Groups petition for chinook salmon

Chinook salmon in the Klamath and Trinity rivers could be listed as threatened or endangered by federal fishery managers.

The National Marine Fisheries Service announced this week that it may list spring-run chinook salmon in the two north state rivers for protection under the Endangered Species Act in response to a petition by environmental groups.

"There's substantial scientific information that makes us want to look at listing," said Jim Milbury, spokesman for the Fisheries Service.

The Sacramento River is not included in their study, and a listing of the fish likely wouldn't affect commercial fishermen at sea, said Glen Spain, northwest regional director for the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations.

"The season is always based on the fall run (chinook)," he said.

The listing could stop sport salmon fishing along the Klamath and Trinity rivers though, he said.

After reviewing the chinook's status, the Fisheries Service will declare whether the fish should be listed by Jan. 28, 2012, Milbury said. The Fisheries Service will take public comments on the fish until mid-June.

The environmental groups — the Center for Biological Diversity, Oregon Wild, the Environmental Protection Information Center and the Larch Company — say there have been "devastating declines" in the salmon brought on by dams and spawning habitat loss. The groups filled the petition for ESA listing Jan. 28.

"The Klamath River Basin and the salmon it supports are a national treasure," said Andrew Orahoske, executive director of the Environmental Protection Information Center. "So far, federal agencies have managed spring-run chinook in the Klamath by ignoring them. Plans for the restoration of the Klamath need to put spring chinook recovery front and center."

Scientists listed the Klamath's coho, a different salmon species, as threatened in 1997. Since then the coho have been at the heart of controversial state and federal protections and programs along the Klamath River.

Those efforts haven't helped the spring-run chinook, the groups contend.

"Spring chinook are in big trouble," said Craig Tucker, spokesman for the Karuk Tribe, which long have fished for salmon along the Klamath.

He said studies show the number of "springers" returning from the Pacific Ocean each spring has dropped from thousands to hundreds in recent years.

But the spring-run chinook still might not be a solid candidate for ESA listing, Spain said.

He said there aren't many differences between spring- and fall-run chinook. And the fall run is one of the most abundant on the West coast, he said.

The issue of whether to list the spring-run chinook comes as the federal government continues to study whether to remove four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River to improve conditions for the coho.

Milbury, the Fisheries Service spokesman, said it's not yet clear whether listing the spring-run chinook would have an impact on the dam controversy.

"It's just too early to speculate whether it would be affected at all," he said.