Puget Sound Salmon Harvest Resource Management Plan

NOAA Fisheries made available for public review its Notice of Intent (NOI) to draft an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) analyzing the effects of the Puget Sound Chinook Harvest Resource Management Plan (RMP) under joint development by the Puget Sound Treaty Indian Tribes and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (the co-managers) for fisheries management in the Puget Sound area.

The co-managers have developed the RMP under the continuing jurisdiction of the Federal court proceeding United States v. Washington for a 10-year period. The RMP includes a harvest management framework for all commercial, recreational, and ceremonial & subsistence salmon fisheries that affect Chinook salmon in the marine waters and rivers of the Salish Sea and Puget Sound from the mouth of the Strait of Juan de Fuca through deep South Sound.

The Puget Sound Chinook Salmon Evolutionarily Significant Unit (ESU) is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The co-managers have submitted the RMP to NOAA Fisheries (February 17, 2022) for determination as to whether the RMP meets the requirements of Limit 6 of the ESA 4(d) Rule for salmon and steelhead and thus qualifies for the exemption from ESA section 9(a) as provided in the 4(d) Rule. As part of its review, NOAA Fisheries will complete an EIS under the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), analyzing the effects and impacts of the potential decision.

To inform development of the EIS, NOAA Fisheries sought the public’s input regarding the resources and alternatives to be analyzed in the EIS and invited comments from all interested parties. NOAA Fisheries will consider all comments that are relevant to the proposed action and its alternatives that comply with the requirements of NEPA.

NOAA Fisheries is now preparing a draft EIS for public comment.

For further information, contact James Dixon, NMFS West Coast Region, by phone at (360) 522-3673, or by email at james.dixon@noaa.gov.

Access to the previous Environmental Impact Statement, the draft RMP, and the Notice of Intent published in the Federal Register is provided below.