The Use of Habitat Models to Set Ecosystem-Based Escapement Targets and a Plan for Achieving Them

Habitat based models such as Ecosystem Diagnosis and Treatment (EDT) were used to estimate the biomas of spawning salmon necessary to meet loading levels identified in the literature and in ongoing studies.  The habitat values from an EDT run for the Grays Harbor watershed were used to generate target escapement levels.  These levels were then compared with current goals and recent year levels. Finally, a stepwise salmon management regime was proposed to achieve biomass loadings.