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Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon
Study finds lamprey decline continues
A new study aimed at un-
derstanding habitat needs for
Pacific lamprey in western
Oregon found the fish pre-
fers side channels and other
lower water velocity habitats
in streams.
However, because of the
legacy of historic land uses
in the Northwest—including
human settlement and activi-
ties—these habitats are much
less common than they were
in the past.
That may explain why
populations of lamprey have
declined over the past sev-
eral decades—not only in
western Oregon, but
throughout the Pacific
Northwest.
Results of the study were
just published in the Ecology
of Freshwater Fish.
“The lamprey decline has
probably been going on for
the past half century, but it
wasn’t until the last 15 to 20
years that it has been recog-
nized by many in the scien-
tific community,” said Luke
Schultz, a research assistant
in Oregon State University’s
Department of Fisheries and
Wildlife, and lead author on
the study.
“Today lamprey popula-
tions are at about 5 to 10
percent of the 1960s totals
at Bonneville Dam, and the
story is much the same else-
where.
“The Willamette River
basin is one of the few places
that still appears to have de-
cent numbers of lamprey
because of its system of
sloughs and side channels,”
he added.
“But they are facing new
threats, such as introduced
fish species that prey on
them—especially bass—so
we’ll likely be hearing more
Spilyay file photo
Tribal members fishing for lamprey at Willamette Falls.
about this emerging threat in
the next few years.”
Schultz is project leader
Oregon Cooperative Fish
Research Unit’s Pacific lam-
prey project.
This is a joint effort be-
tween OSU and the U.S. Geo-
logical Survey, seeking to
learn more about the fish and
restore its habitat.
Although this latest article
focuses on the Willamette Ba-
sin, Schultz and his colleagues
have looked at lamprey popu-
lations and habitat from the
Columbia River in northeast-
ern Oregon to southern
Oregon’s Umpqua River.
The causes of Pacific lam-
prey decline are myriad, the
researchers say.
Restoring their numbers
will require mitigation in the
form of restoring habitat to
include complex channels and
deep pools, and the removal
of barriers that block access
to spawning grounds for adult
lampreys, the authors note.
“Removal or mitigation
will allow lampreys to recolo-
nize those areas,” Schultz said.
Some factors affecting the
lamprey decline may be out
of the researchers’ control,
Schultz said, specifically
ocean conditions.
The fish require an abun-
dance of food. Ocean con-
ditions that are favorable to
salmon are usually beneficial
for lampreys, as well.
Rather than swimming
freely, they may attach them-
selves to large fishes, or even
whales, sea lions or other
marine animals. And the
abundant ocean prey lets
them grow large.
“Pacific lamprey may
spend one or two years in the
ocean,” Schultz noted. “They
will weigh less than an ounce
when they go out there as ju-
veniles, and they may grow
to 30 inches in length and up
to two pounds before they
return.”
Although Pacific lampreys
are anadromous, another spe-
cies, the brook lamprey, only
grows to a length of 6-7
inches and stays in fresh wa-
ter for its entire lifespan of
4-8 years.
It is the Pacific lamprey
that researchers are focusing
on, because of their one-time
abundance, larger size, and
more prominent ecological
role.
“These are really interest-
ing animals that have historic
importance in the Pacific
Northwest,” Schultz noted.
“They can live up to about
10 years or so—about three
times longer than the coho
salmon life cycle—and they
are roughly six times as en-
ergy-dense as salmon, mak-
ing them important prey.
“Because of that, I like to
call them swimming sticks of
butter.”
When lampreys are abun-
dant, they reduce predation
by a variety of species—es-
pecially sea lions, but also stur-
geon, birds, bass and wall-
eye—on juvenile salmon and
steelhead.
It may not be an accident
that salmonid numbers have
declined at the same time lam-
prey populations have dimin-
ished.
The research in the study
has led to some habitat res-
toration work supported by
the Columbia River Inter-
Tribal Fish Commission.
Helping lamprey popula-
tions recover has important
social significance as well as
ecological
importance,
Schultz said.
“Lampreys were an in-
credibly important resource
for many Northwest tribes
because they provided a
source of protein in the sum-
mer months when salmon
weren’t as readily available,”
he noted.
