Re: Baker sockeye transfer to Skokomish basin and Lake Cushman.

Yes, it's happening. Any endemic native sockeye stock from Cushman was either extirpated by the hydro project or overwhelmed from kokanee introductions. So the Skokomish Tribe looked at all potential donor stocks. Baker was selected because it's from Puget Sound and presently the most productive of the west side populations.

Yes, there are hoops to jump through, particularly fish disease protocols. The state and federal agencies and the Skagit Tribes had to approve. It's no easy task, but not impossible. The first brood was supposed to be last year, but some of the paperwork fell through the cracks, so the 2016 brood is the first adult brood year from which some fish are being set aside and held for TP/Skok. Eyed certified disease free eggs will be transferred to the new hatchery at Potlatch this winter. At specified times and sizes, juvenile sockeye will be transferred to Lake Cushman in 2017, and the first smolts should out migrate in the spring of 2018. And the first adult sockeye should return in the summer of 2020 if the program is successful.

A program like this is inherently an experiment, and success is not assured. WDFW's approval was based on biological considerations and the Skokomish Tribe's plan. Harvest sharing remains to be figured out. Of course it's more complicated if non-treaty recreational doesn't get a shot in the lower river. Hmmm, maybe a non-treaty gillnet fishery in lower Hood Canal is the Tribe's preferred method of assuring equal sharing of the harvest. Gotta' consider all ideas when brainstorming.

Meanwhile, back on topic, it would be interesting to hear what PSA and others had to say. If the state doesn't plan to contest the Skok's boundary claim, then my open-minded consideration would be to close down all state funded salmon hatchery operations in the Skok basin. The TP funded portion of G. Adams should continue since it's in TP's FERC license.

Sg