Definitions of Fish Related Name

Acronyms & Definitions of Fish Related Names Used by Fish Management

For some newcomers (and even old-timers) to the world of fishing & fish management, listed below are fish related names and descriptions or explanations as to their usage to help you better understand their usage SALMON FACTS FROM WDFW INFORMATION PAGE CLICK HERE
LIST OF TERMS USED IN FISH MANAGEMENT
Adipose Fin	The small fin on the top just in front of the tail of salmonoid fish. This fin is clipped on most all of the released hatchery fish, distinguishing them from wild fish. This identification method is later used on mature returning fish to protect the wild (unclipped) ESA listed fish. The above process is sometimes called Mass Marking because of the volume now being done. An often over-looked sexual characteristic in Pacific salmon is the enlarged adipose fin on mature males, typically 2-3 time larger than on female fish.
AHA	Currently computer models, the AHA system, (All H. Analyzer) which is abbreviated for "Hatchery, Harvest, Habitat, Hydro" is used (using WDFW data) to calculate PNI (percentage of natural Influence) in broodstock, which is pHOB plus pNOS
Anadromous	Fish that are born in freshwater, migrate to the ocean to grow and mature, and return to freshwater as adults to reproduce.
Bi-Op	Biological Opinions. This is generally related to the responsibility for recovering threatened and endangered species with "the best available science."
Harvest	That act or activities associated with the utilization (retention and non-retention) of fish for cultural, consumptive, commercial and/or recreational purposes.
Healthy and Harvestable	A self-sustaining naturally produced stock that has attained a status that will support meaningful retention and non-retention fisheries on an annual basis.
Natural Production	Natural production refers to fish that spawn and rear entirely in the natural environment. These fish may be the offspring of natural or hatchery production.
Selective Harvest	Selective Harvest in regards to fishing, is the ability of a fishing operation to avoid non-target species or stocks, or when encountered, to capture and release them in a manner that minimizes mortality. Where there are mixed stocks and/or mixed species present, the fisheries should be appropriately managed to meet the conservation needs of the “weakest stock” present. The objective harvesting goal of hatchery salmon and trout (fin clipped) while at the same time, is allowing wild (unclipped) to escape and spawn in their native streams. Any harvest of our public resource needs to be monitored with seasons and bag limits for ALL stakeholders and set for a sustained or increased population, with emphasis placed on conservation if there is any question. WFDW regulations in many areas require the fisherperson to not remove the unclipped adipose fined fish from the water & release it with as little damage as possible, trying to eliminate a post release mortality.
Commission	The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission consists of nine members serving six-year terms. Members are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the senate. Three members must reside east of the summit of the Cascade mountains, three must reside west of the summit, and three may reside anywhere in the state. No two Commissioners may reside in the same county. While the Commission has several responsibilities, its primary role is to establish policy and direction for fish and wildlife species and their habitats in Washington and to monitor the Department's implementation of the goals, policies and objectives established by the Commission. The Commission receives its authority from the passage of Referendum 45 by the 1995 Legislature and public at the 1995 general election. The Commission is the supervising authority for the Department.
Director	Hopefully a person with great experience and wisdom in fish management with the ability to organize a large department, who is charged by the "Commission" to oversee the day by day operations of WDFW
Regions	Washington State is divided up into 6 different regions, each overseen by a regional director. #1 Eastern, #2 North Central, #3 South Central, #4 North Puget Sound, #5 Southwest, and #6 Coastal, with the main offices in Olympia
Chinook Salmon	*An anadromous salmonid of the genus Oncorhynchus* and species tshawytscha. Also known as king, spring, or blackmouth salmon.**
Blackmouth Salmon	Blackmouth salmon in Puget Sound, are defined as immature Chinook salmon, up to the last year of their lives, at which time they start to sexually mature and develop egg or milt sacks. At that time they would technically become Chinook. The gum line of the mouth of a Blackmouth & Chinook is black in color, hence the nickname, Blackmouth. WDFW has found that if these smolt are not released into the sound until they are yearlings, they tend to loose their desire to migrate to the ocean, so become a resident and provide basically year around fishing.
Chum Salmon	*An anadromous salmonid of the genus Oncorhynchus* and species keta. Also known as dog salmon.**
Coho Salmon	An anadromous salmonid of the genus Oncorhynchus and species kisutch. Also known as sliver or hooknose salmon.
