Craig Welch of the Seattle Times ran a story on hatchery reform this morning on page B1. Here are some highlights:

A panel of scientists reported back yesterday after spending over three years evaluating more than 100 salmon and steelhead hatcheries in coastal Washington and in Puget Sound. The panel recommended over 500 changes to the hatchery system, the world's largest.

Barbara Cairns, executive director of Long Live The Kings , heads reform efforts that began in 2000 with the so-called hatchery Scientific Review Group, a panel of scientists. The group was charged with ensuring that science came first when advising governments how to revamp the region's hatcheries. ...Cairns said: " it's the first time you've ever had a group working this carefully and this systematically."

Current budgets in the state include another $7 million for this program. Everyone realizing how important the hatchery system is to the economy. WDFW director Koenings said: " It is THE cash flow in a lot of our communities." The system supports hundreds of jobs and produces 75% of the salmon caught in Puget Sound and 90% of those in the Columbia River system.

Few dispute the quality of the science behind the report. Bob Lohn, regional administrator for NOAA Fisheries, the federal agency that oversees salmon recovery, says: " It's great stuff, and we intend to use it.

" But hard decisions are yet to come. By 2004, the science panel will recommend ways to ensure its proposals are instituted by various governments that run hatcheries Thosed changes will take years and cost millions."

I urge you to read the whole story in the Times. It shows that a lot of work has been going on to reform the messed up hatchery system here in Washington and it also points out that it won't happen over night. While this really large group works to recommend changes and the government finds money in this horrible economy to support the reforms , Washington Trout is not at the table with them..they are in court suing WDFW to suck out some of that scarce funding to pay their lawyers and throw parties to raise more money to sue more people and throw more parties to raise more money to sue more people.......................

Grandpa - you are picking up speed and gaining momentum. Right now it is 51% to 49% in favor of what WT is doing for me. Shaky support indeed. Good work.

Or could it possibly be that WT is right and the hatchery system needs to be pushed into compliance?

Amen Sinktip.

Man if my review came in at work with 500 things i needed to do different I would be fired. Heck if came back with 20 things I was doing wrong I would be fired.

"You have many hatchery programs whose purpose is not immediately apparent, some exist solely for the benefit of harvest even though no one is fishing there, and some are producing fish in areas where the habitat is so bad it can't even support them all," said Barbara Cairns, executive director of Long Live the Kings.


Having a hatcher where no one can fish for them that makes sense. I beleve the wenatchee is that way. It is closed but they still plant hatcher fish. that is healthy for the few wild fish left.

JJ

Solving whatever the issues are is a resource problem. Suing the Government will just take away funds that could have been used to solve problems, not pay lawyers and court costs.

It is the fact that wt is not involved with lltk that makes me suspicios.lltk has made huge strides towards hatchery reform and the use of hatcheries to bring back our declining stocks.If wt was really interested in hatchery reform then you would think that they would have more to do with ltk.

On the other hand I am not a fan of our hatcheries and there use to pasify the masses with fish to kill.The truth of the matter is that there is not a system in the state thats wild fish are not declining and I firmly believe that whatever has to be done to curb this needs to be done.If it is proven with science that the introduction of hatchery fish into a system is harming our wild stocks then the hatchery fish needs to be removed.If that means that I no longer can fish my favorite rivers,which it would,then so be it.At least maybe the kids that I have been fortunate enough to introduce to fishing might have a chance at catching a wild fish.

Gee, I dunno Aunty, maybe cause LLTK is an independent, non-profit advisory council?

They are not the entity charged with operating the hatcheries, merely a "consultant" in the hatchery reform process.

What would WT have to gain by suing them?

You know me Aunty! Yep, that was really stretching the boundaries! How on earth could I have gotten the idea that you didn't REALLY mean: "Gee, I wonder why Long live the Kings isn't listed in the WT lawsuit?"

Unless of course you are willing to concede that at times you don't say what you really mean? :p

Funny AuntyM. I just now noticed/read your signature.

Gill nets are one of the most selective types of fishery techniques/methods out there being used today! Why should they be banned? Your signature confuses me.

