Lawsuit Filed to Block Elwha Hatchery Program
Friday, February 10, 2012 at 12:05AM
Patagonia Fly Fishing Ambassdor Dylan Tomine eloquently sums up what's at stake and why we should let nature take its course.
For Immediate Release: Thursday, February 9, 2012
WILD FISH CONSERVANCY
PO Box 402 Duvall, WA 98019 • Tel 425-788-1167 • Fax 425-788-9634 •
info@wildfishconservancy.org
Contact: Kurt Beardslee, Wild Fish Conservancy, 206-310-9301
Brian Knutsen, Smith and Lowney, PLLC, 503-287-4194
Citing warnings from agency and independent scientists, four conservation groups filed suit today against several federal agencies and officials of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe (in their official capacities) for violating the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and ignoring the best available science and threatening the recovery of killer whales, Chinook salmon, and native steelhead by funding and operating fish hatchery programs in the Elwha River. The groups agree with federal and state scientists and a recent review by the Hatchery Scientific Review Group (HSRG) that restoration of the lower Elwha River and recolonization of the pristine upper Elwha River above Elwha and Glines Canyon dams should prioritize recovery of wild fish. The proposed reliance on large-scale hatchery releases undermines ecosystem recovery and violates the ESA. Wild Fish Conservancy, The Conservation Angler, the Federation of Fly Fishers Steelhead Committee, and the Wild Steelhead Coalition have brought the suit against the Olympic National Park, NOAA Fisheries Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and representatives of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe.
The federal government is spending nearly $325 million for the dam removal project, opening nearly ninety miles of pristine riverine habitat in Olympic National Park, much of which is designated a wilderness area. Rather than allowing wild salmonids to naturally colonize this pristine habitat, the agencies and the Tribe are going ahead with a plan that will release approximately four million juvenile hatchery salmonids annually throughout the recovery, including the continued release of non-native steelhead during a five-year fishing moratorium. The hatchery releases will be supported by a new fish hatchery on the Elwha River built with $16.4 million of Stimulus Act funds. State and federal agency scientists pointed out that the current plan gives no measureable goals for wild fish recovery, provides no timetable for ceasing the hatchery production, and that ultimately, wild fish recovery is going to be hampered by the hatchery fish. A review released this week by the independent Hatchery Scientific Review Group (HSRG), which was organized and funded by Congress, has echoed these concerns.
“While the Tribe played an essential role in removing the dams,” said Kurt Beardslee, Executive Director of Wild Fish Conservancy, “their intent to now plant millions of hatchery fish in disregard of the scientific evidence undermines salmon recovery in the Northwest and the goals of the ESA. However you look at it, it’s a horrible precedent if left to stand.”
Will Atlas, chair of the FFF Steelhead Committee, stated “The science does not support planting of hatchery fish into this productive, pristine habitat.”
“This action is necessary,” said Rich Simms, president of the Wild Steelhead Coalition, “so that wild, not hatchery, steelhead will be restored to the Elwha and the Olympic Wilderness."
“Their plan is vague and uncertain about how and when these hatchery interventions will end,” said Pete Soverel, president of The Conservation Angler. “The Elwha deserves far better but will end up compromised like most of our other rivers if this plan is implemented.”
The groups believe that spending $325 million to open a wilderness watershed but then stocking it with hatchery fish is poor public policy and will likely provoke taxpayer skepticism toward salmon recovery and future efforts at dam removal. The groups support the right of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe to harvest salmon and steelhead, but argue that intensive hatchery production throughout the recovery will reduce the capacity of wild salmon and steelhead to recolonize the newly available habitat, harming ESA listed Puget Sound steelhead, Chinook salmon, and southern resident killer whales that depend on Chinook salmon for their survival.
The groups are represented by Smith and Lowney, PLLC, of Seattle.
Reader Comments (9)
As long as people are catching fish,, they don't care about wild recovery. That's the truth...i have a friend from Washington who turned down the opportunity to fish wild steelies on the skeena . He said he'd rather fish and catch fish in the us stocked rivers. As long as your dealing with that attitude your wasting your steam. Wild fish in continental US are not appreciated, which is why 90% of angling there is put and take.
I'm a very firm believer in looking after/rehabilitating habitat and letting the fish do the rest. Hatcheries should not be part of restoring a river!
Patience. . what a novel idea! Well said, Dylan.
I totally agree we should all support these organizations, however I fear that with a hatchery already built to the tune of $16,400,000 I'm not sure what the realistic chances are.....
We need to get as many people sharing this on FB as possible. It's making this issue available to the general public that will really help our cause. Please do your part!
Education is the key. We all need to educate the public about the difference between "wild" and "hatchery" fish.
All a hatchery does is mask a habitat or harvest problem--treat the problem, not the symptoms.
What I'm saying is people would rather go out and catch 8 stocked fish than 1 or 2 wild...That is why stocking is so rampant in the US. That and over fishing.
Most people think hatcheries are a solution to all our problems. I would guss 98% of the population think that. Most of the fishermen I meet on rivers targeting native steelhead think hatcheries are a solution.
It's kinda like all those people that think Saddam Hussein was partially behind 9/11; it sounds right to them, so it is the truth to them.
Intellectual thinking is not as convenient for those hard working American dreamers......