NMFS Releases Voluntary Plan for Oregon Coast Coho Recovery; Aims for De-listing in 10 Years
SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Seafood News] by Susan Chambers - December 15, 2016
Oregon Coast coho populations got a boost from the National Marine Fisheries Service Wednesday when the agency released its recovery plan for delisting the species.
The plan ambitious, as most recovery plans are. But it is ambitious both in its voluntary -- not regulatory -- plan for public-private partnership proposals and in its timeframe: 10 years.
"If the plan is successful, Oregon Coast coho could become the first of 28 threatened and endangered species of salmon and steelhead on the West Coast to recover to the point they can be delisted from the Endangered Species Act," the agency said in a press release.
As many as 1 million to 2 million coho once returned to rivers and streams on the Oregon Coast, supporting fisheries that helped anchor local economies. Intensive fishing and heavy logging through the 1900s contributed to declines, and the number of spawning adults dropped below 15,000 in the 1980s. NMFS initially listed Oregon Coast coho as a threatened species in 1998, relisted it in 2008 and reaffirmed the listing in 2011.
The condition of the species has since improved ...
To Read Full Story Login Below.