Or. Admin. R. 635-500-6525 - Rogue Spring Chinook Conservation Plan
(1) Background. The Rogue Spring Chinook
Salmon Conservation Plan of 2007 (Rogue Spring Chinook Plan, available at
Department offices) implements the Commission's strategy for the management of
this population of naturally produced native fish by the Department, in
cooperation with other state, federal and local partners. The Rogue Spring
Chinook Plan is based on the general premise that habitat management and
fishery management are critical to ensure the conservation and enhancement of
this population of native fish. The Commission believes that habitat management
is most likely to be successful by working cooperatively with the United States
Army Corps of Engineers on reservoir management issues in the Rogue River
Basin, and by encouraging the maintenance and improvement of aquatic and
riparian habitat as outlined by the Oregon Plan for Salmon and Watersheds. This
rule describes a strategy for the use of Department statutory authorities to
implement the requirements of the Native Fish Conservation Policy (OAR
635-007-0502 thru
635-007-0505). The Rogue Spring
Chinook Plan is not intended to be a rigid recipe, but does prescribe
generalized management strategies the Department will pursue; and how the
efficacy of those strategies and allied management actions will be
evaluated.
(2) Species Management
Unit and Population Description. The Species Management Unit (SMU) for Rogue
spring chinook salmon includes that area of the Rogue River Basin upstream of
Gold Ray Dam. Gold Ray Dam is located on the Rogue River at river mile 126.
Only one population of spring chinook salmon is present in the SMU.
(3) Desired Status. The desired status goal
is to manage Rogue spring chinook salmon and their habitat so that:
(a) The population is sustained for a minimum
of 100 years;
(b) The productive
capacity of the habitat is maintained in order to provide ecological, economic,
and cultural benefits; and
(c) The
opportunities for sport and commercial fishers are consistent with population
status.
(d) The six measurable
criteria that describe the desired status goal for Rogue spring chinook salmon
are:
(A) Abundance;
(B) Migration timing;
(C) Age composition;
(D) Spawning distribution;
(E) Spawner composition; and
(F) Population persistence.
(e) The above measurable criteria
are defined in Table 9 of the Desired Biological Status section of the Rogue
Spring Chinook Plan, and are adopted by reference into this rule. The desired
status goal for the SMU shall be judged to be achieved upon attainment of all
of the measurable criteria. Other criteria related to productivity
(standardized rate of population growth) and survival rate to each critical
life history stage may be developed in the future if new information becomes
available, or may be developed in the event that the fish counting station at
Gold Ray Dam becomes inoperable. Implementation of any new criteria, or the
deletion of any current criteria, will necessitate modification of this
rule.
(4) Current
Status. The current status of the Rogue Spring Chinook SMU, at the time of
adoption of this rule, is described in Table 10 of the Current Status section
of the Rogue Spring Chinook Plan. Criteria used to characterize current status
shall be structured so as to allow for the direct comparison of current and
desired status of the SMU. The Department shall annually update the current
status of the SMU. Annual updates will serve as a measurement of progress
toward desired status, and thus will not require rule modification of current
status.
(5) Primary Limiting
Factors.
(a) Numerous factors contribute to
the gap between current and desired status of the Rogue spring chinook
SMU.
(b) The primary non-manageable
limiting factor is marine survival rates associated with variable ocean
conditions. At the time of adoption of this Conservation Plan, manageable
primary limiting factors responsible for the gap between current and desired
status are:
(A) Limited spawning
habitat;
(B) Reservoir operation of
Lost Creek Lake; and
(C) Fishery
impacts that exceed optimum for a portion of the population.
(6) Management
Strategies. Department staff shall attempt to implement the following
management strategies as mechanisms designed to result in the attainment of
desired status for the Rogue Spring Chinook SMU. These strategies are directed
at primary and secondary factors that currently limit attainment of desired
status, or are judged to be potential risks to attainment of desired status in
future years:
(a) Short-term Strategies (1 to
5 years):
(A) Decrease rates of predation on
naturally produced spring chinook salmon with intent to increase the survival
rates of naturally produced spring chinook salmon.
(b) Long-term Strategies (1 to 25 years):
(A) Implement actions designed to ensure that
Lost Creek Lake is managed to maintain a viable population of naturally
produced spring chinook salmon that exhibits, as much as possible, historic
life history characteristics and continue actions designed to protect habitat
in the Rogue River downstream of Lost Creek Lake with intent to maintain and
enhance quantity and quality of habitat available to naturally produced spring
chinook salmon that spawn in the Rogue River Basin.
(B) Manage spring chinook salmon of hatchery
origin so as to minimize the risk of genetic changes among naturally produced
fish and to maintain the genetic integrity, and life history characteristics,
of that portion of the natural population that historically spawned in upstream
areas prior to the construction of Lost Creek Dam with intent to maintain the
genetic integrity of naturally produced spring chinook salmon.
