It looks to me like the first point in their policy is a contradiction. How can a hatchery fish be raised in conditions that mimic natural conditions? Wouldn't that be a free flowing, cool, clean river with natural gravel for redds and live natural feed? Dosen't sound like any hatchery I have ever seen, it sounds like a river to me.
From columbia basin bulletin
A bill that sponsors say would allow more hatchery salmon to spawn
naturally and require the state to use hatchery salmon eggs to replenish
fish runs was signed into law late Tuesday by Washington Gov. Gary Locke
over the protestations of the federal agency charged with protecting and
rebuilding "wild" salmon and steelhead runs.
The bill requires the Department of Fish and Wildlife to develop new
rules allowing more hatchery salmon to spawn and prohibits the practice
of clubbing adult hatchery salmon, which commingle with native salmon,
for the purpose of destroying viable hatchery eggs, according to its
primary sponsor.
"We invest a great deal of money and make significant sacrifices in our
rural communities to support our hatchery programs and enhance our
salmon runs. This bill ensures that we maximize our efforts by
protecting viable hatchery salmon and their eggs," said Rep. Barb Lisk,
R-Zillah, the bill's primary sponsor.
The bill passed the both chambers of the Washington Legislature
unanimously in late April before being forwarded to the governor's desk.
The House vote was 94-0 and the Senate vote was 48-0. The fate of the
bill's key provisions was in doubt, Lisk said, but a bipartisan plea to
the governor's office kept the measure intact.
"I was pleased with the bipartisan support for this measure, both in the
Legislature and within the department," Lisk said. "In a way, it's very
appropriate, because this bill removes some of the politics from our
salmon policies and ensures we use the best available science in the
decisions regarding operation of our hatcheries and management of our
salmon resource."
A "partial veto" message sent by the governor to the Legislature Tuesday
signaled approval of all but one section of the bill -- a clause calling
for its immediate enactment.
"My discussions with WDFW indicate that this provision is not necessary
and that the development of the appropriate rule package will take some
time," Locke wrote. The department anticipates it can produce the
necessary rules by next spring, according to Sandi Peck of the
governor's salmon recovery office.
"Fish and Wildlife is confident that the concerns the governor and
others have will be addressed when they issue those rules," Snell said
Friday. Locke approved the remainder of the bill.
Locke's message noted that section 4 of the bill directs the Fish and
Wildlife Commission to issue rules allowing more hatchery salmon to
spawn naturally in the state's watersheds.
"In view of the significant concerns and uncertainties surrounding the
interaction between hatchery and wild salmon, the Commission should take
into account the recommendations of the federal agencies with
jurisdiction over this issue, namely the National Marine Fisheries
Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service," Locke wrote.
He also said that he expected any rules "will comply with WDFW's Hatchey
Genetic Management Plans, satisfying the requirements of the Endangered
Species Act and the goal of wild fish recovery."
"Although hatcheries currently, and in the future, will play an
important role in recovery of wild salmon populations, they are not a
substitute for the protection and restoration of habitat and reform of
our state water code. Wild salmon will not recover without our
addressing habitat, hatcheries, harvest and hydropower," Locke said.
The legislation would prohibit the WDFW from "destroying salmon that
originated from a hatchery for the purpose of destroying viable eggs
that would otherwise be useful for replenishing fish runs as determined
by the department or federally approved tribes within the state."
"The highest priority for the department in providing surplus salmon
eggs is to 1) tribes; 2) voluntary groups with cooperative agreements;
3) regional fisheries' enhancement groups; 4) governmental hatcheries in
Washington, Idaho, and Oregon; and 5) lead entities approved for funding
by the Salmon Recovery Funding Board.
"The Fish and Wildlife Commission is required to adopt rules that
contain directives for allowing more hatchery salmon to spawn naturally
including outplanting of adult fish particularly where progeny of
hatchery fish have spawned in order to increase the number of viable
salmon eggs and restore healthy fish runs."
WDFW deputy director Larry Peck said Friday that the department and
commission would begin developing the rules necessary to integrate the
new law into their guiding regulations.
"It's a direction the agency's been working toward regardless of the
legislation," Peck said of the law's push to utilize more hatchery stock
to seed state streams. The agency would continue its course toward
developing appropriate hatchery fish from local broodstocks.
"There will be situations where we don't think it's appropriate" to
outplant hatchery stocks, he said. The goal remains to use the
appropriate stock in the appropriate situations.
