1998 Salmonid Stock Inventory (SaSI) Bull Trout/Dolly Varden Volume (Revised 10/2004)

In 1993, the Washington Departments of Fisheries and Wildlife, along with the Western Washington Treaty Indian Tribes, provided initial results of a stock status inventory for salmon and steelhead (SASSI) in Washington State (Washington Department of Fisheries et al. 1993). The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) is now extending that effort to other wild salmonid species. The present report is a stock status report for bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) and Dolly Varden (S. malma), two closelyrelated char species native to Washington State. Separate inventories for each species were not performed due to two major factors: (1) considerable biological similarities exist between the species, and the methodologies to reliably separate them where they coexist have only recently been developed and have not been widely applied, and (2) strong similarities between species exist with respect to life history, habitat, hatchery and fishery management history. The inventory for these two species applies the same conceptual approaches, definitions, criteria, and organizational format that were developed for the earlier inventory for salmon and steelhead. This inventory utilized and extended the earlier inventory effort of Mongillo (1993).

Resource inventories are key steps in statewide efforts to maintain and restore wild1 salmonid stocks and fisheries. The primary intent of these efforts is to help identify currently available information and to guide future restoration planning and implementation. Assessment of specific management objectives, strategies, and implementation alternatives will be among the many subsequent steps (e.g., development of a bull trout/Dolly Varden management plan) aimed at improving the status of native char resources.