The Flip-Side of Fish Hatcheries

Originally intended to preserve salmon, are hatcheries harming the species?

LINK (via:Comstock's)

Single Fish Kills 400,000 Spring Chinook at Oregon Hatchery

Image:Tess McBride, US Fish and Wildlife Service

No, it wasn’t a case of some super-predator breaking into the raceways to gobble up all those young salmon. Instead, officials said that the fish somehow wedged itself into an intake pipe and cut off freshwater from coming into the raceway.

“A fish carcass clogged an intake pipe at Rock Creek Hatchery, shutting off the flow of water to a raceway, killing 400,000 spring Chinook pre-smolts.

LINK (via: Outdoor Hub)

$34 million in hatchery fish threatened by state government shutdown

Photo: Amit Patel

Here's one way to kill state run hatchery programs.

Millions of dollars in fish could be at stake if state lawmakers can't agree on a budget and avoid a government shutdown.

Dozens of hatcheries across Washington, where fish are raised, could be temporarily closed. There are millions of fish being raised by the Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). The fish need attention and care but the workers who provide that could be off the job without a paycheck.

LINK (via: King 5)

Hatcheries flow on despite the evidence they harm salmon recovery

Infographic courtesy of Rich Simms and the Wild Steelhead Coalition

Part two of Crosscut's hatchery story.

So, why are hatcheries still an issue? Because, decades after they gained notoriety as one of the factors that threaten salmon recovery,  people still catch salmon for fun and profit, and for most of them, catching a hatchery fish is just as much fun and just as profitable as catching one that didn’t start life in a concrete tank. Besides, to the uninformed eye, there’s not much difference.

LINK

Replenish steelhead runs with return to hatcheries

Guest commentary from the we used to use leeches and blood letting for medical treatment department.

LINK (via: Herald.Net)

The Hatchery Issue

The Osprey vol. 79 is out and it's generating some buzz among the conservation and angling community. In this issue are:

• To Save Wild Steelhead, Get Rid of Hatcheries. by Bill McMillan
• Science Shows Better Marine Survival in Wild Steelhead. by Dr. Elizabeth Daly
• Victory for Puget Sound Wild Steelhead. by Nick Gayeski
• Implementing Washington's Wild Steelhead Management Plan. by Pete Soverl
• Nickel Mining Threat in Southern Oregon and Northern California. by Michael Dotson

Read it HERE