PORTLAND, Oregon, October 9, 2007 (ENS) - A federal judge has declared illegal the Bush administration's decision to remove endangered species protections for Oregon Coast coho salmon.

Today, U.S. District Judge Garr King adopted in its entirety the July 2007 recommendation of Magistrate Judge Janice Stewart that the administration's refusal to list the coho be set aside.

The judge ruled that coho's legal status as a Threatened species be reviewed and a new listing decision be finalized within 60 days.

Restoration of the Endangered Species Act listing would prohibit actions that harm the species and require the government to prepare recovery plans.

The decision comes in response to a lawsuit filed by fishermen and conservation groups last year.

Historically, more than two million coho salmon spawned in Oregon's coastal rivers. Due to decades of aggressive logging and poorly managed fishing, those numbers collapsed. Runs bottomed out at about 14,000 in 1997, a decline of more than 99 percent from historic levels. The runs were listed under the Endangered Species Act the following year.

Coast coho returns showed some improvements in the early 2000s but have generally declined since then, and still remain at a small fraction of historic levels.

A slight rebound between 2001 and 2003 prompted the state of Oregon to prematurely declare Coast coho sufficiently recovered to be stripped of federal protection.

The National Marine Fisheries Service, NMFS, has twice proposed to list the Oregon Coast coho salmon as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act, but has twice withdrawn the proposed listing at the urging of the state of Oregon.

Today, of 27 salmon and steelhead populations in the Pacific Northwest and California, the Oregon Coast coho is the only population not listed under the Endangered Species Act.

The decision to withhold endangered species protections from the coho was based on Oregon’s viability analysis which states that "coho populations are inherently resilient at low abundance."

In rejecting that analysis, the court cited extensive scientific critiques of that theory from government scientists, who said that it was unreliable and failed to pass the "red-face test." The court ruled that the new theory did not represent the "best available science"as required by law.

The federal agency charged with administering the fishery, National Marine Fisheries Service, overruled its own scientists who raised grave doubts about Oregon's novel population analysis as well as the status of the species. The Oregon coho lost their federal endangered species protection in 2006.

"This is a victory for good science and for Oregon's future," said Earthjustice attorney Patti Goldman, who argued the case for the groups. "Restoring protections for these salmon today means a greener and economically vibrant Oregon tomorrow."

"Oregon coast coho are still on life support, and recovery depends on protecting and restoring the rivers and streams these fish depend on," said Dr. Chris Frissell, former Oregon State University salmon biologist and senior staff scientist with Pacific Rivers Council, one of the plaintiff groups. "This decision restores vital habitat protection so that the coho can begin moving toward recovery."

The plaintiffs include the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, Institute for Fisheries Resources, Pacific Rivers Council, Trout Unlimited, Oregon Wild, Native Fish Society, and Umpqua Watersheds.

Once a staple of Oregon's salmon fishing fleet but now off-limits to commercial fishermen, coastal coho runs have sharply declined from their historic abundance. "For the sake of our fishing families and communities, now is not the time to slack off on habitat protections for coho salmon," said Glen Spain, with the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations.

"Eliminating these protections shifted the conservation burden onto the backs of fishermen, without protecting the rivers and streams the coho depend on. With federal habitat protections restored, coho have a chance to recover and, one day, draconian fishing restrictions can be lifted," said Spain.

Coast Range Association Director Chuck Willer said, "Let's put the legal issues behind us and get on with the work of restoring coastal freshwater habitat and returning the coho to abundance."

Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2007. All rights reserved.