Oceangoing fish listed as 'threatened'
By CHRIS McGANNP-I REPORTER
They're sleek, muscular and bright as polished chrome, but the steelhead trout that still return to Puget Sound-area rivers are a dim reflection of the returns seen a just a decade ago.
On Monday, the federal government decided it is time for serious changes to prevent Puget Sound steelhead from disappearing altogether.
The National Marine Fisheries Service listed the fish as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act. The agency proposed the listing just over a year ago in response to a petition from Sam Wright of Olympia.
The "threatened" listing is not as severe as the agency's strongest protection, "endangered" but it still provides substantial protections for the fish, spokesman Brian Gorman said.
"In terms of their present condition, they were in perilous shape, but it also means that they are now afforded some very serious federal protections," he said. "Other federal agencies (now) need to come to us for permission to do anything that might affect these fish."
That combined with the state's $8 billion Puget Sound cleanup initiative bodes well for steelhead recovery, Gorman said.
Though conditions may change for the fish, which biologists say are in decline because of habitat degradation, dams and culverts, unfavorable ocean conditions and harmful hatchery practices, little -- including sport-fishing opportunities -- is likely to change for people around Puget Sound.
Many of the restrictions on shoreline development and land use are already in place because of existing chinook and chum salmon protections.
Heather Bartlett, spokeswoman for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, said that the most rigorous restriction available is to require sport fishermen to release wild fish. That rule is already in effect on all Puget Sound-area rivers, she said.
Changes in hatchery practices eventually could affect fishing opportunities, but not in the immediate future, she said.
A species categorized as "endangered" is in danger of extinction. One listed as "threatened" is likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future.
The listing covers naturally spawned steelhead from river basins near Puget Sound, Hood Canal and the eastern half of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. It also covers two winter-run hatchery stocks: the Green River natural and Hamma Hamma River.
The fisheries service considered the status of Puget Sound steelhead as recently as 1996, but said at that time the population did not warrant listing under the species-protection law.
Since then, agency biologists say there have been continued widespread declines in the fish's population, despite substantial reductions in the harvest of natural steelhead.
Advocates for fish lauded the listing.
The Wild Steelhead Coalition said the listing was an important step in protecting the region's depleted wild steelhead populations.
The group described the fish as an "extraordinary trout species (that) is born in Washington's rivers and streams, then migrates to the ocean, traveling as far as the Russia coast, to feed and grow to as large as 30 pounds before returning to their native Puget Sound-area rivers to spawn.
"Steelhead are the Washington State fish, and they have been an icon of the Pacific Northwest and a source of important cultural and economic benefits throughout the region's history."
Dick Burge of the coalition said: "Puget Sound's wild steelhead have been in steep decline for decades. In the past 20 years, we've seen formerly productive runs fail year after year. Decades of degraded habitat, poor hatchery practices and misguided harvest management have to be addressed to turn the declines around. It is time for action."
P-I reporter Chris McGann can be reached at 360-943-3990 or chrismcgann@seattlepi.com.
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