(C) Enhance the production of naturally
produced spring chinook salmon in Big Butte Creek. The intent of this strategy
is to increase the amount of habitat available for the production of naturally
produced spring chinook salmon.
(D)
Manage fisheries to sustain productivity for all segments of the population of
naturally produced spring chinook salmon, with a secondary objective of
increasing harvest opportunities for hatchery fish produced to mitigate for
blocked habitat. The intent of this strategy is to ensure sustainability of the
historic life history characteristics of naturally produced spring chinook
salmon while maximizing freshwater harvest opportunities for spring chinook
salmon of hatchery origin.
(7) Deterioration in Status.
(a) Additional conservation actions, or plan
modification, will be employed by the Department if monitoring shows the SMU
status has dropped below criteria levels defined in Table 23 in the Criteria
Indicating Deterioration in Status section of the Rogue Spring Chinook Plan and
are adopted by reference into this rule.
(b) Additional conservation actions to be
taken will be dependent on Department assessments that predict which criteria
will be reached and the degree of criteria deterioration.
(c) Implementation of any new criteria, or
the deletion of any current criteria, will necessitate modification of this
rule.
(8) Adaptive
Management. The Department shall employ adaptive management principles within
its statutory authority in support of achieving the desired status goal for the
Rogue Spring Chinook SMU. The adaptive management approach employed by the
Department will include five elements: research, monitoring, evaluation,
reporting, and modification of corrective strategies.
(a) Research: The Department shall identify
and support research that, as funding and staffing allows, addresses
uncertainties related to management strategies and actions needed to achieve
desired status. Research needs, at the time of plan adoption, are identified in
the Rogue Spring Chinook Plan (but which are not intended to be the exclusive
research projects to be pursued). Future research needs may be identified, or
research needs described at the time of plan adoption may be modified, as a
result of periodic assessments of the Rogue Spring Chinook Plan.
(b) Monitoring: The Department shall
identify, implement, and support monitoring needed to assess the status of the
Rogue Spring Chinook SMU relative to desired status criteria, current status
criteria, and criteria indicating significant deterioration in status. Future
monitoring needs may be identified during periodic assessments of the Rogue
Spring Chinook Plan.
(c)
Evaluation: The Department shall identify and support evaluation that is
needed, as funding and staffing allows, to determine the effectiveness of
management strategies and actions in achieving intended outcomes. Future
evaluation needs may be identified, or evaluation needs described at the time
of plan adoption may be modified, as a result of periodic assessments of the
Rogue Spring Chinook Plan.
(d)
Reporting: The Department will develop, and will make available to the public:
(A) Annual reports of SMU status. Annual
reports will present:
(i) Current SMU status
as assessed by monitoring;
(ii) A
summary of results from research or evaluation activities; and
(iii) Department rationale associated with
any adaptive changes made to management actions.
(B) summary reports of SMU status. Summary
reports will outline progress made towards attainment of desired status every
five years; and
(C) comprehensive
assessments of the Conservation Plan efficacy. Comprehensive assessments of
plan efficacy will be completed for intervals that do not exceed 15 years,
beginning with the year 2020.
(9) Process to Modify Strategies.
(a) In the event that a status review
indicates that criteria indicative of status deterioration will likely be
realized, the Department will craft management options to address the need to
temporarily modify the Rogue Spring Chinook Plan. These options will be
presented in the annual report, and the Department will solicit public input
prior to selection of a course of action.
(b) In the event that a status review
indicates that management strategies should be modified to ensure attainment of
desired status, or in the event of critical changes in local, state, or federal
laws, the Department will develop revised options for management strategies to
address the need to modify the Rogue Spring Chinook Plan. These options will be
presented in a special report, and the Department will solicit public input
prior to selection of a course of action.
(c) Specific management actions for
management strategies adopted into rule may be modified by the Department under
the principle of adaptive management.
(d) Actions may be revised to improve
performance, or actions may be terminated and be replaced by other actions that
are determined to be more effective.
(e) Rationale associated with any changes in
management actions will be detailed in annual status reports developed by the
Department, and where applicable, will be linked to findings from monitoring,
evaluation, and research efforts.
(10) Impact on Other Native Fish Species.
Management strategies identified in the Rogue Spring Chinook Plan are likely to
be collectively neutral or somewhat beneficial to other native fish species
present in the SMU. New or modified management actions shall consider projected
impacts to other native species of fish and if needed, will be modified to
ensure compliance with:
(a) Department
policy; and
(b) State, federal,
and local laws.
Notes
Stat. Auth.: ORS 496.138, 496.146, 506.119
Stats. Implemented: ORS 506.109, 506.129
State regulations are updated quarterly; we currently have two versions available. Below is a comparison between our most recent version and the prior quarterly release. More comparison features will be added as we have more versions to compare.
No prior version found.