EPA's Vessel General Permit and Small Vessel General

made at this time, 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 specific primary constituent elements identified for Hood Canal summer-run chum salmon
are areas for spawning, freshwater rearing and migration, estuarine areas free of obstruction,
nearshore marine areas free of obstructions, and offshore marine areas with good water quality.
The physical or biological features that characterize these sites include water quality and
quantity, natural cover, forage, adequate passage conditions, and floodplain connectivity. Of 17
subbasins reviewed in NMFS' assessment of critical habitat for the Hood Canal chum salmon
ESU, 14 subbasins were rated as having a high conservation value, while only three were rated
as having a medium value to conservation. These areas are important for the species’ overall
conservation by protecting quality growth, reproduction, and feeding. Limiting factors identified
for this species include degraded floodplain and mainstem river channel structure, degraded
estuarine conditions and loss of estuarine habitat, riparian area degradation and loss of in-river
wood in mainstem, excessive sediment in spawning gravels, and reduced stream flow in
migration areas.
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 Hood Canal summer-run chum salmon ESU.
Coho Salmon
Description of the Species
Coho salmon occur naturally in most major river basins around the North Pacific Ocean from
central California to northern Japan (Laufle et al. 1986). They spawn in the fall and winter and
the young emerge in the spring. Adult coho salmon may remain in fresh water three or more
months before spawning, with early migrants often moving farther upstream than later migrants
(Sandercock 1991). Spawning occurs in a few third-order streams, but most spawning activity
occurs in fourth- and fifth-order streams. As with other Pacific salmon, coho salmon fecundity
varies with the size of the fish and latitudinally with coho salmon in northern climes generally
exhibiting higher rates of fecundity (Sandercock 1991). Most coho salmon mature and spawn at
age 3, although there are exceptions (Sandercock 1991).
The outmigration of coho smolts begins as early as February and may continue through the
summer and fall, with peak outmigration often between March and June, although this varies
among basins and environmental conditions (Sandercock 1991). While at sea, coho salmon tend
to eat fish including herring, sand lance, sticklebacks, sardines, shrimp and surf smelt. While in
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