Grandpa and others,

I suspect rational debate is not possible in regards to the Cedar River sockeye hatchery. There is a mix of idealism favoring nature's way, money and social interests, and the undeniable fact that the Cedar is part of a highly modified watershed ecosystem that will never be restored to its former state.

As others mentioned, Lake Washington used to be higher in elevation. I've heard 9 to 17 feet. The Cedar River joined the Black, which joined the Duwamish, which was formed by the Green and the White. Lake Washington apparently drained into or through the Black to reach the Duwamish. It's all changed, and the decisions are about what to do from this day forward. Restoring former fish stocks to their native condition is likely impossible without filling the Montlake Cut. This would flood Bill Gates and Paul Allen's houses and a lot of other significant real estate and isn't likely to happen.

Reasonable decisions are difficult when the debate is more visceral than rational. I think a reasoned approach is to try to optimize (means different things to different people) the biological and social benefits of the system that is likely to exist for the foreseeable future.

Of all the developmental actions in the Lake Washington drainage, a sockeye hatchery on the Cedar River seems relatively less significant. Sockeye fry feed other fish, particularly native cutthroat trout and pikeminnow. I don't see that as a bad thing. (Remember, almost every species of fish that has ever been in the northwest has been planted in Lake Washington at one time or another.) More trout may be caught in recreational and treaty net fisheries as a result of sockeye enhancement, but there may very likely be a lot more trout in Lake Washington to be caught as a result of sockeye enhancement. It could go both ways, and I admit to having seen no information supporting either outcome.

Sockeye don't compete much with other salmon or trout for habitat. However, they do carry IHN, a disease that readily infects chinook and steelhead. But I would add that chinook and steelhead and sockeye coexist in many, many watersheds.

It's not that hard to come up with a few good reasons to oppose almost any developmental action, including hatcheries. But if I wanted to oppose a hatchery, I think I'd pick something ohter than one for Cedar River sockeye. It would make more sense to oppose dock-building on Lake Washington, lawn fertilizers and herbicides and pesticides along the lake front, and the storm sewer outfalls on the lake.

But I think I mentioned that it's hard to find a reasoned approach on a highly modified place like Lake Washington/Cedar River, etc. There is no "way that it should be," that has any future meaningful context. The way that it should be is based on how well reasoned are the decisions we, as a society, make in its present and future management.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.