watervulnerability

Chugach National Forest Watershed Vulnerability Assessment, Alaska Region (R10)
Eyak Lake Area Meriting Special Attention (AMSA) Cooperative Management Plan
The Copper River Watershed Project is working on an update of the Eyak Lake AMSA plan (Professional
Fishery Consultants 1985) that assesses the condition of Eyak Lake, which was designated as an “area
meriting special attention.” The ADFG, Prince William Sound Science Center, City of Cordova, Native
Village of Eyak, Ecotrust, USDA Forest Service, and others have worked together identifying resource
issues, community concerns, monitoring needs, and possible projects for restoration or to improve
recreational uses.
Some of the issues identified include non-point source pollutants, effects of the Power Creek Road and its
culverts on the lake and spawning areas, pollution from the flooding of developed areas along Eyak River,
and relocating a boat ramp. While these issues do not directly relate to climate change, maintaining the
health of the watershed and its fish and wildlife species, is perhaps the best way to mitigate potential
effects in a system that is generally functioning in a natural condition.
Fisheries Management
The Forest Service has no direct management authority over fish populations but sport and subsistence
fishers are important users of National Forest lands in the Cordova area. The nutrients that spawning
salmon bring to the watershed are also an important part of the ecosystem, not only for predators such as
bears and eagles, but for future generations of salmon as well (Lang et al. 2006). Thus, it is important to
have sufficient numbers of salmon returning to streams in National Forests and for the Forest Service to
provide input and assistance where possible.
Just recently, the CRWP and the Prince William Sound/Copper River Marketing Association (a
commercial fishing group) recently started an outreach to see if there is interest in developing a
sustainability plan for the Copper River and Prince William Sound fisheries. The announcement stated,
“Our goal is to bring together information resources on fisheries, management and habitat; identify data
gaps and information needs; and identify indicators for tracking sustainability of the fisheries over time.”
(CRWP and PWSCRMA 2011.)
This appears to be a good cooperative opportunity for agencies, organizations, commercial interests,
Native groups, and others to provide input for the managers at the ADFG. One example would be the
management of the coho salmon fishery. Currently, coho salmon in the Copper River Delta and adjacent
systems are managed as a single stock based on aerial observations of index streams. There are no set
escapement goals for individual streams; rather, the management biologists work to meet an overall total.
In practice, the desired range of the combined counts has been met consistently (Botz et al. 2010).
Hilborn et al. (2003) and Bryant (2009), however, suggest that genetic stocks may occur on a much
smaller level, either among or within stream systems. Ruff et al. (2011) identified distinct genetic stocks
associated with different spawning behaviors within a single system. Thus, to maintain the ability of a
species to adapt to change, especially in their behaviors, diverse stocks need to be preserved. Bryant
(2009) concludes that in view of the potential disruptive effects of climate change, future harvests should
be conservative to ensure that all stocks have sufficient escapement.
Given the satisfactory overall counts, the management strategy appears to be working well under the
present conditions. However, in order to conserve all of the stocks, interested parties should collaborate
on ways to monitor escapement in the numerous smaller systems. The Forest Service and other partners
could take an active role and provide additional personnel to obtain this information and ensure that the
current management is effective.
286 Assessing the Vulnerability of Watersheds to Climate Change