Jack Salmon	A salmon that gets the urge to return to it's home stream a year early. These will be smaller fish, (from 20" or 24" depending on specie). They will be predominately males, (hence the name) but occasionally you will encounter a Jill. The specie in this category are predominately Chinook & Coho.
Steelhead	The anadromous form of the species Oncorhynchus mykiss. Excludes the resident form.
Substrate	The material which comprises a stream bottom.
Escapement	The number of adult fish returning to a stream that escape mortality from harvest and natural attrition, and comprise a SPAWNING POPULATION for each year of that specie.
Escapement goal	A predetermined biologically derived number of salmonids that are not harvested and will be the parent spawners for a wild or hatchery stock of fish.
Wild stock	A stock that is sustained by natural spawning and rearing in the natural habitat, regardless of parentage (includes native).
Natural fish	This stock is known as any salmon that would be from a river system where there is no longer a wild run present, so would be the protégé of hatchery fish, but is NOT FIN clipped. In these watersheds it may be hatched on the gravel from either wild or hatchery stock, or a combination thereof.
Redd	A spawning site for a pair of natural salmon or steelhead where eggs are buried in stream gravels for incubation and hatching
Fishery Resource Manager	A tribe, or the State of Washington represented by the Department of Fish and Wildlife, with authority and responsibility over the management of harvest and hatchery programs affecting steelhead.
Fish hatchery	A complex built to raise young salmon/trout to compensate for a mitigation of loss of spawning areas, or depleted fish populations caused by over-fishing in an effort to restore the fish population.
Hatchery Production	Hatchery Production refers to the fish that are reared and released from an artificial culture in a hatchery situation.
Integrated Hatchery Program	The term Integrated Hatchery Program describes the intended reproductive relationship of a hatchery population relative to the local, naturally spawning population between which gene flow occurs. The principal goal of an Integrated Hatchery Program is to manage the broodstock as an artificially propagated component of a naturally spawning population wherein the natural environment drives adaptation and fitness of a composite population of fish that spawns both in a hatchery and in the wild. (See HSRG 2004a)
Segregated Hatchery Program	The term Segregated Hatchery Program describes the intended reproductive relationship of a hatchery population relative to a naturally spawning population which are reproductively isolated from one another. The principal intent is to propagate a genetically segregated hatchery stock that is adapted to perform more optimally in artificial culture than in the wild, irrespective of the ability of returning adults to reproduce naturally or confer any benefits to naturally spawning populations. (see HSRG 2004b).
Stock	The fish spawning in a particular lake or stream(s) at a particular season, which fish to a substantial degree do not interbreed with any group spawning in a different place, or in the same place at a different season. (WDF et al. 1993
Fertilized Eggs	Here the eggs have been fertilized & have been sorted for dead or unfertilized ones.
Eyed Eggs	Fertilized eggs that have developed to the point that you can actually see the eyes of the young fish to be.
Alevin	The life stage of a salmonid between hatching from the egg and emergence from the stream gravels as a fry. The alevin stage is characterized by the presence of a yolk sac, which provides nutrition while the alevin develops in the protected gravel riverbed.
Emergence	The act of salmon fry leaving the gravel nest.
Fry also known as Parr	A juvenile salmonid that has emerged from the gravel and are up to one month of age or any cultured salmonid from hatching through fourteen days after the being of feeding. Shown here these small fish, (about 1 1/4" long) are being transferred from an hatching/ rearing tank into buckets (about 4,000 total in the 5 gallon bucket) to be transported into a more widespread rearing water of the same watershed. The bucket will have an oxygen aerator inserted to ensure the oxygen in the water does not become deprived because of the quantity of them.
Fingerling	Juvenile salmonids up to nine months of age and generally two to four inches in total length
Smolt	A juvenile salmonid which has reared in-stream and is preparing to enter the ocean. Smolts exchange the spotted camouflage of the stream for the chrome of the ocean. At the the smolt stage the body chemistry changes, allowing them to live in salt water.
Salmonid	Any fish in the family Salmonidae
URB	Up River Bright is a regular Chinook of a more streamlined body than a Tule and usually associated with being in rivers above Bonneville Dam
BUB	Bonneville Upriver Brights
BPH	Bonneville Pool Hatchery
PUB	Pool Upriver Brights
Tule	Tule, a fall Chinook salmon originating from the Toutle River that is known to be a stockier built fish (football shaped) than the URB, and usually associated with returning in rivers below Bonneville Dam. They tend to be more sexually mature right out of the ocean & turn color more readily when in freshwater. Some fishers consider them inferior tablefare.
