I'm a member of the PSA South Sound Chapter. At our last meeting on June 1 we had a guest speaker from the fisheries side of WDFW. His real discussion item was on the Commercial Fleet Observation and Sampling Program. However, when it was done and he opened it up for questions I drilled him with some tough ones.

The first question that I asked was for him to clarify what the Departments stance was on the Cowlitz Hatchery Program and whether or not Koenings had mad a recent agreement with Tacoma Power and Light regarding the future of this fishery. I think I caught him off guard! I was amazed that this guy would not deny that there are big changes on the horizon for this fishery. What he said was that the Department feels that the Cowlitz Hatchery System, once the largest hatchery in the western US, is too big and cumbersome to be run efficiently. They feel that the hatchery should be closed down and remodeled to provide a more modern facility.

When asked if any funding for this project was in place, no definitive answer was given. When asked if a timeline had been established for the project, no definitive answer was given. When asked what would happen to the hatchery production during the remodel of the facility, the answer was that he hoped that managers would be smart enough to only remodel half of the facility at a time and maintain at least some production. Anyone who has ever worked on a state construction project or understands how a hatchery functions knows that this won't happen.

After asking about the Cowlitz Hatchery program, I asked him if he was aware if the Departments fisheries managers had considered the impact that dimished production on the Cowlitz would have on the other rivers in the state. I noted that probably 40-50% of this states licensed guides make their living on the banks of the Cowlitz at one time or another during the year. Where are all of them going to go when this is no longer a viable fishery? (I think that those of us who spend time on the water can answer this one.) They're going to be bumping us out of the holes on the Kalama, Wynoochee and Satsop and putting extreme pressure on those smaller more delicate fisheries. The response to this line of questioning was: "I don't know whether anyone has thought about or considered those issues."

I'm guessing things are going to go like this. The WDFW will announce that they are going to reduce production and close the Cowlitz Hatchery Program for renovation and remodelling. Of course, they'll do this before any funding is in place. Once the hatchery is closed it will take a couple years to get the funding in place and another year or two to form committees and discuss design alternatives etc., etc., etc.. In the meantime there is no hatchery production. After 3-4 years of no hatchery production someone realizes that the river is almost totally devoid of hatchery raised stocks. Suddenly, someone gets the bright idea. Hey! This river is now "purified". Wouldn't this be a great opportunity to eliminate the hatchery program all together and attempt to work with Tacoma City Light to once again establish a totally "wild" run of fish in the Cowlitz.

Now do a slow fade out from the Cowlitz River, totally devoid of all hatcheries,dams and fishermen. Stinky, dreadlock wearing, tree-hugging kayakers wearing Berkenstocks and army surplus cloths crowd the launching ramp. Behind them on the bank is a sign. It reads: "Absolutely no fishing. Wild salmonoid sanctuary. WDFW"

Now do a slow fade in to the launch at White Bridge on the Wynoochee. It's 5am and the sun is just beginning to peak through the fog shrouded valley. A guide with his jet sled trailer is blaring on his horn and waiving the finger at the "Sporties" who just took the last available parking space in the lot. Meanwhile on the river, engines roar as the jet sleds blast off down the river to stake their claim to the best holes on the river. The wake from the sleds toss the driftboats against the rocks as they blow through the holes near the launch. On the shore beside the launch someone has posted a homemade sign. It reads: "Welcome to Blue Creek"

Sorry for the negative vibes and dismal visions! This is only my vision of the future. I hope I'm wrong. I guess watching the fishery that we had in the mid-seventies and early eighties deteriorate to what we have today has given me a bitter view of things.

What I wouldn't do for a time machine that could zap me back to the banks of the Toutle River Gorge at 5am in the morning on a July morning in 1975.

God I hope the scenario you envision doesn't come to pass. My thoughts aren't so dire, for example:

Parital production in hatcheries is fairly commonplace, due to varying run sizes that occur on rivers year after year. In a monster the size of the Cowlitz hatchery, I would expect that running the hatchery on partial production, while remodeling could be done.

There are also two hatcheries; couldn't the salmon hatchery lend some production space as well? Don't they already raise and release the B-run winter fish that cruise past the Barrier Dam in March and April?

I just can't see Cowlitz production falling to zero, even if they want to reestablish wild fish. This river has been the top WA producer for over 20 years; news of no runs could quite likely have a substantial affect on license sales, which just means less revenue all around.

It seems to me that this would be letting Tacoma PUD off the hook in providing mitigation for their dams. And they're dreaming if they think they can restore wild runs anywhere near historical levels. Not with two giant lakes in the system that used to hold spawning water. Wild juveniles may also run into the same predation problems that they run into on the Columbia or Lake Washington (how many juvenile steelhead can a 50 inch tiger musky eat?). It wouldn't take to much thought to determine that the costs to plant, truck, and monitor populations could be well in excess of operating a hatchery.

Lastly, why would funding be an issue? Shouldn't the PUD flip the bill for hatchery restoration?

I don't know, maybe these thoughts merely reflect a lack of complete understanding of the issues, but it just seems to me that the WDFW is embattled enough without eliminating the #1 steelhead stream in the State. But then again....

The state does not fund those programs city of Tacoma runs them

I think this issue has everyone concerned. I was at the salmon hatchery 3 weeks ago killing an hour as I was on business and not fishing that day. Walking up to the fish viewing area at the hatchery, I struck up a conversation with one of the employees who was sorting late winter-runs and the few spring chinook that had shown so far. He mentioned that there were plans in the works to completely re-design and modernize the salmon hatchery. He went so far as to say they would like to flatten the place and start over.

It seems when the hatchery came on line in the early 60's it was state of the art. But, state of the art then is not state of the art now......The design of the facility is a nightmare for disease. This has been realized the hard way with ever-diminishing returns of spring chinook(among other species). He indicated the re-design WOULD happen and was hopeful Tacoma PUD would foot the bill.

I read this as a temporary reduction in production with possible huge gains down the road with improved hatchery technology. That's the optimistic view. On the other side of the coin, WDFW has not been open with the public about this(they claim to have had countless public meetings down there but I didn't hear of this until word got out Koenigs had signed on). Based on past performance, I'm am also skeptical as any project done like this behind our backs usually has a bad result.

I don't know what to think. The PUD's written committment to mitigation seems iron-clad. I just can't believe they would be stupid (or arrogant) enough to flush this fishery down the toilet when so many people have a stake in it.

Time will tell!