NOAA Fisheries is a cooperator with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Lummi, Nooksack, and Stillaguamish Tribes in a 10-year program to rebuild the South Fork Nooksack River spring Chinook and Stillaguamish River fall Chinook stocks through a captive broodstock program. Information on the number of juveniles received into the program is maintained and summarized by year. The production of prespawning adults transferred to Tribal Facilities for spawning is also annually summarized.

NOAA Fisheries is a cooperator with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Lummi, Nooksack, and Stillaguamish Tribes in a 10-year program to rebuild the South Fork Nooksack River spring Chinook and Stillaguamish River fall Chinook stocks through a captive broodstock program. The fork length to the nearest mm and weight to the nearest gram of fish is recorded on an approximately annual basis.

NOAA Fisheries is a cooperator with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Lummi, Nooksack, and Stillaguamish Tribes in a 10-year program to rebuild the South Fork Nooksack River spring Chinook and Stillaguamish River fall Chinook stocks through a captive broodstock program. The fork length to the nearest mm and weight to the nearest gram of fish is recorded on an approximately annual basis.

As part of a long-term contaminant-monitoring program of fish in Puget Sound and Georgia Basin, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) and NWFSC have collaborated in collection and analyses of fish and other marine biota to determine contaminant exposure and potential effects to a wide range of marine species. NWFSC staff help collect samples and conduct chemical tracer analyses of a number of marine organisms to provide information about spatial and temporal changes in contaminant and lipid levels, as well as provide information on their potential health effects. WDFW takes the lead on study design and sample collection and provide expertise in the distribution and ecology of the fishes. This information can then be used by agency management to make informed decisions about Puget Sound/Georgia Basin fishery resources and habitats. In FY18-19, the NWFSC will analyze approximately 500 tissue/fluid samples of marine and anadromous fish species and the associated quality assurance samples for chemical contaminants (e.g., persistent organic pollutants, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), PAH metabolites, xenoestrogens), as well as percent solids and lipids. In addition, approximately 20 semi-permeable membranes and the associated quality assurance samples will be analyzed for this same suite of chemical contaminants. Determining levels of persistent organic pollutants, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and xenoestrogens in various matrices of fish from Puget Sound.

Critical habitat includes the stream channels within the designated stream reaches, and includes a lateral extent as defined by the ordinary high-water line (33 CFR 319.11). In areas where ordinary high-water line has not been defined, the lateral extent is defined by the bankfull elevation. Bankfull elevation is the level at which water begins to leave the channel and move into the floodplain and is reached at a discharge which generally has a recurrence interval of 1 to 2 years on the annual flood series. Critical habitat in lake areas is defined by the perimeter of the water body as displayed on standard 1:24,000 scale topographic maps or the elevation of ordinary high water, whichever is greater.See the final rule (70 FR 52630) for descriptions of areas excluded from this critical habitat designation. Military areas ineligible for designation (qualifying Integrated Natural Resource Management Plan) were not clipped out of the data. Excluded military areas (due to national security impacts), Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) lands, and Indian lands were not clipped out of the data.

In nearshore marine areas, critical habitat includes areas contiguous with the shoreline from the line of extreme high water out to a depth no greater than 30 meters relative to mean lower low water.See the final rule (70 FR 52630) for descriptions of areas excluded from this critical habitat designation. Military areas ineligible for designation (qualifying Integrated Natural Resource Management Plan) were not clipped out of the data. Excluded military areas (due to national security impacts) and Indian lands were not clipped out of the data.

This project has two objectives: 1. Estimate the amount of rearing habitat available to juvenile Chinook salmon currently and historically (i.e., ~1850s) throughout the Puget Sound region 2. Estimate the carrying capacity of the habitat in the region to support juvenile Chinook under current and historical conditions. Krista Bartz is the principal investigator for the project, and most of the analytical work is complete (as of May 2012). The remaining work involves completing a manuscript describing the work. Specific product for this project is a manuscript (likely the North American Journal of Fisheries Management). Audience for the project was initially intended to be NWFSC staff involved in parameterizing a Puget Sound-wide life-cycle model for Chinook salmon. Since ~2008, when that effort stalled, there has been a resurgence in interest in developing such a model. This is a one-time, stand-alone with soft deadlines in October 2012 to send the manuscript for internal review and December 2012 to send the manuscript to the journal. Estimates of changes in Chinook salmon juvenile rearing capacity in rivers and estuaries throughout Puget Sound, using pre-settlement conditions as the baseline.

The broad scope of the Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) mandate requires an efficient process for describing and mapping the habitat needs of federally managed species. For example, research indicates surficial sediments affect the distribution and abundance of many groundfish species, yet traditional sampling with grabs and cores is impractical over areas as large as the Bering Sea shelf. Acoustic tools are suitable for large-scale surveying and show great promise as a substitute for direct-sampling methods, but they have not been proven useful for EFH purposes.

The broad scope of the Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) mandate requires an efficient process for describing and mapping the habitat needs of federally managed species. For example, research indicates surficial sediments affect the distribution and abundance of many groundfish species, yet traditional sampling with grabs and cores is impractical over areas as large as the Bering Sea shelf. Acoustic tools are suitable for large-scale surveying and show great promise as a substitute for direct-sampling methods, but they have not been proven useful for EFH purposes.

Integrated acoustic and trawl surveys are used to assess the distribution, biomass, and biology of Pacific hake along the Pacific coasts of the United States and Canada. Scientists from the Northwest Fisheries Science Center (NWFSC) and Department of Fisheries and Oceans-Canada are responsible for conducting the survey. The survey consists of a series of transects that are oriented generally east-west, and are spaced at a nominal 10-nautical mile interval. Sea depth at the nearshore end of individual transects is typically 50 m; offshore extents are typically at a depth of 1,500 m. Geographical coverage extends from near Morro Bay, CA north to Dixon Entrance. Acoustic data are collected during daylight hours with a Simrad EK60 scientific echo sounder coupled with the ER60 software system. Trawl samples from pelagic and bottom trawls are used to classify the observed backscatter layers to species and size composition and to collect specimens of Pacific hake and other organisms. Analysis of acoustic data involves identification and delineation of backscatter layers that are attributed to Pacific hake. The biomass estimate and length-at-age composition of Pacific hake generated from this survey are used in analysis and management of the stock. This survey is conducted on a biennial basis. There is a firm deadline for producing the biomass estimate in the middle of the December following the survey. Biological data collected from FSCS during catch processing.