Analysis of Salmon and Steelhead Stock Status on the Olympic Peninsula, Washington

摘要

There is estimated to be 40 stocks of salmon and steelhead trout in rivers draining the Olympic Peninsula, Washington. The Endangered Species Committee of the American Fisheries Society, in an article published in Fisheries, has identified 214 stocks of Pacific salmonoids as either having a high or moderate risk of extinction or are of special concern. Sixteen of these stocks are in the Olympic Peninsula. It is ironic that in an area of the Northwest that is sparsely populated, with much land in either National Park or National Forest, salmon runs are in jeopardy. This can generally be traced to overharvest, poaching, poor forest practices, dams, habitat loss or degradation, and conflicts between hatchery and wild stocks, not necessarily in that order.