NOAA officials have released their 90-day report on a petition that urges different Oregon and California-based fisheries to be classified as threatened or endangered.
The report, scheduled to be published in the Federal Register this Friday, would list the Oregon Coast, as well as the Southern Oregon/Northern California coast Chinook salmon evolutionary significant units (ESU) as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act.
NOAA Fisheries found the petition presents substantial scientific evidence that the action to list the fisheries may be warranted. But the agency reported that petitioned action will list only the spring-run components of the Oregon Coast and Southern Oregon/Northern California Chinook salmon ESUs.
Alternatively, only spring-run Chinooks on the Oregon Coast and Southern Oregon/Northern California coastal Chinook salmon ESUs would be listed as threatened or endangered under the Environmental Protection Agency. Petitioners are also asking NOAA Fisheries to designate critical habitat concurrently with the listing.
NOAA Fisheries said they plan to conduct a status review to determine whether the petitioned act to list the Oregon Coast and Southern Oregon/Northern California Chinook ESUs is warranted. To ensure that the status review is comprehensive, NOAA plans to solicit scientific and commercial information and traditional ecological knowledge pertaining to these species from interested parties.
