Subject: Re: Comments on Draft Predation Action Plan: Avian Species
Date: Jul 20 19:32:30 1998
From: Birders2 at aol.com - Birders2 at aol.com


Hi Tweeters and OBOL'ers

Here is a follow-up on "Crashing the colony" and the issue of the terns vs
fishs. I am forwarding this from Seabirds, because I believe that will be of
interest to those of you who live in the area and may have special concerns on
both sides of the issue.

Great birding and find that next lifer,

John (One of Birders2)

John + Irma = 2, we are birders, too.

John C. LeVine
Birders2 at aol.com
Los Angeles, CA

Please put <To Birders2> in subject line when e-mailing us. I do not open all
of the 200-300 e-mails I receive each day, but I want to be sure to read your
e-mails to us. Thanks!

A CONUNDRUM: If the Amazon holds the cures for the diseases affecting
humankind; Then will not the increased multitudes of humans doom the Amazon?
Then humans?
___________________________________________________________
A thought on leaving a showing of IMAX's "Amazon" 11/03/97

The Foward form Seabird list:

>> July 20, 1998

Chris Wheaton, Acting Chief
Wildlife Division
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
P.O. Box 59
Portland, Oregon 97207

Re: Comments on Draft Predation Action Plan: Avian Species

Dear Mr. Wheaton:

These are the Pacific Seabird Group's (PSG) comments on the Oregon
Department of Fish and Wildlife's draft Predation Action Plan: Avian
Species ("Draft Plan"). PSG supports several of the options presented in
the Draft Plan, but objects strongly to any actions that may cause
significant harm to the populations of Caspian terns or double-crested
cormorants. The options supported by some agencies are based upon a
misguided belief that Caspian terns are somehow culprits in the demise of
certain populations of salmonids. This is tantamount to coming home after
an unsuccessful day at work and kicking the family dog. Here the family dog
is the largest Caspian tern colony in the world, which may account for
one-quarter of all Caspian terns in North America. PSG will firmly oppose
actions that jeopardize the health of this species.

I. The Pacific Seabird Group

As you may know, PSG is an international organization that was
founded in 1972 to promote knowledge, study and conservation of Pacific
seabirds. PSG draws its members from the rim of the entire Pacific Basin,
including the United States, Canada, Mexico, Japan, China, Australia, New
Zealand, and Russia. Among PSG's members are biologists who have research
interests in Pacific seabirds, state and federal officials who manage
seabird populations and refuges, and individuals with interests in marine
conservation. PSG is especially active with regard to seabird-fishery
conflicts and oil spill restoration.

II. PSG's Recommended Actions

While the Draft Plan (p. 24) refers to the "fragile status of
salmonid species," the coho salmon and steelhead at issue are populations
not species + a distinction that we believe is crucial in weighing competing
federal and state obligations as natural resource trustees regarding
salmonids and seabirds. To express the obvious, the fundamental reason that
the Columbia River salmonids experience a "fragile status" is a series of
enormous dams (Bonneville 1,061 MWe; Dalles 1,814 MWe; John Day 2,160 MWe;
McNary 986 MWe) that have been built on the Columbia River, and the failure
of natural resource agencies to mitigate effectively the damages to
migratory fishes that those structures cause. We believe that it is both
unscientific and contrary to law to destroy or jeopardize healthy seabird
colonies because state and federal fishery managers have not devoted the
resources necessary to enable the salmonid populations to reproduce
successfully in an alien environment that has destroyed their natural
breeding strategies. Moreover, we believe that operational changes at the
dams would yield far more benefits to coho salmon and steelhead than
harassing seabirds or destroying their colonies.

PSG recommends the following courses of action.

A. Research

We urge the agencies to continue the research that is outlined in
the Draft Plan, both on salmonids and on seabirds. In particular, the
five-year study on the diets of seabirds in the Columbia River estuary
should be continued so that we have long-term data on the diets of these
species. We support research dedicated to improving habitat away from Rice
Island that might lure Caspian terns to nesting sites further away from
concentrations of smolts. This could include using decoys, recordings of
tern vocalizations, removal of vegetation, creation of new islands, predator
control, or other techniques. We know of no studies concerning the
effectiveness of the on-going hazing of double-crested cormorants, and
suggest that such studies be designed and implemented. Finally, the
agencies should assess the effects of the general warming of the marine
waters of the eastern North Pacific during the past twenty years on these
issues (see J. McGowan et al., Climate-Ocean Variability and Ecosystem
Response in the Northeast Pacific, Science 281: 210-217, 1998).