“Now the only place where
there is even a limited tribal
harvest is at Willamette Falls.”
(This article is by Mark
Floyd/University of Oregon)
February 18, 2015
Corps of Engineers’
plan to reduce
cormorant predation
The U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers is moving
ahead with a plan to cut
the a population of
double-crested cormo-
rants on Oregon’s East
Sand Island in half.
Corps officials say
they local bird population
has grown too large and
is contributing to the loss
of endangered juvenile
salmon and steelhead in
the Columbia River.
The plan calls for the
culling of some 11,000
birds. The cormorants
would be shot with shot-
guns.
If finalized, the plan
will also see oil poured on
the nests of some 26,000
birds, so that eggs can’t
be hatched. The ultimate
goal is to reduce the size
of the current colony by
57 percent.
Biologists with the
Corps say the cormorant
population on the island
has exploded over the last
two decades, and that the
birds consume 7 percent
of all the juvenile salmon
and trout that travel into
the Pacific every year af-
ter being hatched up-
stream.
Opposed to the Corps
of Engineers plan to re-
duce the cor morant
population is the Portland
Audubon Society. The
Columbia River Inter-
Tribal Fish Commission,
representing the Confed-
erated Tribes of Warm
Springs and other river
treaty tribes, is in favor,
with some qualification.
CRITFC executive
director Paul Lumley
gave the statement re-
garding the Corps of
Engineers plan:
Avian predation upon
Columbia River salmon
stocks has grown to be-
come the single-largest,
unchecked impact on
their sustainability.
The U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers’ double-
crested cormorant Envi-
ronmental Impact State-
ment is an important first
step in addressing one of
the significant impacts of
avian predation on juve-
nile salmonids in the
lower Columbia River.
While this manage-
ment action is warranted,
it may not be enough to
reduce the staggering fish
losses.
From 2010-2013, ex-
ploding double-crested
cormorant populations
nesting on the man-made
East Sand Island have
consumed at least 74 mil-
lion juvenile salmonids in
the lower Columbia River.
These losses equate to
740,000 returning adult
salmon and steelhead. Af-
ter more than a decade
of research, we can no
longer afford to study
cormorant impacts with-
out addressing their threat
to salmon recovery.
Record low snowpacks in many basins in Oregon
For the second consecu-
tive year, Oregon’s moun-
tains are experiencing
record-low snowpack levels.
The report comes from
the USDA Natural Resources
Conservation Service.
While the state has re-
ceived near-normal amounts
of rainfall since Oct. 1—the
beginning of the water
year—mountain tempera-
tures have been unusually
warm.
As a result, 44 out of 110
long-term snow monitoring
sites in Oregon measured
record or near-record low lev-
els for snowpack in early Feb-
ruary.
Some areas were snow-
free for the first time on
record.
“It’s been a warm and
rainy winter in the Oregon
mountains this year,” said
hydrologist Melissa Webb.
“The Cascade and Siskiyou
Mountains are measuring
record low snowpack levels
right now.”
“There is grass growing in
areas that are normally bur-
ied under many feet of snow.
There is still time for improve-
ment in our snowpack, but at
this point, a full recovery is
unlikely.”
Without significant snow-
fall in February and March,
hyrologists predict that
streams and rivers typically
fed by snowmelt will experi-
ence well-below-normal flows
this summer.
“Winter rainfall can help
improve reservoir storage
and increase streamflows dur-
ing storms, but it has little
effect on streamflow later in
the season,” Webb said.
“We depend on the snow-
melt to provide a steady wa-
ter supply over the summer
months.”
understands the need; now,
therefore,
Be it resolved by the
Twenty-Sixth Tribal Council
of the Confederated Tribes
of the Warm Springs Reser-
vation of Oregon pursuant to
Article V, Section 1(l), (r) and
(u) of the Tribal Constitution
and By-Laws, and War m
Springs Tribal Code Section
340.310(2), that beginning the
following restrictive regula-
tions are adopted for tribal
subsistence fishing for Pacific
eulachon at the Sandy and
Cowlitz rivers during 2015:
1.
