Bank Walker

Here's the story on that!

The WDFW makes claim that their "late winter run steelhead" run is still the same genetic steelhead that the Cowlitz has always had historically. Logic and the logistics, plus common sense tell us otherwise.

One really needs to be an expert on the history of the Cowlitz to fully understand what has actually occurred. After 18 years of intense research and participation in countless meetings and pubic record searches, I consider myself to be an "expert" on the Cowlitz River Fishery. I do not hold a degree, but I do hold a tremendous amount of information, plus countless hours of researching her history.

To believe for one second that the Cowlitz still maintains a "pure genetic" run is just plain asinine! First, since day one, the WDFW had brought in steelhead from almost every other basin in the state and released them into the Cowlitz. That is documented and I have personally seen those records. After all the previous stockings from other river basins, the Dams and the Cowlitz hatcheries were also built. The steelhead hatchery went into production around 1969. They had no Hatchery Genetic Management Plans (HGPM) at that time. They just took the brood from whatever came into ladder at the Barrier Dam/ hatchery at the time. They used whatever "genetics" mixes that the "hatchery manager" thought would produce a large size steelhead that sport fishers would like. It was all done by timing, and size only!

From the early 1980's the average total run size of all steelhead for major stocks in the low Columbia River was approximately 150,000 winter steelhead and 80,000 summer steelhead. Approximately 75% of the total run (summer and winter combined) were thought to be of hatchery origin! A large portion of these fish (around 20,000) were from the Cowlitz.

Over 1,115,000 summer and "early winter run steelhead" smolts were released yearly into the Cowlitz since the early 1980's. None of those fish were marked to show if they were of hatchery or of wild origin.

It would defy both common sense and science to think that these late Cowlitz winter runs would have not been heavily inter mixed or interbreed in over 30 years of almost 100% hatchery production. You got to remember, you are talking about hunders of thousands of unmarked fish that were being selected at random to be used for brood stock. In my opinion, it would be next to impossible for the Cowlitz to have maintained a "pure" genetic stock of steelhead in the Cowlitz.

WDFW has claimed that these late winters are "similar" to what the Cowlitz once had, but are unable to bring ANY "genetic proof" that these fish were actually from the Cowlitz. Instead, they have singled out "one genetic group" because it is slightly different then all the other steelhead that are combined in the same ESU. There is absolutely no proof that these fish are truly the original Cowlitz stock of steelhead. They (WDFW) have chosen to use these stocks of fish only because they were "similar in run and spawning time" and abundance.

These are the real "facts" about the Cowlitz Native Winter Run Steelhead: Winter steelhead were history abundant in the Cowlitz River. The earliest production estimates was 22,000 fish (Meigs, no date).Thomson and Ruthfus (1969) counted steelhead passing Mayfield Dam from 1961 to 1966 which averaged 11, 087 fish.

Winter steelhead passage BEGAN in mid-November, peaked in early April and indeed in June. In 1950, Chamber Creek smolts were planted into the Cowlitz. Around 50% of the original winter genetic stock of Cowlitz steelhead returned by early February.

Do you still think that these are truly "native" genetic Cowlitz stocks? Well if you do, then try this one on for size! This is partial reply from WDFW to questions that I and my associate had asked the WDFW to answer back in November of 1995. It took the WDFW over 8 months to return their answers to our 26 question.

Once you have read their reply, you should be outraged that these new "wild" fish protections are now being imposed on the Cowlitz and its fishery!

WDFW answer June 12, 1996; "Wild winter steelhead in the Lower Columbia River tributaries are spring spawners (Lucas 1986 and WDFW unpublished data), with peak spawning from Mid March to June. Kray (1957) found that peak spawning in the Tilton River, a Cowlitz River tributary, occurred in May. These dates are supported by Mayfield run timing data which shows peak passage in April and it is 'likely' that peak spawning would occur within a month.

Therefore, the most suitable stock for steelhead reintroduction would be a winter steelhead that enters primarily between March and June, and spawns between April and June. This leads us to either 'Cowlitz Hatchery' or wild steelhead.

STOCK SELECTION--WDFW would have preferred to use local stocks because of survival and adaptation advantages over hatchery fish in the natural environment. However, there are few wild steelhead left in the Cowlitz River and most are offspring from hatchery fish (Tipping 1984). Adjacent river basins are not making their escapements goals, leaving few fish available for Cowlitz reintroduction. Therefore, local Cowlitz stocks were examined as the most viable option."


So what it all boiled down to is that WDFW had drummed up a way to create a "similar" genetic stock to now create a "wild" species of Cowlitz River steelhead that will now be protected!

Fishermen should be outraged!!

But yet they have set here and let it happen!

And some members wonder why I am always getting down on our WDFW.


Cowlitzfisherman