Salmon
Salmon are the heartbeat of Hood Canal
- Recreational opportunities
- A cultural link, including Skokomish and Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribal customs, as well as non-tribal traditions in the region
- An important subsistence food source that has sustained this area’s inhabitants for thousands of years
- Jobs (e.g., fishing, tourism) and revenue to the local economy
- An indication of the overall health of the ecosystem
- A nutrient transport mechanism between freshwater and marine environments
Our salmon recovery efforts in Hood Canal show signs of success
All salmon species have unique life histories and we are developing suitable strategies to address their needs.
There are a number of large-scale efforts designed to increase the number and diversity of Hood Canal salmonids, and address the key challenges facing our recovery goals, including:
- Carry out large estuary management and restoration projects
- Implement the Hood Canal and Eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca Summer Chum Salmon Recovery Plan
- Implement the Skokomish and Mid Hood Canal Chinook Salmon Recovery Plan
- Maintain healthy Hood Canal salmon populations at harvestable levels by properly managing the annual fisheries to meet escapement needs, and allow the necessary number or fish to return upriver to spawn
- Provide salmon for commercial, recreational, and subsistence harvesting by utilizing approved practices to protect the integrity of the Hood Canal hatchery programs
The Washington Legislature designated the HCCC as the Regional Recovery Organization for Hood Canal and Eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca Summer Chum salmon. The Hood Canal region is also a Puget Sound Salmon Recovery Region for Chinook and steelhead; and the HCCC is its Lead Entity, responsible for the implementation of the Puget Sound Chinook recovery plan (approved by NOAA in 2007), and recovery planning for Puget Sound steelhead
Learn more about what each of us can do to help recover our Hood Canal salmon.
Current populations have improved from a precipitous decline in the 1980's-90's. Large peaks are to be expected every decade or so due to naturally oscillating environmental conditions. On average, summer chum populations are sustaining and approaching recovery targets.
A salmon recovery success story: Hood Canal summer chum salmon
Hood Canal is home to a unique species of salmon called summer-run chum salmon. They are the first spawners to return each year, starting in August. Summer chum have been documented in most of the major rivers that drain to Hood Canal.
Unlike most salmon species, summer chum spawn in the lower one or two miles of their home rivers, making river estuaries important nurseries for young fish.
The abundance of spawning fish dropped significantly in the 1970s and 1980s, to the point where several subpopulations went extinct. Their numbers rebounded in the 1990s, and are approaching the recovery goals in both the Hood Canal and Strait of Juan de Fuca populations.
Many people and organizations have come together to bring Hood Canal Summer Chum back from the brink of extinction. Major accomplishments include:
- Fish harvest reforms
- Short-term hatchery supplementation and reintroduction of previously wiped out runs
- Significant habitat improvements through voluntary landowner action
This trend is very encouraging, although the question remains: how much is attributed to favorable ocean conditions and how much is the result of habitat and harvest management improvements? Sustained healthy summer chum populations during less favorable Pacific Decadal Oscillation cycles will determine true species recovery.
There are currently eight extant, robust, and increasing unique spawning aggregations across the Hood Canal and the Strait of Juan de Fuca summer chum salmon populations.
Spatial diversity is the key to healthy, sustainable summer chum salmon
The health, proximity and location of unique summer chum spawning aggregations within Hood Canal factor into the assessment of summer chum spatial diversity. Multiple, persistent summer chum spawning aggregations are needed across Hood Canal and the Eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca to maintain healthy populations into the future. Generally scientists believe that a summer chum population is likely to have a negligible risk of extinction over a 100-year period if spawning aggregations are distributed across the historical range of the population and located in close proximity to one another, with major aggregations not more than 25 miles apart.
Currently, the criteria for spatial diversity are nearly met for Strait of Juan de Fuca and Hood Canal summer chum. The one exception is found along the eastern side of Hood Canal where spawning aggregations are far apart and some could be at risk of extinction. To meet spatial diversity goals these spawning aggregations would need to show stability over time and additional healthy spawning aggregations would need to be established in close proximity.