B. Improve Fish Hatchery Techniques

PSG believes that the primary management actions that need to be
implemented immediately are those that improve fish hatchery techniques. We
have consulted with senior Ph.D. fishery biologists in the U.S. Fish &
Wildlife Service (FWS) who estimate that the percentage of smolts that
return to breed in Pacific Northwest drainages is less than 1%, and in many
cases a mere 0.1%. This is contrasted with returns of 4-5% in Iceland and
parts of Alaska. We understand that progressive fishery scientists in FWS
have for years attempted to implement hatchery management techniques that
would retain wild characteristics in salmonids (the "Keep 'em Wild"
initiative), but the FWS Assistant Director for Fisheries has refused to
implement this program. Among other things, a Keep 'em Wild program would
not feed hatchery fish by hand, which trains them to aggregate in the upper
water column searching for food when they are released (see Draft Report, p.
4). The Draft Report notes other attributes of hatchery-raised smolts that
might be improved by a Keep 'em Wild program + their lack of resilience (p.
6) and a tendency to be dazed when they are placed in the wild (p. 8).
"NATURES tanks" (p. 28) might similarly improve wild characteristics in
hatchery-raised salmonids.

We also strongly urge fishery managers to implement alternatives to
barging fish, which by most accounts is inimical to their ability to survive
in the wild (p. 8), and to release them further down the Columbia River (p.
9) closer to the ocean. Improving these practices would likely increase the
percentage of smolts that return to spawn much more than limiting seabird
predation. Caspian Terns have been characterized as opportunistic feeders
in such locations as Georgian Bay, Canada (Dr. Ralph Morris, pers. com.,
Brock University) and Elkhorn Slough (Jennifer Parkin, Moss Landing Marine
Laboratories, pers. com.), where foraging observations of this species have
been carried out. Thus, Caspian terns can be expected to take advantage of
any readily available prey of suitable size, including temporary abundances
of dazed and confused salmonid smolts in surface waters.

C. Modification of Federal Dams on the Columbia River

We understand that one means of improving salmonid breeding would be
to modify the operation of dams owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
and Bureau of Reclamation to improve fish survival. Such modifications
would result in less water being available for hydroelectricity. We believe
the Draft Plan should have evaluated this option. Any environmental impact
statement (the requirements for which are discussed below) should fully
discuss this reasonable alternative.

We appreciate that modifying the operation of the dams could have
important economic consequences. In this regard, PSG has a great deal of
experience in assisting state and federal natural resource trustees in
restoring seabird populations after oil spills. If a tanker were to destroy
Rice Island and its Caspian tern colony, the state and federal natural
resource trustees would likely seek tens of millions of dollars of damages
from those responsible. We suggest that in their cost-benefit analysis
regarding the loss of electricity in modifying dam operations, the federal
government analysis should assign a value to Caspian terns and cormorants
using the identical economic criteria that it uses when the government acts
as a natural resource trustee in an oil spill.

D. Modification of Habitat and Translocation

As discussed above, PSG endorses experimental work to enhance
habitat so that some Caspian terns might select nest sites on East Sand
Island, Willapa Bay or other locations. We object to actions (harassment,
altering substrates, etc.) that destroy the Caspian tern nesting habitat on
Rice Island because there is no certainty that suitable habitat will be
created elsewhere. PSG does not object to controls on hybrid western X
glaucous-winged gulls.

The Draft Report notes that the colony on Rice Island first formed
in 1987. We acknowledge that colonies of many tern species are renowned for
moving and that their allegiance is stronger toward other members of their
colony than to a particular breeding location. As one example, a huge sooty
tern colony in Hawaii moved from Moku Manu to Manana Island in 1947
(Harrison, C.S., Seabirds of Hawaii: Natural History and Conservation,
Cornell University Press 1990, p. 188). Thus, terns breed opportunistically
at suitable locations, which can change from year to year.

In response to those who may believe that Caspian terns are somehow
"unnatural" interlopers in either the Columbia River estuary or on Rice
Island, we know little about the "natural" distribution and abundance of
this species on the west coast of North America. Caspian tern populations
throughout North America were drastically reduced by feather hunting at the
turn of the century, and may just now be recovering from that severe
perturbation. Information of any kind before the mid-19th century is scant.
Current changes in distribution may be the normal ebb and flow of ranges as
weather patterns shift, as exemplified by recent marine warming off the
coast of Oregon or the "Mini Ice Age" that lasted from about 1500 to the
late 19th century.