Run-Size	Refers to the number of fish of a given management unit destined for their ultimate spawning location. This number shall include terminal harvest and estimates of natural escapement whether total or index and total hatchery escapement.
Natural Production	Natural production refers to fish that spawn and rear entirely in the natural environment. These fish may be the offspring of natural or hatchery production.
Nutrient Enhancement	Research over the past decade in Washington, British Columbia and Alaska has demonstrated the critical role salmon play in transporting nutrients from the Pacific Ocean to aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems of the Pacific Northwest. The Hatcheries Division worked aggressively with Regional Fishery Enhancement Groups and other local organizations, primarily volunteers, to distribute the carcasses of adult salmonids used for broodstock at WDFW hatcheries back into watersheds. Because the movement of fresh carcasses between watersheds has limitations due to the risk of spreading fish pathogens, WDFW has taken a leadership role in international conferences dealing with the development of approved alternatives such as processed carcasses (pasturized briquettes) or fertilizers to replace the lack of nutrients in streams with poor adult returns.
Predation	This can be in many forms as in the wild, life is that of survival. For fish, predation on them can us as fisherpersons, or it be many birds that feed on the small out-migrating fingerling or smolt. The most likely bird encountered in freshwater will be King Fishers, Terns or Cormorants. The mature returning salmon thru the bays & lower rivers may well have to pass the gauntlet of Seals and Sea Lions on their return trip
OA3	Ocean Age 3, refers to returning Coho
Ocean Environment	Here is where most of the salmon spend most of their adult life. Ocean conditions that are beneficial to plankton, shrimp, herring/anchovy, etc. are needed to produce a food chain with enough food for these fish to thrive.
Viability Stressors	Habitat, harvest, or hatchery actions that affect population VSP attributes (abundance, productivity, diversity, spatial structure) in a way that currently results in a significant reduction in the viability of a population.
Kype	The hooked jaw many male salmon develop during spawning.
Strays	Individual fish that breed in a population other than that of its parents. This is mother natures way of compensating for devastation flooding in certain streams or to expand the gene pool. A small percentage of the retuning spawning fish tend to not go to their home stream, but pick may one nearby.
Fish Sampler	An WDFW employee who records statistics of recreational & commercial landings, taking scale samples, checking for CWT plus recording length & sex.
Kokanee	The freshwater form of the sockeye salmon. Kokanee spend their entire life in freshwater, and in some lakes are known as silver trout
Mortality	Fish mortality, hooking mortality, net drop out and marine mammal take
Induced Fishing Mortality	Fish mortality above and beyond that which would occur in the absence of fishing activities (e.g. hooking mortality, net drop out and marine mammal take), and which is not reflected in landed catch records.

LIST OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS NORMALLY ASSOCIATED WITH FISH MANAGEMENT Pacific Fisheries Management Council as 32 pages of these, here are a few commonly used ones.
AABM	Aggregate Abundance Based Management As a participant in the U.S. – Canada Pacific Salmon Treaty, the parties are obligated to provide sound, biologically based information on salmon stocks originating in and returning to the southern states that are exploited in PST fisheries. As Washington & Oregon fall chinook from migrate to the north after leaving their home river systems, and are taken in Alaskan and British Columbia commercial troll and recreational fisheries. These fisheries are managed by the Pacific Salmon Commission (PSC) under an abundance-based management scheme. To successfully accomplish this, participating states such as Washington & Oregon must provide the Commission with reliable information on the in-river catch and escapement of fall chinook for the river sytems involved.
ABC	Acceptable Biological Catch The ABC is based on the overfishing limit and should take into account scientific uncertainty, a stock’slife history and reproductive potential, and vulnerability to overfishing. The ABC should account for theuncertainty around the estimate of a stock’s biomass and its overfishing limit. This is a policy decision.
ACL	Annual Catch Limit An ACL can be equal to or less than the ABC. It takes into account management as well as scientific uncertainty. The ACL is somewhat vaguely defined by National Standard 1, but in general it is established at a level that will minimize the chance of overfishing. This is a policy decision based on the OFL, P*, and ACL.
