Coastal-Puget Sound Bull Trout Sample Clauses

Coastal-Puget Sound Bull Trout. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued a special rule determining the threatened status for bull trout in the coterminous U.S. on November 1, 1999 (Federal Register / Xxx. 00, Xx. 000 / Monday, November 1, 1999 / Rules and Regulations). This determination includes the Coastal-Puget Sound population segment, which encompasses all Pacific coast drainages within Washington, including Puget Sound. Bull trout were historically distributed throughout Washington State and especially in the northern Puget Sound rivers including the Nooksack, Skagit, Stillaguamish, and Snohomish River basins (Xxxxxxxx, 1993). In the Coverage Area, bull trout are presently known to occur in the Skagit and Samish River systems. They are also present in the estuary and nearshore areas, because segments of the populations demonstrate an amphidromous life history (that is, fishes that regularly migrate between fresh water and the salt water [in both directions], but not for the purpose of breeding). The Swinomish Channel is documented as a corridor for bull trout migration and rearing (Xxxxxx, 2004). The Skagit River supports the largest natural population of bull trout/Xxxxx Xxxxxx in Puget Sound. Bull trout/Xxxxx Xxxxxx spawn in most, if not all, of the accessible upriver areas in the drainage. Anadromous, fluvial, adfluvial, and resident fish all exist in the watershed and, in many cases, overlap geographically. All stock and populations are native and are maintained by wild production (WDFW 1998; 2004). Three distinct stocks within the Skagit River Basin are currently identified: lower Skagit River and tributaries, upper Skagit River, and Xxxxx Lake (WDFW, 2004). The lower Skagit River population has recently been determined to be bull trout based on genetic analysis (WDFW, 2004). Xxxxx et al. (2004) identified over 19 local populations in the lower Skagit River area, representing over 40 percent of the local populations in the Puget Sound basin. In 2001, it was thought that the lower Skagit River supported a spawning population of migratory bull trout that numbered in the thousands, likely making it the largest population in Washington. Based on recent tag recapture efforts, this number has been reviewed and is thought to be in the tens of thousands rather than in the thousands (Xxxxx et al., 2004). In the 1998 and 2004 WDFW Salmonid Stock Inventory, the lower Skagit stock is described as healthy (WDFW, 1998; 2004). Life histories of the stocks in the Skagit River are complex in...