A. Mission and Philosophy
Philosophy Following the Ice Age, many natural factors worked in concert to produce
various levels of productivity within the watersheds and nearshore ecosystems
on the NOP. Over the past 150 years, human impacts in the form of land
use, harvest, and hatcheries, have significantly altered these natural
factors to produce the lower productivity levels of today. To recover
the productivity of these ecosystems we have, at our disposal, two primary
tools in the form of protection and restoration actions. In some cases
our knowledge of how to recover these ecosystems is hampered by a lack
of knowledge, which requires the use of a third tool in the form of assessments
and studies. Our success in using these tools will be measured by the
goals we choose for the NOP. These goals cannot be achieved without a
strategic vision. Our strategic vision emanates from the dilemma of which stocks to give
highest priority for attention – the weak or the strong. The weakest
stocks are seriously imperiled and may become extirpated unless habitat
is restored immediately (e.g. Jimmy-Come-Lately summer chum). Weak stocks
that were once highly productive, but have been seriously harmed by habitat
degradation (e.g. Elwha chinook, pink, and chum), offer the greatest
potential for providing regional increases in salmonid production. The
strong stocks are important because they support fishing activities,
contribute significantly to ecosystem processes, and serve as population
centers that can over time repopulate depleted watersheds. Focusing restoration and protection activities solely upon either weak
or strong stocks will not likely restore healthy salmonid populations
across this diverse region. A weak stock strategy of implementing habitat
projects only where imperiled stocks will benefit would represent a political
response to endangered species management in an effort to “de-list
quickly” or reduce the presence of the federal government. Implementation
of this strategy may result in “museum pieces” with small
populations of unique stocks preserved over a wide geographic area. Although
laudable from the standpoint of maintaining genetic diversity, this approach
would probably fail in terms of overall salmon recovery. A strong stock
strategy would maintain or strengthen strong stocks that could serve
to repopulate depleted areas over time. This strategy holds some promise,
although the relative isolation of the strong stocks would make the re-population
of other areas a lengthy process. This approach also requires that severe
habitat degradation will be addressed in watersheds currently without
strong populations, or salmonid populations are not likely to rebuild
on their own. Recent history shows that strong stocks are declining,
and if this trend continues, those stocks may become weak. We have concluded
that an overall recovery strategy that combines projects that: a.) maintain
and improve habitat integrity so as to protect and strengthen wild stocks,
and b.) restore habitat for the formerly productive but currently weak
wild stocks, holds the most promise for salmon recovery on the NOP and
probably elsewhere across the Goals
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