July 13, 2005

Based on recent run sizes and harvest levels, salmon and steelhead production in the Columbia River Basin contributes about $142 million in personal income annually to communities on the West Coast, according to a study by a panel of eight independent economists for the Council. Of that amount, about $109 million in income is generated in the states of Washington, Oregon and Idaho, an amount that may support some 3,600 jobs, according to the report by the Independent Economic Advisory Board.

Meeting in Portland this week, the Council discussed the report and another that also addresses salmon and steelhead harvest. In that report, the Independent Scientific Advisory Board, an 11-member panel that advises both the Council and the National Marine Fisheries Service, made recommendations for improving harvest management after an extensive review of current state, federal and tribal policies and procedures.

"The Council does not regulate fish harvest or set harvest policies, but the Council has addressed harvest issues since the inception of our Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program in 1982," said Council Chair Melinda Eden, an Oregon member of the Council. "It is not enough to improve fish migration, production and habitat. Fisheries management agencies must improve survival of these stocks through effective regulation of harvest. This benefits the fish and also communities where income from fishing is important to the economy."

The economists measured regional economic impacts of income related to salmon and steelhead fisheries. The model to generate these impacts uses factors for smolt-to-adult survival rates, hatchery production levels, and harvest regulations.

Depending on assumptions for fish production and harvest, the estimated economic impacts varied from $40 million to $142 million per year. Based on fish production and harvest in recent years the economic impacts total $142 million annually, the panel reported. About 77 percent of the economic contribution occurs from ocean and inriver fisheries in the Pacific Northwest. Most of the rest occurs in Alaska and British Columbia, with a very small impact in California. About 63 percent of the total economic contribution was generated by the Columbia inriver fishery, according to the report. Of the $142 million in economic impacts, commercial fishing accounts for 59 percent and recreational fishing contributes about 36 percent.

In the other report, the scientific advisory board made four recommendations:

1. Monitoring data: Fish production data should be monitored more carefully in order to improve understanding of productivity and trends in abundance over time.
2. Documented assessments: Detailed assessments of individual fish populations, which are the basis for harvest management decisions, must be better documented and scientifically peer reviewed in order to provide quality control to the scientific basis of management planning.
3. Accounting for uncertainty: Through public consultation, guidelines for estimating and accounting for uncertainty in harvest management targets and in-season harvest management should be developed and applied.
4. Adaptive management in salmon recovery: Adaptive management principles — learning by doing — should be adopted. The panel recommends that a systematic approach be developed to test alternative fish-recovery actions, including harvest, with an emphasis on achieving secure spawning escapement levels. The scientists also said harvest managers and the harvest industry need to be in close touch with the evolving scientific understanding of climate and ocean changes and cycles in relation to salmon and other natural resources and adjust their procedures accordingly for conducting assessments, setting allowable harvests, and harvesting fish.

Both reports are available from the Council:

• The economic analysis, Document 2005-9
• The scientific board's report, Document 2005-4

The Council is an agency of the states of Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington and is directed by the Northwest Power Act of 1980 to prepare a program to protect, mitigate and enhance fish and wildlife of the Columbia River Basin affected by hydropower dams while also assuring the region an adequate, efficient, economical and reliable power supply.