The draft report, which is available for a 60-day public review on
ODFW's Web site, identifies and prioritizes areas where added
protections may be necessary to conserve fish populations, noted Kevin
Goodson, ODFW conservation planning coordinator. 

 

"ODFW staff and other researchers began conducting the assessments in
January 2004," said Goodson. "Biologists surveyed 69 different species
management units, using the new Native Fish Conservation Policy
criteria. This is the first time the new criteria have been used, and
this provides an important consistent, science-based approach for
evaluating where and how to prioritize resources to help restore and
maintain healthy native fish populations throughout Oregon."

 

The assessment provides a general overview of the recent health of the
fish populations studied, noted Goodson, and is not intended to provide
detailed information.

 

"This review is similar to a 50,000-foot fly-over that is intended to
catch the urgent problems and provide a snapshot of how the fish are
doing," said Goodson. "It sets the stage for the detailed work that will
need to follow."

 

Biologists assessed the status of all of the salmon and steelhead and
most of the trout populations in the state, as well as sturgeon, some
lamprey, and a few dace and chub species listed under the Endangered
Species Act. The assessment methods used in the report will be reviewed
by the Independent Multi-disciplinary Science Team, the science advisory
committee for the Oregon Plan for Salmon and Watersheds.

 

Of the 69 groups of fish populations assessed, called Species Management
Units (SMUs), nine SMUs were determined to be extinct, 34 were assessed
as "at risk," 14 were classified as "potentially at risk," and 12 were
assessed as "not at risk." The term "risk" refers to whether the SMU can
be sustained until a conservation plan is developed and implemented. The
level of risk will determine the priority in which monitoring strategies
and conservation plans are developed.

 

The study was funded through a grant from the Oregon Watershed
Enhancement Board (OWEB). ODFW staff were assisted in the assessments by
S.P. Cramer and Associates, a fisheries consulting firm. The last such
assessment was conducted in 1995. The 2005 report can be found online at
http://www.dfw.state.or.us/fish/ONFSR/index.asp. 

 

Public comments on the draft report will be accepted through Oct. 24.
Comments should be sent to kevin.w.goodson at state.or.us
<mailto:kevin.w.goodson at state.or.us>  or mailed to him at 3406 Cherry
Avenue NE, Salem, OR 97303-4924. A CD of the report can be requested
from Casaria Tuttle at casaria.r.tuttle at state.or.us or 503-947-6230.

 

 

 

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