Hatcheries Spared For This Year

Eleven federal fish hatcheries in 10 states will stay open for at least another year.

But after that, it’s a good bet they and many more will be either closed or handed off to the states. Faced with budget constraints, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has to find ways to cut costs.,

The proposal is in an appropriations bill for the Interior Department, which President Clinton has promised to veto for other reasons. But observers believe the hatchery provision will eventually be approved.

The legislation cuts funding to run the hatcheries next year, and that could have a major impact on salmon production in Washington and Oregon.

The bill calls for significantly fewer federal fish hatcheries by the end of fiscal year 1997.

The federal government currently funds 74 fish hatcheries. FWS has proposed closing 11 next year and another 17 in 1997.

The bill urges states or conservation groups that want to take over hatcheries to move now. It provides $500,000 to help new operators in 1996 and warns that future transfer proposals might not involve such aid.

However, state agencies, such as the Washington Fish and Wildlife Department, say they are in no financial position to take over operations of additional hatcheries.

A congressional committee has left open the possibility of using the Sport Fish Restoration Program, the Wallop-Breaux program that taxes fishing gear and turns the money over to the states for programs to benefit fisheries, to help transfer the hatcheries to the states.

“We consider such use of these funds not only to be a violation of the public trust established in one of the most successful federal programs ever developed, but also to be in violation of the intent of the legislation, if not in violation of federal law,” ASA President Mike Hayden told the committee.

“Committee report language clearly states this program is to provide expanded and new fishing and boating opportunities, not to replace funding for ongoing responsibilities,” he said.

The 11 hatcheries are in Kentucky, South Carolina, North Dakota, New Mexico, Mississippi, North Carolina, Texas, Alabama, West Virginia and Georgia.

The facilities distributed 18 million fish to the nation’s waters in 1994.

However, funding cuts could dramatically reduce production of fish in the Pacific Northwest.

“If cutbacks occur as proposed, several hatcheries will be closed and salmon and steelhead releases into the Columbia River basin may be cut up to 50 percent, said Jim Gladson, spokesman for the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Department.

Federal budget cuts pending in Congress would reduce funding for Columbia River hatcheries up to 27 percent. Budget proposals contain no funding for marking coho salmon at Columbia River hatcheries in Oregon and Washington. The marking, scheduled to start next year, is needed to provide more fishing opportunities on hatchery-marked fish while protecting naturally produced fish.

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: BYLINE = Bill Schulz Associated Press Outdoors editor Rich Landers contributed to this story.