Coho Salmon ‘Endangered’ Listing Urged

State biologists recommended Wednesday that coho salmon from San Francisco north to the Oregon border should be protected under the state Endangered Species Act, concluding that the once-plentiful fish could vanish from the area.

The Department of Fish and Game report contains one of the most comprehensive reviews to date of the increasing scarcity of coho salmon in the region’s coastal rivers and streams. Adding the coho to the state endangered species list would require timber companies, farmers and other landowners to take special steps to ensure that their operations do not harm the fish.

The coho report is drawing considerable attention, in part because it covers such a large area, encompassing North Coast timberlands, inland ranches and some of the most spectacular coastal wilderness in the state.

“The fact that coho populations have declined to these levels is highly significant,� said biologist Gary Stacey, Fish and Game’s fisheries program manager for the Northern California/North Coast region. “Once that downward spiral begins, it can be very difficult for these animals to recover.�

The report goes to the state Fish and Game Commission, which is due to decide in August whether the coho should be added to the list of 77 animals and 217 plants protected under state law. The prospect is already stirring acrimonious debate, with environmentalists and sportsmen’s groups calling for a listing, while logging companies and farmers question whether the coho’s plight is as serious as biologists say.

“We really have to question if they have the science to support their recommendation,� said Mark Rentz, vice president of environmental and legal affairs at the California Forestry Assn. He noted that the coho is already protected by the federal Endangered Species Act and said a second layer of regulation could subject timber companies to costly and unwarranted paperwork.

Under the state act, species in the most dire straits are labeled “endangered� while others are listed as “threatened.�

Environmental groups applauded the report, saying it would require more strenuous review of plans for such activities as timber harvests. However, some are disappointed that the state is recommending a less stringent “threatened� status for coho north of Punta Gorda, an area that includes the Klamath and Trinity rivers.

Although coho salmon now occupy only about 61% of their historic streams, the decline appears to have slowed in recent years, department biologists wrote.

Coho salmon closer to San Francisco are in more precarious shape, with the fish disappearing or nearly vanishing in large areas: the Gualala and Russian rivers and their tributaries; the Sonoma County coast; and streams feeding San Francisco Bay, the report states.

It calls for the more stringent controls that come with an “endangered� listing for these fish, saying they are in serious danger of disappearing from the area.

The report may be just another incremental step in the long-simmering salmon controversy.

State Fish and Game officials have been meeting quietly with environmental and sportsmen’s groups, trying to draft a compromise.