Skagit River Steelhead Fishery Joint Resource Management Plan

NOAA Fisheries proposes to issue an Endangered Species Act (ESA) determination under the ESA 4(d) Rule, Limit 6, for a joint state and tribal Resource Management Plan (RMP) prepared by the Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe, Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, Upper Skagit Indian Tribe, and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, collectively called the co-managers. NOAA Fisheries has prepared a Proposed Evaluation and Pending Determination (PEPD) and a draft supplemental Environmental Assessment (EA). The PEPD and the draft supplemental EA are being provided to the public for review and comment.

The Skagit River steelhead fishery RMP describes the fishery management guidelines and objectives the co-managers propose to manage fisheries affecting steelhead in the Skagit River terminal area. The management objectives of the RMP, which build on those of the previous RMP (NMFS determined it met the Limit 6 criteria in 2018), are to acknowledge Skagit River steelhead as an independently managed component of the Puget Sound Steelhead DPS, for harvest purposes, and to conduct Skagit River terminal area fisheries in a manner pursuant to U.S. v. Washington, which will not appreciably reduce the likelihood of survival and recovery of ESA-listed Puget Sound steelhead.

The supplemental EA builds upon the previous EA, which was completed in 2018 for the previous Skagit River steelhead fishery RMP submitted by the co-managers in 2016. The duration of the previous RMP was five years. This supplemental EA proposes an additional alternative implementing the RMP for a duration for 10 years.

The public comment period for the draft EA and PEPD closes on January 23, 2023.

Comments may be submitted by e-mail to: salmon.harvest.comments@noaa.gov. When submitting comments, please include the identifier “Comments on Skagit River Steelhead Fisheries RMP” in the subject line. For more information on commenting, see the Federal Register notice (below).