Environmental Assessment - Issuance of an Endangered Species Act Section 10(a)(1)(A) Enhancement Permit to the National Marine Fisheries Service Southwest Fisheries Science Center Fisheries Ecology Division for the Operation of the Southern Coho Salmon Captive Broodstock Program

"NOAA Fisheries has received an application for a Section 10(a)(1)(A) Enhancement Permit under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) from NOAA’s Southwest Fisheries Science Center Fisheries Ecology Division (SWFSC FED) for the continued implementation of the Southern Coho Salmon Captive Broodstock Program (SCSCBP, or program) in accordance with its Hatchery Genetic Management Plan (HGMP).

FED proposes to operate a genetically managed hatchery program for the restoration of depleted or lost populations of Central California Coast (CCC) coho salmon in the Santa Cruz Mountain Diversity Stratum (SCMDS). The intent of an integrated program is to create conditions wherein the natural environment drives the adaptation and fitness of a composite population of fish that spawns both in a hatchery and in the wild (i.e., naturally).

The program currently uses both natural-origin (NOR) and captive broodstock as well as the release of juvenile and adult fish to prevent regional extirpation, conserve population genetics, and to maintain a breeding population of CCC coho salmon south of San Francisco. Broodstock for the program are usually collected in SCMDS streams. A small number of outbreeders are used annually to increase genetic diversity. The outbreeders are sourced from the Russian River Coho Salmon Captive Broodstock Program (RRCSCBP) operated at Don Clausen Fish Hatchery (DCFH) in Sonoma County and include NOR fish from the Russian River (Sonoma County) and Lagunitas-Olema Creek (Marin County).

The program releases CCC coho salmon annually into SCMDS streams. Hatchery programs contribute to the recovery of listed salmonid populations by maintaining or increasing the abundance and genetic diversity of the naturally spawning population until it is self-sustaining. The HGMP outlines a four-phased approach for the Program that details a hatchery management strategy from a population preservation phase (Phase 1) to full recovery in SCMDS (Phase 4). Established regional monitoring will provide data to evaluate the program’s status and effects to ESA-listed species, and inform the decision making-body, a technical oversight committee (TOC), on program progress."