ACT	Annual Catch Target The ACT is an amount of annual catch of a stock or stock complex that is the management target of the fishery. A stock or stock complex’s ACT should usually be less than its ACL and results from the application of the ACT control rule. If sector-ACLs have been established, each one should have a sector-ACT. Designation of an ACT is not required under the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
AEQ	Adult Equivalent
AM	Adaptive Management is an iterative process whereby monitoring and evaluation drive the fish management decision-making process. In other words, as information is gained, the knowledge base is expanded, which allows decision-making to direct future monitoring and evaluation to areas that improve future management.
AMP	Adaptive Management Plan is an iterative process whereby monitoring and evaluation drive the fish management decision-making process. In other words, as information is gained, the knowledge base is expanded, which allows decision-making to direct future monitoring and evaluation to areas that improve future management.
AU	Allocation Unit is a management unit or group of management units for which harvest shares are calculated. Prior court orders specify that an allocation unit comprises the steelhead returning to a single river system flowing into saltwater. The parties may, by agreement, specify different allocation units.
AP	Artificial Production refers to the fish that are reared and released from an artificial culture setting such as a hatchery or other non-natural situation.
APR	Annual Project Review
BRAP	Benefit-Risk Assessment Program provides a consistent method for evaluating hatcheries and cooperative projects. The procedure includes a: (1) scientific assessment of the potential risks posed by an artificial production program (developed with the western Washington tribes and National Marine Fisheries Service); (2) framework for balancing the potential risks and benefits of the program in the ecological context of the watershed; and (3) planning tool to describe alternative future scenarios and the management actions required to reach each scenario.
BRP	Biological Reference Point
BO	Biological Opinion
BS	Brood Stock are adult fish used to gather eggs & sperm for hatchery production.
CFFF	Cowlitz Falls Fish Facility
CPS	Coastal Pelagic Species
CPUE	Catch Per Unit Effort
CRR	Cowlitz Restoration & Recovery
CWT	Coded Wire Tag a method of inserting a coded wire tag onto usually the nose of usually a salmon, which can be detected in caught fish by "wonding". Whereby that portion of the nose is cut off & the tag can be recovered allowing technicians to identify where & when that fish originated from.
DFG	Derelict Fishing Gear. For removal guidelines CLICK HERE
DNR	Department of Natural Resources
DO	Dissolved Oxygen
DOE	Washington State Department of Ecology
EA	Environmental Assessment
EEZ	Exclusive Economic Zone (from 3-200 miles from shore)
EFH	Essential Fish Habitat
EIS	Environmental Impact Statement describes different ways the proposal could be implemented and identifies the environmental impacts of these alternatives. This presents the decision-maker with a range of choices along with information about the pros and cons of each choice.
ER	Exploitation Rate is the number of fish harvested expressed as a percentage of the estimated total run size and shall include all harvest related mortality
ESA	Endangered Specie Act, (ESA) became law in 1973 and is the highest form of protective legislation for non human species within the United States. Like many other forms of governmental policy, the ESA has a Federal level of rules and regulations and has another format, which is separately defined within each state. Due to this type of set up, a species may be listed as Endangered on the state level and may not be listed on the federal level. There are currently 27 stocks of salmon and steelhead listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). ESA has become the driver for many fishing regulations, in that seasons are many times built around run timings to protect these endangered fish. With the implementation of adipose clipped fin hatchery fish, now fish management can direct a fishery away from the ESA protected fish by allowing only the clipped fish to be retained.
ESU	Evolutionarily Significant Unit
EFP	Exempted Fishing Permit
FERC	Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
FHMP	Fisheries & Hatchery Management Plan Cowlitz River Fish hatchery Management Plan
FMEP	Fisheries Management Evaluation Plan
FM	Fathom A unit of measure that equals 6'
FL	Fork Length, a measurement of the length of fish from the nose to the inside of the tails fork.
FMP	Fishery Management Plan This plan outlines objectives & guides the implementation of fisheries in Washington State, under the co-managers' jurisdiction. But it considers the total harvest impacts of all fisheries, including those in Alaska and British Columbia, to assure that conservation objectives that assures the state management units are achieved. The plan describes the technical derivation of these objectives, and how these guidelines are applied to annual harvest planning. Accounting for the total fishery-related mortality includes incidental harvest in fisheries directed at other salmon species, and non-landed Chinook mortality.
