Connection: Methow Kill Averted

Washington state nearly had its own fish kill this summer when the federal government ordered a fish hatchery in Methow Valley to destroy its salmon.

The National Marine Fisheries Service had targeted the Chinook salmon at Methow National Fish Hatchery because of fears they they might outcompete salmon with native bloodlines.

But after reports of a low return of salmon to spawn this spring and a public outcry against the killing, the NMFS reversed its decision in June. Now 50 pairs of adult spring Chinook are set to be planted in the Salmon and Omak creeks with the approval of the Colville Confederated Tribes. The hope is that those fish will restore the diminishing numbers in Salmon Creek.

In addition to the adult release, thousands of fry will be released into the Okanogan Basin this spring.

The hatchery-raised fish are generally larger than those believed to carry the genetic lines of fish native to the river.

The hatchery has operated in the Methow Valley since the 1930s when salmon were brought from a stream hundreds of miles away.