Order Giving Notice of Decisions Not to Add Certain Species to the List of Endangered Species — 2
2 Chinook Salmon ( Oncorhynchus tshawytscha ) (Okanagan Population) The Minister of the Environment has recommended, on the advice of the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, that Chinook Salmon (Okanagan population) not be added to the List. The Chinook Salmon ( Oncorhynchus tshawytscha ) is one of six species of the Pacific salmon ( genus Oncorhynchus ) native to North America. Chinook Salmon are born in fresh water and grow in streams, lakes, estuaries or the ocean. Sexually mature or maturing fish migrate to their natal stream to spawn, in a broad range of stream flows, water depths, and substrate sizes, but preferentially in areas with intra-gravel water flow, after which the adults die. In the ocean, Chinook Salmon may remain in coastal areas or complete extensive offshore migrations. In Canada, the Okanagan population of Chinook Salmon is limited to the Okanagan River which is a tributary of the Columbia River. While Okanagan Chinook Salmon are geographically, reproductively and genetically distinct from all other Canadian Chinook Salmon populations, studies have confirmed that a small proportion of the fish entering Canada were released from hatcheries in the United States. Perhaps as a consequence, Okanagan Chinook Salmon are genetically similar to Upper Columbia Summer Chinook. A recent study indicates that Okanagan Chinook Salmon are anadromous, meaning that they migrate to and from the Pacific Ocean through the Columbia River. Studies indicate that American dams on the Columbia River represent the greatest threat to the survival of Upper Columbia River Chinook Salmon. Anadromous Okanagan Chinook Salmon enter the Okanagan River in June and July and likely remain there until spawning in October. Peak spawning generally occurs in the third week of October, when water temperatures are between approximately 10°C and 14°C. It is unknown whether spawning also occurs in early July when water temperatures are also favourable. Eggs incubate through the winter and fry emerge between January and May. Adding Okanagan Chinook Salmon to the List would immediately activate the prohibitions contained in section 32 of the Act. Since individuals of this population cannot easily be distinguished from other co-mingling populations of Chinook Salmon, implementing the prohibitions would require the closure of all commercial fisheries in which the Okanagan population could potentially be intercepted. Consequently, commercial Chinook Salmon troll fisheries on the north and west coasts of Vancouver Island would have to be closed. The closure of these Chinook Salmon fisheries would result in the loss of approximately $19 million per year to the B.C. economy: $7.7 million per year in lost wages for people working in commercial fishing, $4.2 million per year in lost profits to the commercial fishing industry and $7.3 million per year lost in commercial fishing licence values. The Recovery Potential Assessment indicates that this reduction in catch would, by itself, not provide for the recovery of Okanagan Chinook Salmon. The Recovery Potential Assessment for Okanagan Chinook Salmon determined that recovery of this population is highly improbable without large scale augmentation of hatchery-raised salmon. The most promising option for survival of this population is the Upper Columbia Summer Chinook Salmon hatchery which has been proposed by the Confederate Tribes of the Colville Reserve in Washington State. The augmentation of production that this hatchery would generate would increase straying of Upper Columbia Summer Chinook Salmon into the Canadian portion of the Okanagan River and could eventually result in a viable, hybrid wild Okanagan Chinook Salmon population. Fisheries management actions to improve survival of this population have been put in place. Amendments to the Pacific Salmon Treaty in 2009 reduced catch limits on Upper Columbia Chinook Salmon by 30% on the west coast of Vancouver Island and by 15% in southeast Alaska. The federal g