King Salmon Migrating To Endangered List Federal Biologists’ Draft Report Says Chinook’s Declining Numbers Make Listing Likely, But Not Before 1999

King salmon - highly coveted by fishermen - are in such decline in the Pacific Northwest that they could qualify for the endangered species list, according to a report by federal scientists cited Thursday.

National Marine Fisheries Service biologists have issued a draft report that could persuade federal officials to designate as endangered the king salmon, also known as chinook, a spokesman for the agency in Seattle told Bridge News.

But the spokesman, Brian Gorman, was careful to say that any such designation is a long way off. He said that it would be the end of this year before the agency makes any recommendation and that action on making any such designation would probably take another year.

“As a practical matter, it would be January 1999 before it happens,” Gorman said.

He added that numerous organizations - such as Native American groups, Northwestern state agencies and other U.S. federal agencies - will get a chance to pick apart the biologists’ study before any action is taken.

The report said that chinook aren’t threatened with extinction presently but are likely to become endangered in the near future.

“There is no question that chinook are in rough shape. It’s likely that that basic judgment is not going to change. Whether or not they’re in such bad shape that they need federal protection, we’re nowhere near a decision on that,” Gorman said.

It would be the first time that a fish habitat in Washington’s Puget Sound was designated a protected area. Three salmon areas along the Columbia and Snake rivers are protected. Gorman said that the report shows the king population in Puget Sound down to 71,000 in recent years from 690,000 in 1911. Fewer than one-quarter of those were born in the wild, with the rest coming from hatcheries. Because of numerous hydroelectric dams along the Columbia River, few chinook survive the upstream climb to their spawning grounds.

A determination that any salmon is endangered would empower the federal government to ban logging or development in their watershed. Efforts to protect the spotted owl had a serious impact on curtailing logging in the Pacific Northwest.

In an effort to convince federal officials that they don’t need to intervene, three Northwest states have advanced their own initiatives to restore salmon populations. The most comprehensive was a law signed two weeks ago by Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber that will tax timber operations to fund the program. A few days later, Idaho Gov. Phil Batt unveiled his own similar program. Meanwhile, officials in Washington state are debating a plan that would cut back fishing.

The report states that chinook are in sufficient decline in Oregon and northern California rivers to warrant protection in those states but that they don’t need protection along the coastline.

Environmental organizations, however, favor federal protection for salmon species, saying that unwise state government policies have led to the fish species’ decline. Many environmentalists have recommended getting rid of dams to restore fish habitat.

The largest among salmon species, the chinooks can grow to as much as 20 pounds.