FNU	Formazin Nephelometric Units FNU is a measurement of water turbidity, also sometimes referred to as FTU, Formazin Turbidity Unit
FRAM	Fishery Regulation Assessment Model
FCMA	Fisheries Conservation & Management Act
FBD	Future Brood Document
FTC	Fisheries Technical Committee, Cowlitz River
GIS	Geographic Information System
GSI	Genetic Stock Identification
HG	Harvest Guideline “Harvest guideline” is a generic term that refers to the amount of harvest allowed for any particular fishing season. The harvest guideline can include specifications such as period allotments, research set-asides, or incidental catch set-asides.
HGMP	Hatchery Genetic Management Plan
HOR	Hatchery Origin Recruit. Hatchery raised & fin clipped
HSRG	Hatchery Scientific Review Group. In a 1999 report to the US Congress a group of leading scientists determined that the potential exists for hatcheries to provide significant benefits to the recovery of naturally spawning salmon populations. Congress responded in 2000 by creating and funding the Puget Sound and Coastal Washington Hatchery Reform Project, a systematic, science-based redesign of hatchery programs to achieve two goals. help conserve wild salmon and steelhead populations; and support sustainable fisheries. This extensive review of all state hatcheries was completed in 2007 & adopted by WDFW commission in 2009
IATTC	Inter-American Tropical Tunas Commission
IFQ	Individual Fishing Quota
IHOT	Integrated Hatchery Operations Team
IHNV	Infectious Hematopoietic Necrosis Virus is a negative-sense single-stranded RNA virus. It causes the disease known as infectious hematopoietic necrosis in salmonid fish like trout and salmon. IHNV is commonly found in the Pacific Coast of Canada and the USA, and has also been found in Europe and Japan. IHNV is transmitted following shedding of the virus in the feces, urine, sexual fluids, and external mucus and by direct contact or close contact with surrounding water. The virus gains entry into fish at the base of the fins. Clinical signs of infection with IHNV include abdominal distension, bulging of the eyes, skin darkening, anemia and fading of the gills. Infected fish commonly hemorrhage in several areas; the mouth and behind the head, the pectoral fins, muscles near the anus, and (in fry) the yolk sac. Diseased fish weaken eventually floating “belly-up” on the surface of the water. Necrosis is common in the kidney and spleen, and sometimes in the liver.
ISBM	Individual Stock-Based Management
ISIT	In Season Implementation Tool
ISU	In Season Update
KRFC	Klamath River Fall Chinook
LAT	Low Abundance Thresholds
LCN	Lower Columbia River Natural (coho)
LCR	Lower Columbia River (natural Tule Chinook) returning to rivers below Bonneville Dam
LIDAR	Light Detection And Ranging an optical remote sensing technology
LRH	Lower River Hatchery (Tule fall Chinook) returning to hatcheries below Bonneville Dam
LRW	Lower Columbia River Wild (bright fall Chinook spawning naturally in tributaries below Bonneville Dam)
LWD	Large Woody Debris
M&E	Monitoring & Evaluation Plan
MM	Mass Marking is a term used in reference to adipose fin clipping when done in a high volume & directly related to providing a means of selective harvesting of salmon.
MP	Management Period is the time interval during which regulatory actions are taken to meet the escapement requirements for a management unit or the allocation requirements for an allocation unit, taking into account catches of the units made outside the management period. Management periods are specific to each management unit (or aggregate of management units) and to each fishing area through which the unit(s) pass.
MPA	Marine Protected Area is essentially a marine reserve where no fishing is allowed
MW	Management Weeks is represent the time period from Sunday through Saturday beginning with the initiation of the annual accounting period for steelhead, and continuing through the completion of the accounting period for winter steelhead. (See appendix
MU	Management Unit is a stock or group of stocks, which are aggregated for the purpose of achieving a desired spawning escapement objective.
MUP
MS	Marked Selective this pertains to any fishery that is a selective harvest, as in releasing "wild" unclipped salmon & retaining only hatchery raised clipped fish.
MSA	Magnuson-Stevens Act is a Federal fishery conservation and management act designed to provide for the conservation and management of the fisheries, and for other purposes. Public Law 94-265 As amended through October 11, 1996
MSH	Maximum Sustained Harvest Level is a biological reference point (Caddy and McMahon 1995) representing the stock size that will support largest level of harvest mortality that can be maintained indefinitely without diminishing the productive capacity of the resource, given current conditions of habitat and environmental fluctuations.
MSY	Maximum Sustainable Yield is theoretically, the largest yield/catch that can be taken from a species' stock over an indefinite period.
