OldBlackDog
Well-Known Member
[h=1]Two scientific reports now available on Puget Sound steelhead status and recovery[/h]
June 2015Contributed by Ed Quimby
Steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) populations in the Puget Sound region were once abundant, but have been declining for decades and were listed as a threatened species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act in May 2007.
To advance the recovery process, the Puget Sound Steelhead Technical Recovery Team (TRT) was formed in March 2008. Composed of nine scientists from federal, state, tribal, and local government agencies including the Northwest Fisheries Science Center, the TRT gathered available information until March 2013. The result is two recently published technical memorandums that synthesize the best available science to support bringing the Puget Sound steelhead populations back to health.
The first step in managing something is to understand it, so the first volume, Identifying Historical Populations of Steelhead within the Puget Sound Distinct Population Segment, profiles 32 demographically independent populations that are clustered into three ecologically and geographically distinct major population groups. The companion volume, Viability Criteria for Steelhead within the Puget Sound Distinct Population Segment, establishes criteria for assessing viability and progress toward recovery of the DPS.
TRT Chair Jeff Hard, an NWFSC ecological geneticist, said “These two documents provide scientific building blocks for the steelhead recovery plan.” The Puget Sound Steelhead Recovery Team is now drafting the recovery plan that describes science-based benchmarks and actions necessary for recovery of the DPS. While the members of the TRT were scientists focused on specific biological questions, the recovery planning team, representing a broader coalition of scientists, natural resource managers, and technical staff from organizations such as Long Live the Kings and the Puget Sound Partnership, is taking on a much more complex and multidimensional task.
Hard said “The population and viability documents show the Recovery Team what to focus on for the recovery plan, what to measure and monitor across Puget Sound. For a job of this scope, the team will need to evaluate alternative recovery activities affecting individual steelhead populations.”
June 2015Contributed by Ed Quimby
Steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) populations in the Puget Sound region were once abundant, but have been declining for decades and were listed as a threatened species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act in May 2007.
To advance the recovery process, the Puget Sound Steelhead Technical Recovery Team (TRT) was formed in March 2008. Composed of nine scientists from federal, state, tribal, and local government agencies including the Northwest Fisheries Science Center, the TRT gathered available information until March 2013. The result is two recently published technical memorandums that synthesize the best available science to support bringing the Puget Sound steelhead populations back to health.
The first step in managing something is to understand it, so the first volume, Identifying Historical Populations of Steelhead within the Puget Sound Distinct Population Segment, profiles 32 demographically independent populations that are clustered into three ecologically and geographically distinct major population groups. The companion volume, Viability Criteria for Steelhead within the Puget Sound Distinct Population Segment, establishes criteria for assessing viability and progress toward recovery of the DPS.
TRT Chair Jeff Hard, an NWFSC ecological geneticist, said “These two documents provide scientific building blocks for the steelhead recovery plan.” The Puget Sound Steelhead Recovery Team is now drafting the recovery plan that describes science-based benchmarks and actions necessary for recovery of the DPS. While the members of the TRT were scientists focused on specific biological questions, the recovery planning team, representing a broader coalition of scientists, natural resource managers, and technical staff from organizations such as Long Live the Kings and the Puget Sound Partnership, is taking on a much more complex and multidimensional task.
Hard said “The population and viability documents show the Recovery Team what to focus on for the recovery plan, what to measure and monitor across Puget Sound. For a job of this scope, the team will need to evaluate alternative recovery activities affecting individual steelhead populations.”