There is an ever-decreasing availability of suitable nesting habitat
for Caspian terns in this nation. They need vegetation-free and
predator-free habitat near aquatic food. In many cases, the only such
habitat is sand bars, which are notoriously unstable. It is because options
for moving no longer exist that a related species, the least tern, is
endangered. Seabirds tend to move to control infestations of lice and ticks
or as a response to disturbance. In San Francisco Bay, which harbors the
largest colony in California, Caspian terns are now relegated to nesting in
just three major sites, all of which are artificial because no natural
habitat remains. Maintaining these sites is expensive, and the existence of
two on salt evaporation pond levees is tenuous because this activity is
uneconomic. The San Francisco Bay area is a microcosm of this species'
predicament on a larger scale, and we suspect that plenty of natural habitat
for this species in the Columbia River estuary has been destroyed by humans,
perhaps including dredging and the construction of huge dams.

We have canvassed a number of seabird biologists concerning where
Caspian terns forage, and the information that we have assembled suggests
that moving the Caspian tern colony a few miles from Rice Island may not
change their impact on smolts. At Elkhorn Slough, Jennifer Parkin (Moss
Landing Marine Laboratories, pers. com.) found that a large percentage of
the food that parents fed young terns came from Elkhorn Slough, implying
that they fed nearby. The Caspian tern colonies in South San Francisco Bay
travel 35-40 miles daily to Monterey Bay to feed (Dr. David Ainley, pers.
com.; Stephen Bailey, pers. com.). Foraging Caspian terns at Point Reyes
are thought to be from a colony at the Alameda Naval Air Station, about 35
miles distant (Stephen Bailey, pers. com.). In both Lake Ontario and
Georgian Bay [Lake Huron], observations from numerous colonies indicate that
Caspian terns feed 10-28 miles from colonies (Chip Weseloh, Canadian
Wildlife Service, pers. com.; Dr. Ralph Morris, Brock University, pers.
com.). Observations in Tasmania indicate this species forages 8 to 18 miles
from colonies (Bill and Maggie Wakefield, pers. com.). Without marked or
telemetered birds we cannot be certain of the breeding status of feeding
terns.

This information is pertinent to the efficacy of moving Caspian
terns from Rice Island. The Draft Report indicates that Caspian terns at
Rice Island feed on salmonids during April and May (Figure 3). Caspian
terns do not incubate during April, but do so from May to mid-June (Draft
Report, Figure 2). Young terns are fed in June and July, and tern chicks
accompany their parents to the best feeding locale as soon as the chicks are
capable of flight. Thus, the time when Caspian terns are most likely to
feed adjacent to their colony - when young are fed - is when the smolts have
already gone to sea. During incubation or before eggs are laid in April and
May, Caspian terns can be expected to range 20-40 miles to exploit super
abundances of food supplies such as dazed smolts at the water's surface.
Even if all of the Caspian terns were to move 15 miles down river to East
Sand Island, there is no certainty that their feeding habits or locations
would change.

E. Killing Seabirds and Introducing Predators to Seabird
Colonies

We unequivocally oppose killing seabirds, either directly or by
placing predators on seabird islands, to improve marginally the recovery of
depleted salmon populations. Like most seabirds, Caspian terns are
long-lived, with band returns indicating that some have lived to be at least
26 years of age. They have evolved to survive over time even after repeated
breeding failures, but removal of breeding adults would undermine the
survival of the population. The species may be declining in California
(Jennifer Parkin, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, pers. com.) and is
considered vulnerable in British Columbia. These population trends must be
considered in managing this species in Oregon.

PSG has for years urged FWS to remove introduced predators from
seabird colonies and former seabird colonies in this nation because we view
alien predators as one of their primary conservation problems. Indeed, FWS
Region 1 policy (including Oregon and Washington) for twenty years has been
to "remove all introduced predators from marine bird colonies on all
National Wildlife Refuges and encourage their removal from all other
colonies."

Not only do we oppose introducing predators, we question the wisdom
of including this option in the Draft Plan. Predators could easily be
introduced into seabird colonies by misguided individuals. We urge the
State of Oregon and others to delete discussion of this option in future
reports, because it can lead to illegal vigilante actions by individuals who
view seabirds as the cause of declining salmonid populations.

