Eric and RT,

I understand that the ozone treatment at the trout hatchery is only large enough to treat the water used for egg incubation and early steelhead fry rearing. I believe the ozone treatment works well enough, but it only treats a small fraction of the total hatchery water supply. Once the fish are ponded in the large 5 acre ponds, they are in raw river water. Of course, the trout hatchery gets its water supply from the mainstem river, the only source that can provide the huge amount necessary for rearing 940,000 steelhead smolts. Unfortunately, that same water supply is the sickly effluent from the Cowlitz salmon hatchery 6 or 8 miles upriver. I’m told that treating the entire water supply would be cost prohibitive, however much that is.

Regarding the hatcheries, Tacoma owns the property and facilities, but they are 100% operated by WDFW. Tacoma just pays the bills. The state has about 25 departmental employees to operate the facilities at Tacoma’s expense. This is probably as it should be. It may be fun to blame Tacoma for what we perceive as going wrong - after all, they built the dams that destroyed the native runs - , but WDFW operates the hatcheries and makes the decisions about what fish to rear, how to rear them, etc. So if smolts are sick from hatchery overcrowding, is it WDFW’s fault for not following their own hatchery practice recommendations, or Tacoma’s for not providing enough hatchery space? The two sides have apparently been arguing about it for years. Further food for thought: biologists estimate that total salmon and steelhead production above the Mayfield dam site was no more than 4 million native smolts per year just prior to building the dams. WDFW releases over 10 million hatchery smolts per year that are larger and significantly less healthy. Perhaps there is something wrong with this picture?

It appears WDFW wants to protect its state jobs and vested interests in high harvest rate commercial and recreational fisheries on hatchery stocks - perhaps at the expense of recovery of listed fish. Tacoma wants to spend as little money as necessary. A situation ripe for continued conflict. I predict that common sense will be the solution of last resort.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.