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Published: February 2, 2011
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NOAA Fisheries will convene a multi-session science workshop on killer whale recovery. Although the full details have not yet been worked out, Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans will join NOAA in this process. This action follows a preliminary analysis that includes information showing that killer whales depend to a substantial degree on large Chinook salmon as a high-calorie food source and concludes that killer whale productivity is affected by Chinook abundance.
Puget Sound Chinook salmon and killer whales are both listed for protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). These orcas, known officially as Southern Resident killer whales, are also listed as endangered under Canada’s Species at Risk Act.
The preliminary analysis came in preparation of a more routine NOAA Fisheries review of a harvest management plan for Puget Sound Chinook.
The Chinook management plan, submitted by Washington State and Puget Sound treaty Indian tribes for the fisheries agency’s approval under the ESA, would govern Indian and non-Indian sport and commercial Chinook harvests through 2014. Because the results of the science review are not yet known, the agency said any approval of the proposed harvest plan would likely not be effective beyond 2012.
The first of the science workshops will be held this spring. The meetings will share and develop all available scientific information pertinent to the effects of fishing on the whales and ways in which the quality of scientific information can be improved. Results of the workshop will help the agency implement its ESA recovery plan for killer whales.
At the conclusion of the workshops, both agencies will be better able to determine whether and to what extent additional constraints on salmon fishing may be necessary. Because of the extensive range of the Southern Resident killer whales, fisheries from California north to southeast Alaska may be affected.
See the Northwest Region Website at http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/Marine-Mammals/Whales-Dolphins-Porpoise/Killer-Whales/ESA-Status/KW-Chnk.cfm for supporting documents, including the preliminary analysis.
source: NOAA
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Published: February 2, 2011
Print
EmailNOAA Fisheries will convene a multi-session science workshop on killer whale recovery. Although the full details have not yet been worked out, Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans will join NOAA in this process. This action follows a preliminary analysis that includes information showing that killer whales depend to a substantial degree on large Chinook salmon as a high-calorie food source and concludes that killer whale productivity is affected by Chinook abundance.
Puget Sound Chinook salmon and killer whales are both listed for protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). These orcas, known officially as Southern Resident killer whales, are also listed as endangered under Canada’s Species at Risk Act.
The preliminary analysis came in preparation of a more routine NOAA Fisheries review of a harvest management plan for Puget Sound Chinook.
The Chinook management plan, submitted by Washington State and Puget Sound treaty Indian tribes for the fisheries agency’s approval under the ESA, would govern Indian and non-Indian sport and commercial Chinook harvests through 2014. Because the results of the science review are not yet known, the agency said any approval of the proposed harvest plan would likely not be effective beyond 2012.
The first of the science workshops will be held this spring. The meetings will share and develop all available scientific information pertinent to the effects of fishing on the whales and ways in which the quality of scientific information can be improved. Results of the workshop will help the agency implement its ESA recovery plan for killer whales.
At the conclusion of the workshops, both agencies will be better able to determine whether and to what extent additional constraints on salmon fishing may be necessary. Because of the extensive range of the Southern Resident killer whales, fisheries from California north to southeast Alaska may be affected.
See the Northwest Region Website at http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/Marine-Mammals/Whales-Dolphins-Porpoise/Killer-Whales/ESA-Status/KW-Chnk.cfm for supporting documents, including the preliminary analysis.
source: NOAA
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