Prioritizing Pacific Salmon Stocks for Conservation |
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| Authors: | Fred W Allendorf David Bayles Daniel L Bottom Kenneth P Currens Christopher A Frissell David Hankin James A Lichatowich Willa Nehlsen Patrick C Trotter & Thomas H Williams |
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| Institution: | Division of Biological Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana 59812, U.S.A.,;Pacific Rivers Council, P. O. Box 10798, Eugene, Oregon 97440, U.S.A.,;Oregon Department of Fish &Wildlife, 28655 Highway 34, Corvallis, Oregon 97333, U.S.A.,;Oregon Cooperative Fishery Research Unit, 104 Nash Hall, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 97331, U.S.A.,;Department of Fisheries &Wildlife, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 97331, U.S.A.,;Department of Fisheries, Humboldt State University, Arcata, California 95521, U.S.A.,;Alder Fork Consulting, 182 Dory Road, Sequim, Washington 98382, U.S.A.,;Pacific Rivers Council, 921 SW Morrison #531, Portland, Oregon 97205, U.S.A.,;Fishery Science Consultant, 4926 26th Avenue S., Seattle, Washington 98108, U.S.A.,;Department of Fisheries &Wildlife, 104 Nash Hall, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 97331, U.S.A. |
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| Abstract: | Over 300 native stocks of Pacific salmon, steelhead, and coastal cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus spp.) are at risk of extinction in the Pacific Northwest. With only limited resources available for conservation and recovery, prioritization of these stocks may become necessary if meaningful measures are to be implemented. We propose criteria by which prioritization may be guided. First, we rank stocks for risk of extinction, either by population viability analysis or by a set of surrogate measures. Then we rank stocks for biological consequences of extinction, using sets of questions designed to establish the genetic and evolutionary consequences and the ecological consequences if a stock were to become extinct. Together, these rankings allow stocks to be prioritized for a range of possible actions, with those stocks at highest risk and bearing the greatest biological consequences of extinction receiving attention first. Application of the prioritization process to 20 Pacific anadromous salmonid stocks worked as intended, although data limitations are considerable. The process is most likely to work successfully when applied to many stocks on which data exist, when several experts carry out the prioritization, and when the results are peer reviewed. |
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