Outdoors Writer Used Information To Twist Reality

The recent article titled, “Eat Hatchery Steelhead with a Clear Conscience,” by Fenton Roskelley, was particularly troublesome. I and many other Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife employees throughout the state are particularly concerned by two statements made by Mr. Roskelley.

He states that “Hatchery fish raised to the smolt stage at Lyons Ferry hatchery and released into the Tucannon River over the last few years may have done so much harm to wild fish that rebuilding a viable wild populations may take generations.”

Our evaluation project has monitored wild steelhead in the Tucannon River for more than 10 years. Although there has been a decline in the abundance of wild steelhead in the Tucannon, we cannot attribute it to interactions with hatchery fish.

Other features, such as degraded aquatic and riparian habitat, mortality at dams and poor ocean survival because of El Nino conditions have contributed to the decline in wild salmonoids. The hatchery may be the most useful tool we have at rebuilding this stock of wild steelhead in the Tucannon River.

Also, the population of naturally produced juvenile steelhead has declined in the Tucannon River upstream of counting weir. Based on this information, we believe the weir has been interfering with the upstream migration of steelhead and has been exacerbating the decline in the number of wild fish in the upper Tucannon. We are working to solve this problem so steelhead will have unrestricted passage.

The article says, “At least more and more steelheaders are learning that dumping hatchery fish into Northwest streams is not the answer to preserving steelhead runs. It’s incredibly costly and it’s a failure.”

Yes, the program is costly. However, we have information that shows steelhead production from Lyons Ferry Hatchery has annually returned 1.5 to 3 times as many adult steelhead to southeast Washington as were lost because of the construction of the four Snake River hydroelectric dams.

Because of hard work by our hatchery workers, fish from the Lyons Ferry and Tucannon hatcheries have provided for a large and very popular sport fishery. Many anglers, including Mr. Roskelley, have enjoyed the fishery that this Lyons run has provided.

While the program is costly, I believe it is money well spent. I also believe the hatchery can be very instrumental in rebuilding populations of wild steelhead in southeast Washington. Given the past benefits derived from the Snake River hatchery program, I cannot see how anyone can call it a failure.

When the original discussion between Mr. Roskelley and myself took place, my intentions were to convey the following information:

1. The harvest of hatchery steelhead by sport anglers is a biologically sound practice. These fish were raised with the intent they be harvested. Yet I was not aware, nor was it my intent, that this information be used to belittle those that choose to practice catch-and-release of hatchery steelhead. Fishing is supposed to be an enjoyable pastime, and the decision to keep or release a legal steelhead is the prerogative of the angler.

2. At present, the rearing capability in the wild cannot produce enough juvenile fish to overcome the mortality resulting at the dams during migrations to the ocean and back, and still provide for enough adult fish to sustain a large sport fishery. Based on more than 10 years of research, we believe that the hatcheries in southeast Washington are needed to preserve steelhead runs that can be harvested and to rebuild a depressed run of wild steelhead in the Snake River basin.

Although I support the use of hatcheries, I also support any effort to improve degraded aquatic or riparian habitat in southeast Washington and to improve passage for migration of anadromous fish in the mainstem Snake River.

Finally, I believe Mr. Roskelley misused the information provided in our discussion. He accurately quotes me in one paragraph and provides unsubstantiated conclusions in the next. This is not responsible journalism, but merely a format for Mr. Roskelley to voice his opinion.

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