Judge: Limits adequate to protect chinook

Salmon-fishing limits in Puget Sound are adequate to protect threatened chinook, a federal judge in Seattle ruled Friday, disappointing some conservationists who had sued for more restrictive fisheries.

"This decision is a devastating blow," said Kurt Beardslee, of the Wild Fish Conservancy of Duvall.

The organization and other conservation and fishing groups had sued the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) in 2006 in U.S. District Court, arguing that the agency had allowed co-managers of Puget Sound chinook to set fishing seasons that were too aggressive.

The fishing-management plan was produced by state Indian tribes, who have fishing rights in Puget Sound, and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. The plan was approved by the fisheries service as consistent with recovery of Puget Sound chinook, and it is intended to guide salmon harvest in Puget Sound until 2010.

Puget Sound chinook were listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act by the fisheries service 10 years ago this month.

Friday, Judge Robert S. Lasnik rejected the plaintiff's arguments, ruling that the fisheries service's decision-making process for the fishing limits was sound. The harvest levels should not be tossed out, Lasnik said.

Peter Dygert, fishery-management biologist for NMFS, said the ruling affirms a broader approach to allow some harvest to continue even though the fish are protected.

"This win means the overall strategy of trying to achieve recovery in a balanced way that accommodates tribal treaty fishing rights and non-treaty fishing opportunity is a valid and appropriate way to go," Dygert said.

Harvest isn't the only problem the fish face, said Tony Meyer, spokesman for the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission.

"This ruling affirms our harvest plan is a good one and it is conservative and protective," he said.

Further reductions in fishing alone wouldn't bring chinook back, Meyer said.

"We've cut harvest, and it hasn't fixed the problem because salmon recovery begins and ends with habitat."

The conservationists never wanted to end the harvest altogether, but they wanted more protection for native fish, said Svend Brandt-Erichsen, attorney for the Wild Fish Conservancy.

Puget Sound-chinook fishing seasons are targeted on hatchery stocks. But some native, wild chinook wind up getting caught too. The more fishing is allowed, the more wild fish are killed, conservationists argued.

"We are not suggesting that recovery should be on the backs of the fisherman," Brandt-Erichsen said. "But we do believe more native fish have to be allowed to return and spawn."

The group had not decided whether to appeal.

Lynda V. Mapes: 206-464-2736 or lmapes@seattletimes.com