Environmental Impact Statement for Programmatic Review of Harvest Actions for Salmon and Steelhead in the Columbia Basin related to U.S. v. Oregon
November 06, 2017
Agreement for managing and regulating fisheries in the Columbia River Basin
A management agreement for managing and regulating fisheries in the Columbia River Basin, entered as a court order in 2008, expires December 31, 2017. The Parties are negotiating a new agreement that would take effect when the existing agreement expires. The new agreement would include a list of hatchery programs with stipulated production levels, and a list of Tribal and non-Tribal salmonid fisheries in the Columbia River Basin, including designated off-channel sites, which are intended to: (1) Ensure fair sharing of harvestable fish between tribal and non-tribal fisheries in accordance with Treaty fishing rights standards and U.S. v. Oregon, and (2) be responsive to the needs of ESA-listed species.
While the agreement includes a hatchery production component, the NEPA analysis of hatchery production within the action area has been completed in a separate EIS that will be incorporated by reference in this EIS. Consequently, the Proposed Action in this EIS analysis focuses on harvest. Construction of new hatchery facilities to mitigate impacts to fisheries from The Dalles Dam and John Day Dam hydropower operations is being analyzed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in a separate analysis, which will also be incorporated by reference into this analysis.