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1994 Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program |
| Council document 94-55 | |
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8.1 Develop Harvest Goals and Escapement Objectives
8.1A Management Goals and Escapement Objectives
Fishery Managers
8.1A.1 Expedite the development and/or re-evaluation of management goals[1] and spawning escapement objectives.[2] Harvest should be managed to meet rebuilding targets (see Section 4.3), recognizing the statistical quality of the run forecast and the uncertainties associated with escapement objectives. Failure to establish and manage for spawning escapement objectives will jeopardize Council support for future funding of production and habitat measures in the Council's program.
8.1A.2 Revise the Columbia River Fish Management Plan to provide explicit protection for Snake River chinook and sockeye salmon populations.
8.1A.3 Revise the Pacific Fishery Management Council's Salmon Plan to specifically account for needs of listed salmon in the Columbia River.
8.1B Rebuilding Schedules
Fishery Managers
8.1B.1 Develop and/or review and revise, as necessary, escapement objectives and rebuilding schedules as stated in Sections 4.3 and 8.1A.1. Harvest managers should especially consider how existing harvest management and legal agreements can be modified to assist with achievement of the rebuilding targets. The development of rebuilding schedules for weak stocks will require the identification and annual achievement of survival targets at a number of stages throughout the life cycle of specific weak stocks.
All Parties
8.1B.2 Assist in the development of rebuilding schedules that consider all sources of mortality.
8.1C Consultation
Fishery Managers
8.1C.1 Consult with the Council during April of each year on the consistency of harvest management with the rebuilding schedules and escapement objectives of the fish and wildlife program. The consultation will address:
- the extent to which exploitation rates, escapement objectives and management goals were achieved during the previous year's harvest season;
- the extent to which proposed regulations for the coming season are expected to achieve exploitation rates, escapement objectives and management goals; and
- a status report on management goals, escapement objectives and rebuilding schedules for weak stocks.
[1] Management goals specify the management intent for the stock and the number of fish needed to fulfill this intent. Management goals also define the population management units that may be evolutionarily significant units, stocks or collections of stocks.
[2] Escapement objectives specify the number of fish, either as a single number or a range, required to spawn to fulfill the biological requirements of the population management unit and achieve the management goal over the long term. Escapement objectives should incorporate the concepts of minimum viable population and effective population size and accommodate the uncertainty and variability in biological productivity and environmental conditions.