MT	Metric Ton
NA	Not Available
NEPA	The National Environment Policy Act requires federal agencies to evaluate, and disclose to the public, the environmental impacts of any major action they are planning. Since NMFS implements Council management proposals, it must also meet this environmental impact analysis requirement. Like other agencies, the Council may prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) or an Environmental Assessment (EA).
NF	North Fork (as pertaining to a river system)
NMFS	National Marine Fisheries Service Link to their website
NOAA	National Oceanic & Atmospheric Association Link to their website
NOF	North Of Falcon process, in 1984, state and tribal fisheries managers created a new forum to jointly manage fisheries for salmon and other species in "inside" waters. It was tough at first, but now North of Falcon is recognized as a cornerstone of co-management.
NOR	Natural Origin Recruit, Wild or Natural fish, non hatchery, not fin clipped
NWIFC	Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission Link to their website
OCN	Oregon Coastal Natural (Coho)
OFL	Over Fishing Limit An estimate of the maximum yield a stock can withstand without being put in jeopardy of overfishing. This is a scientific (rather than policy) determination.
OPI	Oregon Production Index (Coho salmon stock index south of Leadbetter Point)
ODWF	Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife Link to their website
OY	Optimum Yield OY is the desired yield from a stock, complex, or fishery. OY specification is supposed to prevent overfishing so should consider scientific and management uncertainty in addition to ecological, economic, and social factors. OY is sometimes considered an overall guide rather than a hard number.
P*	P-Star A multiplier that equates to the risk of reaching the overfishing limit. A high P* of 0.5 means there is a 50% risk of overfishing. A low P* of 0.1 means a 10% risk of overfishing. This is a scientific (rather than policy) determination.
PFMC	Pacific Fishery Management Council is one of eight regional fishery management councils established by the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976 for the purpose of managing fisheries 3-200 miles offshore of the United States of America coastline. The Pacific Council is responsible for fisheries off the coasts of California, Oregon, and Washington. Link to their website
PHABSIM	Physical Habitat Simulation is a definition usually associated with development of water retention impoundments
pNOS	Proportion (%) of Natural Origin Spawners contributing to the natural spawning population (HRSG, 2004a).
pHOB	Proportion (%) of Hatchery Origin Broodstock contributing to a hatchery broodstock (HRSG, 2004a).
pNOB	Proportion (%) of Natural Origin Broodstock contributing to a hatchery broodstock (HRSG, 2004a).
PNI	Proportion (%) of Natural Influence PNI = pNOB/(pHOS + pNOB). The HSRG guideline is that genetic broodstock management will enable the natural environment to drive adaptation and fitness of a composite hatchery and natural population where the proportion of natural-origin fish in the broodstock exceeds the proportion of hatchery-origin fish on the spawning grounds (PNI > 0.50). For stocks of moderate or high biological significance and viability, PNI should exceed 0.7, and a minimum of 0.1 to avoid divergence of the hatchery population from the natural component, even when pHOS is zero (HSRG a).
PUD	Public Utilities District
PSREOC	Puget Sound Recreational Enhancement Oversight Committee is a committee of knowledgeable people appointed by the WDFW director to oversee the enhancement of Puget Sound fisheries, namely salmon, but with long term bottom-fish in mind also. The original intent was to carry on the promotion of raising & releasing of Blackmouth Salmon in the sound. This is funded by the previous PS salmon enhancement stamp that now has evolved as a percentage from the new salmon license.
PSC	Pacific Salmon Commission
PSSMP	Puget Sound Salmon Management Plan
PST	Pacific Salmon Treaty This Act, Public Law 99-5, approved March 15, 1985, (16 U.S.C. 3631) implements the Pacific Salmon Treaty between the U.S. and Canada, January 28, 1985; establishes the requirements for Commissioners and the subsidiary Northern, Southern, and Fraser River Panels; and authorizes Federal regulatory preemption by the Secretary of Commerce to meet treaty obligations. The Act authorized creation of an advisory committee to assist the U.S. Section and U.S. Panel Sections, and authorizes appropriations of such sums as may be necessary for carrying out the purposes and provisions of the Treaty and Act. This Act also repealed the Sockeye Salmon (or Pink Salmon) Fishing Act of July 29, 1947, and abolished the International Pacific Salmon Fisheries Commission.