Funny seeing those two sentences side by side in your signature.

Oxus, meet Moros, Moros, meet Oxus.



Ob:Anything-useful. No. I'm staying far away from the WT/Anyone else debate. I just liked AuntyM's signature. It put a smile on my face!

The Long Live The Kings organization was instrumental in getting that great estuary habitat project on the Sky to happen. The scientific findings on the Washington hatcheries just came out. The governor, NMFS, NOAA, the tribes and several politicians applauded it and appropriated money to implement some of the solutions to the identified problems we have with the hatcheries. Sure this has been a long road with a projected multi-year solution in motion but we are moving forward with solutions.

Sorry that the "old horse" has to be beaten over and over again but in the midst of all this progress Washington Trout goes to court to circumvent the process in an attempt to close all the hatcheries. Is it really that hard to see the folly in that? Is it just possible that the people working on the solutions are good hearted and will ultimately succeed? Isn't it also possible that forces other than hatcheries are at work destroying our wild fish runs? Can we solve the problems without hurting the masses for the gratification of the few? I think we can and we are.

Parker,
What is your logic behind this? Gillnets are pretty indiscriment on what they catch.

The WT bashers ought to read the ISRG report before they get too excited...it calls for LOTS of reform, including closing some hatcheries that flat out don't work.

Other than that, though, there are lots more common sense and legally required reforms in the report, and it will be exciting to see how it all shakes out in the future.

Fish on...

Todd.

I have read the report and realize that the reforms are many and all long overdue. It is the lawsuit that I object to and Ramon's distortion of the facts.

i agree grandpa and must add that ramon has done a terrible job as communication director for wt.

Parker...Huh??? Gillnets are specific How???
I gotta hear this!
Explain to me how a gill net treats a hatchery fish any different than a wild fish. The only thing I can think of thats worse than a gill net ( and I know some of you will correct me here) is a trawler! And at least some of the fish they kick loose will live...

As far as the WT lawsuit...
I cannot support a group that has fundraising as the basis for a suit. It looks to me like WT is hoping that WDFW will settle for dollars NOT REFORM! I think anyone who works for or with WDFW will back me up when I say that it is a typical beurocracy(sp). Most of the people who work there have the best intrest of the fish in mind, but its hard to get a 500lb gorilla to do whats right instead of what he wants. All it takes is one or two people to put their political intrest ahead of the fish and you get what we have now...LLTK seems to be addressing these issues, WT is raising money...

My much abbr. $.02

Correct me if I'm wrong but when Parker said selective I don't think he is refering to wild or hatchery, rather species. Sportsmen can't be specific or selective when fishing for wild or hatchery either till you can see the fish. Thats why we have catch and release of wild or non targeting fish.

Gillnets and Trawlers are very specific in the sepecies they target. It is all in how you target the species.

Factory Trawlers are are equiped with some of the most advanced nettings and sonar system . No it can't differentiate a wild or hatchery fish ( it really doesn't matter anyways , since the species they target don't have a hatchery origin) but it will do a lot better job then you and your boat will.

Reason for Trawlers, Trollers, Gillnets, Seiners, Long liners, are because they are targeting a selective fisheries. At the same time you you can use these vessels to be non selective but I have not seen any of that for more then 15 years , not by American fisheries .

No AuntyM, Parker isn't the one confused by the definition of selectivity as it pertains to a fishery.

Thanks Divers, as that saved my fingers some typing time.

Link to full report:

http://www.longlivethekings.org/pdf/HSRG_Recommendations_Mar_03.pdf

One of my favorite parts...

"In the past, hatchery programs have too often been evaluated on the basis of the number of fish released. This is akin to evaluating a farm by the number of seeds planted."

sounds familiar:

http://www.ifish.net/cgi-local/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=26;t=003079

"I agree that to do a cost benefit analysis you must have both cost and benefits, however, the powers that be have been telling us for many years what the benefits were but would never pony up the costs. ODFW when asked would give the price per smolt at each facility but would never calculate the price per returning adult. This is analogous to a farmer calculating the price per seed planted and the number of acres sown but not calculating the total benefit from harvest"

great thinkers think alike huh