In recognition of
the traditional methods, Pa-
cific eulachon may be har-
vested with dipnets seven
days per week during the
smelt run. Fish may be
present from December to
May with the peak months of
February and March. March
is expected to be the best har-
vest month. Fishing will con-
tinue until the allocation of
6,500 pounds (approximately
93,820 fish) is reached, or the
run ends. Harvest will be
tracked by creel census. Fish-
ing may take place between
6 a.m. and 6 p.m. Harvest is
expected to be divided ap-
proximately evenly between
the Sandy and Cowlitz rivers.
2. Gear shall be limited
to dipnets.
3. The provisions of
the Warm Springs Tribal Code
(WSTC) 340.310(8), requir-
ing that dipnets are attended
continuously, will be enforced.
4. The Branch of
Natural Resources is respon-
sible for the biological moni-
toring of the fishery. Pursu-
ant to Warm Springs Tribal
Code 340.310(11), tribal
members fishing shall, upon
request, allow authorized fed-
eral, state or tribal officers to
inspect their catch. BNR will
collect and share harvest in-
formation and other relevant
biological and scientific infor-
mation with Washington De-
partment of Fish and Wild-
life and Oregon Department
of Fish and Wildlife to con-
tribute to their information
gathering objectives. Periodic
reports of run status and
abundance encountered by
tribal fishers will be shared
with the WDFW and ODFW
to aid in their monitoring and
public information objectives.
5. Tribal members
must carry enrollment cards
on their person at all times
fishing or transporting fish.
Members must produce it
upon request by state or tribal
enforcement officers. Any
person who produces a Warm
Springs tribal enrollment card
will not be required to pro-
duce a state fishing license.
6. Tribal members
must report catch to BNR
personnel on-site at fishery
locations; those not reporting
on-site are required to report
harvest within 24 hours at the
BNR office in Warm Springs.
7. This is a subsistence
fishery, there is no harvest
limit with the tribal allocation
of 6,500 pounds. Subsistence
is defined by Tribal Code
340.100 Definitions: (9) “sub-
sistence fishing” means the
taking of fish by members
for the personal use of mem-
bers, including the sale or ex-
change with other treaty In-
dians for their personal use
but not for sale or trade with
non-Indians. Commercial sale
of fish is not allowed.
8. Pursuant to Warm
Springs
Tribal
Code
340.310(13), the use of alco-
hol or drugs is prohibited
when fishing under claim of
treaty rights.
9. Pursuant to Warm
Springs Tribal Code 340.700
and 341.140, penalties for
violations will be strictly en-
forced to ensure compliance
with rules and regulations.
Resolution of Tribal Council
Smelt harvest
Whereas the Treaty with
the Tribes and Bands of
Middle Oregon on June 25,
1855 reserved to the Confed-
erated Tribes of the Warm
Springs Reservation of Or-
egon, off-reservation fishing
rights in ceded and at all usual
and accustomed stations; and,
Whereas the Tribal Coun-
cil regulates treat fishing for
conservation and other pur-
poses pursuant to the inher-
ent sovereign authority re-
served in the Treaty of June
25, 1855, and pursuant to the
Tribal Constitution and By-
Laws and the Warm Springs
Tribal Code; and,
Whereas the Confeder-
ated Tribes of Warm Springs
Reservation of Oregon have
historically fished for the Pa-
cific eulachon at the Cowlitz
and Sandy rivers, other tribu-
taries and other locations in
the Columbia River basin;
and,
Whereas the Tribal Coun-
cil has been advised by the
Fish and Wildlife Committee
and the Branch of Natural
Resources staff that the pre-
dicted return of the Pacific
eulachon will require a har-
vest restriction on the treaty
fishery to ensure optimal
spawning escapement; and,
Whereas the Tribal Coun-
cil has been advised by the
Fish and Wildlife Committee
and the Branch of Natural
Resources that NOAA-
NMFS designated, in No-
vember 2011, the Columbia
River and tributaries as criti-
cal habitat for Pacific eula-
chon; and,
Whereas the Tribal Coun-
cil recognizes the hardship
placed on tribal members
with harvest restrictions, as
adopted by Resolutions in the
past, but with concern for the
future of the fishery resource