EPA's Vessel General Permit and Small Vessel General

Critical Habitat
NMFS designated critical habitat for Puget Sound Chinook salmon on September 2, 2005 (70 FR
52630). The specific geographic area includes portions of the Nooksack River, Skagit River,
Sauk River, Stillaguamish River, Skykomish River, Snoqualmie River, Lake Washington, Green
River, Puyallup River, White River, Nisqually River, Hamma Hamma River and other Hood
Canal watersheds, the Dungeness/Elwha Watersheds, and nearshore marine areas of the Strait of
Georgia, Puget Sound, Hood Canal and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. This designation includes the
stream channels within the designated stream reaches, and includes a lateral extent as defined by
the ordinary high water line. In areas where the ordinary high water line is not defined the lateral
extent is defined as the bankfull elevation.
The designation for this ESU includes sites necessary to support one or more Chinook salmon
life stages. These areas are important for the species’ overall conservation by protecting quality
growth, reproduction, and feeding. Specific primary constituent elements include freshwater
spawning sites, freshwater rearing sites, freshwater migration corridors, nearshore marine habitat
and estuarine areas. The physical or biological features that characterize these sites include
water quality and quantity, natural cover, forage, adequate passage conditions, and floodplain
connectivity. Of 49 subbasins (5th field Hydrological Units) reviewed in NMFS' assessment of
critical habitat for the Puget Sound ESUs, nine subbasins were rated as having a medium
conservation value, 12 were rated as low, and the remaining subbasins (40), where the bulk of
Federal lands occur for this ESU, were rated as having a high conservation value to Puget Sound
Chinook salmon. Factors contributing to the downward trends in this ESU are
hydromorphological changes (such as diking, revetments, loss of secondary channels in
floodplains, widespread blockages of streams, and changes in peak flows), degraded freshwater
and marine habitat affected by agricultural activities and urbanization, and upper river tributaries
widely affected by poor forest practices. Changes in habitat quantity, availability, diversity,
flow, temperature, sediment load and channel stability are common limiting factors in areas of
critical habitat.
Final Protective Regulations
On June 28, 2005, as part of the final listing determinations for 16 ESUs of West Coast salmon,
NMFS amended and streamlined the 4(d) protective regulations for threatened salmon and
steelhead (70 FR 37160) as described in the Protective Regulations for Threatened Salmonid
Species section of this document. Under this change, the section 4(d) protections apply to
natural and hatchery fish with an intact adipose fin, but not to listed hatchery fish that have had
their adipose fin removed prior to release into the wild. The amended June 2005 4(d) rule
applies to the Puget Sound Chinook salmon ESU.
Sacramento River Winter-Run Chinook Salmon
Distribution and Description of the Listed Species
The Sacramento River winter-run Chinook salmon ESU includes all naturally spawned
populations of winter-run Chinook salmon in the Sacramento River and its tributaries in
California. Two artificial propagation programs are included in this ESU.
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