King County and partners dismayed by feds’ decision to not protect Sammamish kokanee

Partnership will continue work toward recovering imperiled fish population

“I am surprised and disappointed by this decision,” said County Executive Dow Constantine. “Our native Lake Sammamish kokanee are on the brink of extinction and we have had to resort to emergency hatchery supplementation – basically life support – to make future recovery possible. Despite the reasoning behind today’s decision, we will do what is right and continue to work with our partners and the Fish and Wildlife Service to halt the decline of our local fish.”

“We have done our homework to identify what we need to do first, and have already initiated important work,” said Issaquah Mayor Ava Frisinger. “This decision is no excuse for the region to lose focus on our shared priorities for recovering this population.  We are hopeful that the Fish and Wildlife Service will stay engaged in and continue to be supportive of our work, which they had a hand in launching.”

"The Snoqualmie Tribe is extremely disappointed with the Services' decision not to regard Lake Sammamish kokanee as a distinct population segment of Oncorhynchus nerka,” said Tribal Administrator Matt Mattson. “The facts are that these fish are unique, and they are in crisis. They deserve full protection under the ESA. We are dismayed that the Services subjectively decided—contrary to the recommendations of local managers—that Lake Sammamish kokanee have no special significance to nerka throughout its range, and strongly urge them to reconsider that decision in the very near future."

“We plan to carefully review the decision once it's released to evaluate any potential next steps, and hope to continue working with the Service and other community partners to ensure we are doing everything we can to help recover these important fish over the long-term,” said Trout Unlimited staff attorney Kate Miller.

The USFWS determined that the Lake Sammamish kokanee population does not meet the definition of a “listable entity” under the agency’s “distinct population segment” policy. The agency said it found no evidence that Sammamish kokanee has a “special significance to the well-being of the species throughout its range,” and therefore was not a listable population under the ESA.

The USFWS’ decision comes following a four-year-long review of the stock’s health. The petition that launched the review was submitted in 2007 by a diverse coalition, including King County, the City of Issaquah, the Snoqualmie Tribe, Trout Unlimited, Save Lake Sammamish, and Wild Fish Conservancy.

A partnership of local governments, agencies, non-government organizations and citizens hasn’t delayed taking action while USFWS’ decision process lagged.  In 2007 local governments in the watershed moved to collaborate with other partners to form the Lake Sammamish Kokanee Work Group.  The work group was tasked with developing and implementing actions that would get the population on the road to recovery.

The work group has successfully launched an emergency hatchery program at the Issaquah Hatchery.  During the past two spawning runs, staff from King County, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and USFWS have captured adult fish in three streams and taken them to the hatchery for spawning.  Fish from the hatchery program have been released in April of the last two years. The first fish from the program to come back to the spawning grounds should be seen in fall 2012 or 2013 if all goes well.

Another early action is to implement a prioritized set of habitat restoration projects in several streams.  These projects include a major rerouting of one stream and several projects to remove culverts that have blocked kokanee from reaching some of the best remaining habitat.  One of these high priority projects is being financed and implemented primarily by the landowner, a longtime watershed resident and advocate for the little red fish.

Kokanee salmon are a smaller form of sockeye salmon.  Historically returning to spawning streams in the thousands or tens of thousands, since 1996 their spawning runs have averaged only 820 fish.  Three of the last four spawning runs have produced less than 150 fish.  While they formerly spawned in creeks around the Lake Washington watershed, including several in Seattle, they now spawn primarily in only three tributary streams to Lake Sammamish.

More information on Lake Sammamish kokanee restoration efforts is available at
http://www.kingcounty.gov/environment/animalsAndPlants/salmon-and-trout/kokanee.aspx.

Related information

Kokanee in King County, Washington

Sammamish Watershed

Salmon and trout topics

King County Water and Land Resources