There is no proposal for a new hatchery on the Skagit River system. The Marblemount and Baker hatcheries and Barnaby Slough rearing ponds provide all the hatchery facilities needed for this river system.

The proposal on the table is for an "acclimation pond" for the purpose of imprinting smolting steelhead to a spot lower on the River than the current facilities to help separate some of the returning hatchery steelhead from the wild stocks to reduce the likelihood of interaction.

Another innovation in the proposal is to allow the young steelhead to smolt more naturally by leaving the facility upon their own volition when they are ready in hopes that they might provide higher return ratios.

The greatest disadvantage that I am aware of is that the Grandy Creek area, the number one choice of locations, is currently a very popular flyfishing spot and those users would most probably not wish to fish amongst the influx of meat fishermen that the returning fish would attract.