"The message is -- make sure you get your hatcheries reformed so that it
allows you to do that," Peck said. Providing eggs to tribes,
cooperatives, agencies and other agencies has the potential to be a
benefit to recovery, Peck said, by adding resources that now unavailable
to the state. Again the department and commission would have to screen
artificial production proposals to be sure they are in line with state
and federal mandates. Artificial production can be a useful tool for
recovery.
"I don't think the bait that it's either good or back is helpful," Peck
said.
The legislation is a direct reaction to federal policies intended to
protect salmon listed under the Endangered Species Act from the negative
impacts that are believed to stem from interactions between hatchery and
"wild" populations, as well as intensify competition for available
habitat. NMFS hatchery biological opinions stress the need to use
locally-adapted broodstocks in conservation hatcheries intended to help
rebuild listed fish populations.
The ability of hatchery-reared populations' to persist when released
into the wild is enhanced through the use of broodstocks that have
evolved over time and adapted to specific geographic environments, says
NMFS.
Public furor was raised last summer when relatively abundant runs, by
recent standards, of spring chinook and other salmon resulted in the
"clubbing" of returning hatchery fish beyond the number needed to
restock hatchery egg banks.
National Marine Fisheries Service's acting regional administrator Donna
Darm indicated that the legislation is an overreaction and, contrary to
Lisk's opinion, takes science out of the recovery equation and puts it
solely in the political realm.
In a May 8 letter, Darm urged Locke to veto the measure, saying the
intended "one-size-fits-all" solution lacks scientific merit, undercuts
fish managers efforts and could conflict with federal law as well as
actually hinder salmon recovery efforts.
"HB 1286 runs counter to developing salmon recovery measures based on
local circumstances and the best available science," Darm wrote. "HB
1286 also creates serious potential conflicts with federal regulatory
requirements, and their associated public review processes, application
to the production of hatchery fish in areas that support fish listed
under the federal Endangered Species Act."
The bill's approach "is not scientifically defensible and limits the
latitude of state managers to develop scientifically sound salmon
recovery initiatives appropriate for the wide variety of circumstances
that exist throughout the state," Darm said.
"It may actually deter salmon recovery and contribute to the decline of
salmon not already protected under the ESA, and because of its many
ambiguities, HB 1286 will only serve to further polarize and confuse
interested constituents on all sides of this issue."
Darm pointed out that hatcheries in Washington, Idaho and Oregon are
amidst "dramatic" and expensive changes in their practices that follow
scientific direction developed through research. Those changes have been
vetted through "substantial" public involvement.
"HB 1286 in many cases runs counter to improved hatchery practices
already in place, and to further reforms being developed by the
co-managers and NMFS within existing public processes," Darm wrote. She
used as an example the bill language that calls for allowing more
hatchery salmon to spawn naturally.
"Such an action is beneficial only under certain circumstances. To
mandate such a solution generally will force a repetition of some of the
most egregious hatchery practices of the past," Darm said. "The use of
hatchery fish for recovery has to be considered on a case-by-case basis,
a process now being effectuated by state, tribal and federal managers."
Putting more hatchery fish into a watershed with degraded habitat and
other limitations won't revive populations. "? instead of benefiting
recovery, the natural spawning of large numbers of hatchery fish may
have just the opposite effect by reducing the fitness of locally adapted
populations," Darm wrote. "Implementation of HB 1286 may therefore
extend the time to ESA de-listing and recovery of listed salmon species.
We don't believe that this is in the best interest of Washingtonians or
of protected salmon."
Under federal law, hatchery plans are subject to NMFS of USFWS review,
as well as public review and comment. The new law conflicts with those
federal requirements, Darm pointed out.
Darm concluded by saying "? we feel strongly that HB 1286 sends the
wrong message to the public: that the answer to the salmon recovery
dilemma is the release of more hatchery fish into natural spawning
areas.
"Besides being rooted in bad science, this message detracts from the
need to determine why wild salmon have declined to their current
depressed levels in the first place. Only when restoration actions
responsive to all the factors limiting salmon survival are addressed
will these species so crucial to our Pacific Northwest culture and
economy recover."
More info
http://www.nwcouncil.org/library/isab/isab2001-3.htm [ 05-24-2001: Message edited by: Keta ]
[ 05-24-2001: Message edited by: Keta ]
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