ODFW News: Upper Deschutes Management Plan

[Pete]

For Immediate Release Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2003

Upper Deschutes Basin fish management plan adopted

The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission Friday adopted amendments to the Deschutes Basin Fish Management Plan that direct management for anadromous runs of summer steelhead, spring chinook, sockeye, Pacific lamprey and bull trout in areas of historic range.

Restoration of anadromous fish runs is based on the assumption that fish passage will be provided at Pelton and Round Butte dams as a result of requirements associated with federal relicensing of the hydroelectric project. The plan is expected to be in place for 10 years and allows for adaptive management as fish passage efforts move forward.

The desired result of the basin plan is to restore sustainable populations of anadromous fish in their historic range consistent with Oregon's Native Fish Conservation Policy and the Oregon Plan for Salmon and Watersheds. Construction of dams in the Deschutes Basin reduced the ability of juvenile fish to migrate downstream and led to the loss of anadromous runs in the upper Deschutes Basin.

The following alternatives were adopted:
· Summer steelhead: Selectively pass juveniles, eggs and adults with known basin origin above the dams and consider passing any adult once passage is successful and self-sustaining populations are predicted.
· Spring chinook: Selectively pass juveniles, eggs and adults with known basin origin above the dams and consider passing any adult once fish passage is successful and self-sustaining populations are predicted.
· Sockeye: Selectively pass eggs and smolts, and adults of known upper basin origin into the Metolius River and Suttle Lake/Link Creek to manage disease risk. Consider passing any adult once fish passage is successful and self-sustaining populations are predicted.
· Bull trout: Any bull trout will be passed at the dams to reconnect the upper and lower Deschutes populations.
· Pacific lamprey: Pass adult Pacific lamprey above Pelton-Round Butte dams to re-establish upstream populations.

The Commission adopted the chosen alternatives to minimize disease risk, preserve existing fisheries, and promote restoration of anadromous fish runs.

[BuKuBass]

This is some good news. I only hope that the runs occur while I can still pull my carcess up out of the canyons.

[TillamookChinook]

We all hope the restoration of anadromous runs past the dams will be successful. It looks like it will largely be up to PGE and the Warms Springs Tribe to be responsible for it because BLM has announced they don't have time to be involved in the dam relicensing process now underway.

TC

[The Bloodletter]

This is great news but due to the fact that BLM has chosen to exclude itself from the negotiations it is unlikely that fish passage will be on the agenda. I read in a recent article in the DJC that PGE and the CTWS would not allow the BLM to participate because they did not have time before the sheduled start. BLM said they would be preparing for the meeting but not any time soon after the first of the year. PGE's response was "yeah right!" There are some legal and or constitutional ramifications that would allow PGE to do this. If that is all true, the BLM should get the Boner Award from all those interested in resurecting historical fish runs.
It seems to me that it would be highly unlikely for PGE & the Tribes to fork over the millions of dollars necessary to install fish ladders out of the goodness of their heart. But, stranger things have happened.

[lost_sailor]

Last time I read up on this, one of the big problems was the smolts inability to navigate through the lakes - where there is no particular current and a lot of water to cover. Think about it. Billy Chinook.

Doesn't mention the non-native brown trout which I stalk obsessively. I wonder!

[ 12-17-2003, 05:14 PM: Message edited by: lost_sailor ]

[damoperator]

lost_sailor you are wright. I talked to our fish guy and he said they get lost in the weard currents. The fish ladder is there allready. They use it to raise fish for the lower De. The tribes own or will soon own 51% of the project. So they will be in charge.

[GutshotApe]

Generally I favor restoration of native fish stocks...but there are aspects of this plan, the little of it I know about & understand, that are troublesome...assuming runs could actually be re-established above Lake B.Chinook.

Restoration of anadromous sockeye using stocks of known local origin (where are they now...kokanee?) to avoid disease (IHN?) sounds good....but would that actually work and for how long?

What would restoration of sockeye mean for the Metolius trout fishery which, as I understand, has been producing some really nice wild fish since the hatchery trout program was stopped?

Just wondering. :whazzup:

[rob allen]

How about fully seeding the habitat below the dams before we start taking fish out of that unfilled habitat and putting them somewhere where we don't know what will happen to them.