RCA	Rockfish Conservation Area is an area usually described by GPS Latitude & Longitude numbers that is closed to fishing at all areas OR which may be open during a halibut season in that area, (read the pamphlet). You can pass thru these areas, but can not stop & fish for anything.
RCW	Revised Code of Washington
RER	Rebuilding Exploitation Rate
RFEG	Regional Fisheries Enhancement Group are non-profit, community-based organizations dedicated to enhancing salmon populations. There are 14 RGEGs in the state of Washington that share the same unique role of working within their community across the state to recover salmon. Volunteers learn about salmon habitat, plant trees, count returning salmon, perform habitat assessments, conduct water quality monitoring, teach others, & much more.
RM	River Mile A statute mile measured along the center line of a river. River mile measurements start at the stream mouth (RM 0.0).
RMP	Resource Management Plan
R/S	Recruit per Spawner
RMZ	Riparian Management Zones is the distance from the water that human activity can take place. Timber harvest, housing, farming, just about everything.
RSI	Remote Site Incubators are used to rear the eggs of salmonids on-site, in remote stream reaches. Eggs are taken from brood fish and mixed with milt from males. The fertilized eggs are transplanted to the RSI location. The eggs are placed in an egg tray in the incubator. Water flows down through a pipe from a small dam into the incubator, flowing over the eggs, and leaves through an outlet. The flow rate can be adjusted by the operator. Eggs usually hatch in a couple weeks. The fry go down in the substrate gravel & stay there until the egg sack has been consumed (usually another 3-4 weeks). They then flow out of the substrate in the incubator once they are able to swim on their own. The small fry develop into fingerlings and seek cover on the margin of the stream, in slack water.
SA	Settlement Agreement, Cowlitz River Hydroelectric Project
SAFE	Stock Assessment and Fishery Evaluation
SAR	Smolt-to-Adult Return
SASSI	Salmon and Steelhead Stock Inventory is an inventory of naturally reproducing fish in Washington State - the first step in the statewide Wild Stock Restoration Initiative. SASSI provides an approach for developing a list of salmon and steelhead stocks and a process for rating their current status. Stock lists, classifications and ratings will be updated as additional information becomes available.
SDC	Status Determination Criteria
SEAK	South East Alaska
SF	South Fork (as pertaining to a river system)
SRFI	Snake River Fall Index (Chinook)
SSC	Scientific and Statistical Committee
SSHIAP	Salmon and Steelhead Habitat Assessment Program which provides a common inventory of wild stock populations and habitat conditions. This program is a map-based databank of habitat conditions, is a prime example of the type of collaboration which involves local governments, landowners and others in that effort.
STAR	Stock Assessment Review
STT	Salmon Technical Team
SWAG	Scientific Wild Ass Guess (?????)
SWFSC	Southwest Fisheries Science Center (NMFS)
SWR	Southwest Region (NMFS)
TAC	Total Allowable Catch
TAC	Technical Advisory Committee U.S. v Oregon Technical Advisory Committee created in 2008 & extends until 2017 which is composed of members of both Washington & Oregon that monitor & update salmon in the Columbia River
TAMM	Teerminal Area Management Model
THR	Terminal Harvest Rates Total harvest, divided by total runsize, shown as a percentage
TRT	Technical Review Team
URB	Up River Bright Chinook salmon that originate & return above Bonneville dam
USFS	U.S. Forest Service
USFWS	U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
USGS	U.S. Geological Survey
VSI	Visual Stock Identification is simply visually observing & identifying the fish.
VSPP	Viable Salmonid Population Parameters are parameters that are used to evaluate the status of given stock. The four parameters are abundance (A), productivity (P), diversity (D), and spatial distribution (S) (McElhany et al. 2000).
VSP	Viable Salmonid Population is a salmonid population that has a negligible risk of extinction over a specified time period. For example, in the the purposed Willapa plan, a viable steelhead population is one that has a less than 5% probability of extinction over at least 100 years.
VTR	Voluntary Trip Report is a report available to sport fisherpersons, where by they can record the number, size & location of fish, both retained or released & reported back top WDFW
WAC	Washington Administrative Code
WAU	Watershed Administrative Unit
WCVI	West Coast Vancouver Island
WCPFC	Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission
WDF	Washington Department of Fisheries was the old department that was in charge of commercial fishing
WDFW	Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife Link to their website
WRIA	Water Resource Inventory Area
WWTIT	Western Washington Treaty Indian Tribes