III. Legal Authorities and Legal Procedures

We believe that any action by agencies that significantly alters the
nesting habitat on seabird colonies would be a "major federal action
significantly affecting the quality of the human environment" under 42
U.S.C. section 102(2)(C) (National Environmental Policy Act). Such an
action would require the preparation of a full environmental impact
statement, not merely an environmental assessment. Under 40 C.F.R. Part
1502, the environmental impact statement must provide a full and fair
discussion of environmental impacts, discuss direct and indirect effects,
and provide means to mitigate adverse environmental impacts. As part of
such full and fair discussion and analysis, we believe that state and
federal fishery agencies should provide data for at least the past twenty
years on the percentage of smolts that have returned each year to spawn in
the Columbia River system. This information would allow the public and
decision makers to assess whether the growth of the Caspian tern colony
since 1987 has had an appreciable effect on the recruitment of salmonids.
The environmental impact statement should acknowledge that most fish species
produce a super abundance of ova and larval fish, which are inevitably
drastically reduced during their life cycle. Moreover, changing water flows
in the Columbia Rover dams should be evaluated as a reasonable alternative
in this process.

Because some or all of Rice, Miller Sands and Jim Crow Sands islands
are within the National Wildlife Refuge System (Draft Report, p. 16), many
actions in the Draft Report require FWS to make a compatibility
determination under the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of
1997. FWS must determine whether destroying the largest tern colony in the
United States would "materially interfere with or detract from the
fulfillment of the mission of the system or the purposes of the refuge."
PSG believes that this question answers itself.

Because threatened brown pelicans roost in huge numbers there,
actions that might affect East Sand Island (including alterations to habitat
to persuade Caspian terns to nest) triggers consultation under section 7 of
the Endangered Species Act. During this process the federal agencies must
ensure that their actions are not likely to jeopardize the continued
existence of this threatened species.

In Sierra Club v. Martin, 110 F.3d 1551 (11th Cir. 1997) and Newton
County Wildlife Association v. U.S. Forest Service, 113 F.3d 110 (8th Cir.
1997) the courts ruled that the Forest Service is not required to obtain
permits under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act to take birds when it issues
permits to log in national forests. The 9th Circuit (Oregon and Washington)
is not bound by these decisions, and we believe that the 9th Circuit would
require permits when federal agencies intentionally destroy or move the
largest colony in the world of a species directly covered by the Migratory
Bird Treaty Act. This opinion is guided by the fact that the 9th Circuit
generally takes a more strict view of environmental statutes than do the
circuit courts based in Atlanta and St. Louis.

In any event, the Draft Report (p. 13) notes that "federal actions
are nevertheless bound by international treaties." The United States
Government has entered into several treaties that forbid it from destroying
seabird colonies by ruining their habitat. Article VI(c) of the U.S.-Japan
Migratory Bird Treaty (1972) requires the USA to take measures "to control
the introduction of live animals and plants which could disturb the
ecological balance of unique island environments." Article IV(1) of the
U.S.-U.S.S.R. (1976) treaty requires the USA to "enhance the environment of
migratory birds" and to "abate" "detrimental alteration of that
environment." Under the U.S.-Canada Migratory Bird Treaty (1916) and the
U.S.-Mexico Migratory Bird Treaty (1936) Caspian terns can be taken only in
extraordinary situations. None of these treaties allow the destruction of
the largest Caspian tern colony in the United States (Rice Island) or the
largest colony of double-crested cormorants on the Pacific coast (East Sand
Island) except under extreme circumstances that are not present here.

In sum, the federal and state agencies are required to undergo a
great deal of analysis, justification and explanation if they were to
conclude that destroying nesting habitat at seabird islands is warranted.

IV. Conclusion

PSG wants to work with the state and federal agencies on these
important natural resource issues as it has with FWS and NMFS on many other
issues to our mutual satisfaction. The rush to judgment in this instance
and the apparent political pressure on the agencies to implement "solutions"
that may not work and could irretrievably harm seabird populations is
unacceptable.

PSG is writing an identical original letter to each of the
individuals and agencies identified below. Please give me a call
(202-778-2240) or contact me at charrison at hunton.com if you have any
questions concerning these issues.



Sincerely,



Craig S. Harrison
Vice Chair for Conservation





cc: Ronald E. Lambertson, Acting Regional Director, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, Portland
Colonel Robert T. Slusar, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,
Portland District
William Stelle, Regional Administrator, National Marine
Fisheries Service, Seattle

>

End