Proposal for Independent Scientifc
Review of Progress

INDEPENDENT SCIENTIFIC AUDIT

Institutional barriers will be a major impediment to the successful implementation of the OCSRI and those barriers can arise from two primary sources: Fragmented responsibility and authority among state and federal institutions and the strong inertia against change within individual institutions. These impediments have to be reduced or eliminated if the OCRSI it to have any hope of success. Reducing the effect of institutional barriers will require steps that are unprecedented in the history of salmon restoration programs in Oregon.

As early as 1938, the Oregon State Planning board recognized that salmon management was not able to prevent depletion in part because responsibility and authority for salmon conservation were fragmented among several state and federal agencies. The board viewed the problem from the perspective of salmon management in 1938. At that time, management focused on harvest and artificial propagation, largely independent of the ecosystem and the ecological processes that produced the salmon. Today, nearly 60 years later, the importance of an ecosystem perspective and the maintenance or restoration of ecological processes important to salmon production is recognized. While an ecosystem perspective will in the long term mean more effective restoration programs, it compounds the problem of institutional barriers and institutional fragmentation. Viewing salmon restoration from an ecosystem perspective automatically involves a broader range of private and public institutions whose activities can influence the quality and quantity of salmon habitat and critical ecological processes in Oregon's Coastal watersheds. Salmon management, when viewed from the ecosystem perspective, is even more fragmented today than it was in 1938. Even more problematic is the fact that the primary goals of those institutions do not include healthy salmon populations.

Institutional barriers also arise from within individual institutions. Agency activities are often restrained by the influence of traditional approaches and assumptions whose roots have most likely been forgotten and whose fundamental assumptions may never have been critically evaluated. In some cases tradition may be invalid or inconsistent with current scientific understanding. Some aspects of artificial propagation and harvest management of salmon are examples of these internally derived institutional barriers. The detrimental practice of transferring salmon between hatcheries and watersheds illustrates the power of institutional barriers. In 1939, Hugh G. Mitchell, the Director of the Department of Fish and Culture for the Oregon Fish Commission realized that interbasin transfers of salmon were detrimental to the long-term health of salmon populations:

"The older system of transferring by truck fish raised at a station on one stream to another stream for liberation is now considered undesirable on account of the resulting disturbance to the homing instinct. With this in mind the policy has been adopted, insofar as the available funds will permit, to establish and operate small stations on such streams of the state as are suitable for salmon runs." (OFC 1939)

Fifty-six years later, Flagg et al. (1995)after reviewing the causes for the extinction of lower Columbia River coho salmon, recommended that inter-hatchery transfers of salmon be restricted. The OCSRI states that there will be a substantial reduction of off-site releases of salmon. From 1939 to the recent past large numbers of hatchery fish were transferred from their home streams to foreign streams. In 1939, transfers had been the norm for 50 years. It took another 56 years to reduce the institutional barriers and substantially reduce this detrimental practice. Where internal institutional barriers are allowed to persist, adaptive management cannot be implemented.

The OCRSI has taken an important and unprecedented step to reduce institutional barriers. Governor Kitzhaber brought together all the relevant state agencies (Agency Planning Team) to develop and implement the plan to restore salmon in Oregon's coastal basins. In addition grass roots watershed councils, the Soil and Water Conservation Service, and OSU Cooperative Extension Service will be incorporated into the OCSRI's implementation. Those are unprecedented steps but they are not enough to resolve the problem of institutional barriers. The Agency Planning Team will help resolve intra-agency barriers but will do little to correct inter-agency barriers.

Additional action is needed to ensure that institutional barriers do not impede full implementation of the OCRSI and prevent adaptive change and adjustment that will be so critical to the long term success of the program. The institutions will ultimately through diligent and conscientious effort be responsible for reducing or eliminating barriers to the successful implementation of OCSRI. However, history has demonstrated they will not accomplish that task alone. An additional action independent of the institutions charged with implementing the OCRSI is required. To ensure the greatest possibility of success, Oregon will establish an independent team of scientists to audit the performance of OCSRI's implementation.

In addition to reducing institutional barriers the independent audit will ensure a high level of accountability for OCSRI's implementation. It will ensure more effective use of adaptive management. The annual audit report will among other things synthesize new information emerging from the program and recommend changes - a critical step in the adaptive management process. Monitoring and evaluation have been a major weak point in salmon restoration programs. The independent audit will provide an important incentive to maintain an effective monitoring and evaluation effort. Too often restoration plans are prepared with a great deal of determination, unveiled with fanfare and enthusiasm, but within months and at most a few years, they are relegated to history as agency staff deal with day to day crises. The plans end up collecting dust on the shelves of agency staff. The independent audit will ensure the OCSRI maintains a high profile in the implementing agencies.

Oregon cannot let the OCSRI repeat the historical pattern of salmon restoration plans. There is too much at stake for the salmon, for the coastal communities and for Oregon. Therefore, an independent group of scientist will be appointed to conduct an annual audit of the OCSRI's implementation. The basic outline of the structure and function of the science team is presented below:

The Independent Audit team will consist of 4-5 scientists with recognized expertise in salmonid ecology, habitat requirements, artificial propagation and management. Appointment to the science team will be for minimum terms of 5-6 years. Each member will have to commit 10-25% time averaged over the whole year. The team will report directly to the Governor who will make the appointments and identify the chairman within six months of the implementation of the OCSRI.

The Independent Audit Team will meet monthly to receive briefings from agency staff on specific aspects of the OCSRI. The Team will determine the meeting agendas and contact the appropriate agency for staff briefings. In addition, the team members will work independently on specific topics as assigned by the chairman.

The Independent Audit team will prepare an annual report on the implementation of OCSRI, including recommendations for changes/adjustments in the program, and a description of progress, successes and problems encountered. The report will contain a syntheses of new information. The syntheses will be topic specific and completed at irregular intervals after sufficient information has been collected.

The members of the Independent Audit Team will be compensated for their services by the state of Oregon. Reasonable travel expenses will be reimbursed.

Within the first three months after their initial appointment, the Independent Audit Team will draw up its terms of reference and operating procedures for approval by the governor.

References

Flagg, T. A., F. W. Waknitz, D. J. Maynard, G. B. Milner and C. V. W. Mahkhen. 1995. The effect of hatcheries on native coho salmon populations in the lower Columbia River. Pages 366-375 in H. L. Schramm, Jr. and R. G. Piper (eds.) Uses and Effects of Cultured Fishes in Aquatic Ecosystems. American Fisheries Society Symposium 15, Bethesda, MD.

Oregon Fish Commission. 1939. Biennial report of the Fish Commission of the State of Oregon to the Governor and the Fortieth Legislative Assembly, 1939. State of Oregon, Salem, OR.

Oregon State Planning Board. 1938. A study of commercial fishing operations on the Columbia River. Report submitted to the Governor of Oregon, Salem, OR