http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Suit-filed-to-block-hatchery-salmon-in-Elwha-River-139100129.html


PORT ANGELES, Wash. - Four environmental groups filed suit Thursday against Olympic National Park, two federal agencies and the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe, seeking to block restocking the Elwha River west of Port Angeles with hatchery-raised salmon as part of the Elwha dam-removal project.

The groups argue in their suit — which had been threatened for months — that the hatchery plan violates the federal Endangered Species Act and undermines the recovery of native fish in the river.

The removal of the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams, starting last summer, will open up 90 miles of fish habitat.

The $325 million project calls for release of about four million juvenile salmon plus non-native steelhead into the Elwha River each year, including during a five-year fishing moratorium. The lawsuit argues, among other points, that those releases will hamper wild fish recovery.

The suit was filed by Wild Fish Conservancy, The Conservation Angler, the Federation of Fly Fishers Steelhead Committee and the Wild Steelhead Coalition against Olympic National Park, NOAA Fisheries Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and representatives of the Lower Elwha tribe.

There was no immediate comment from the tribe, ONP or the other defendants.

But in September, Robert Elofson, river restoration manager for the Lower Elwha, noted that without stocking the Elwha with nonnative fish, the tribe might not have anything to catch at the end of a five-year fishing moratorium because wild runs will still be too fragile.

Awesome. Hope they succeed.

Oh no, the tribes wouldn't have anything to harvest for the next five years? Well to heck with future prospects for the river and everyone else (the majority) who love and enjoy the resource! We want instant gratification, no matter what the expense! We're native and yes we can.

Nice.

I still find it amazing that it takes lawsuits to get taxpayer funded agencies to do what they are mandated to do.

Support the groups that support the fish.

A story combining my two major interests: fishing and lawsuits. If they could work photography in there I'd waste all my time following it.

I hope the law suit succeeds at keeping out of basin steel head from being planted in there. The jury is still out, in my mind, whether or not they should be supplementing the salmon. But with a state of the art, 16 million dollar + hatchery, you better be producing something.

I find it ironic. The tribe has been advocating for the removal of the dams since the day they were built. I would think they would truly be interested in restoring the river and the fish runs as naturally as possible and not wanting to plug it with inferior out of basin stock.

Sounds like a greed issue to me. Very disappointed!

Interesting.
This appears to be bigger than just "fighting city hall".

Bets anyone?

I'll take the Feds.

This is extremely BIG! Anyone ever check into how many out of basin chambers creek plants are in the lower columbia river? It's filled with these type of hatchery programs. This could have legal affect on the Skamania programs in Puget Sound as well, as they are an out basin stocks planted into the Puget Sound. It will be interesting, as the folks who filed this are extremely anti-hatchery, at all costs. If the court finds that hatchery fish impede recovery....well it'll have interesting ramifications for mark selective fisheries.

Good on this, restore without hatcheries

Looks like a good time to pull out the check books and put your money where your mouth (key board) is.

Take a look at the comments on that article a you can get an idea of the level of public ignorance on anadromous fish issues.

I just took a look at the CCA Washington site and didn't see one word about the Elwa. Why are they ignoring the biggest recovery project going at this point in time?

http://ospreysteelheadnews.blogspot.com/2012/02/suit-filed-to-block-elwha-hatchery.html

A little more info here. Please support this cause. This could have HUGE implications if successful. For 16 million, the tribe could always raise tilapia using the hatchery. Remember wppss?

1. website is not updated on a regular basis
2. No guarantee they have the man power to take up the issue.
3. No proof that meetings have been held or not, regarding the issue.
4. They are/were involved in some matters, but little is reported such as cowlitz advisory group and the CR fee group, NoF. National had voted a membership increase. Put it off a year and later went back and renegotiated contracts etc, line by line and saved enough to dump a 10 dollar increase. Never wrote about it.
just sayn.

Thanks for taking the time to find that

There is also more info on the new WSC website, check it out http://wildsteelheadcoalition.org/

Lower Elwha Klallam tribe, Olympic National Park sued over hatchery fish on Elwha

PORT ANGELES — The Lower Elwha Klallam tribe and Olympic National Park are being taken to court over the use of hatchery fish to kick-start restoration of the Elwha River's once-famous salmon runs.

Four fish conservation groups filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court on Thursday challenging the use of hatchery fish, which they said undermines ecosystem recovery during and after removal of the river's two dams and violates the federal Endangered Species Act.

Demolition of the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams, the focus of a $325 million federal river restoration effort, started last September and is expected to be complete in 2014.

The lawsuit, which also names the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Fisheries Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife, comes on the heels of a report from the Hatchery Scientific Review Group that is critical of the dam removal project's fish restoration plan.

The federally funded group concluded in its report released Jan. 31 that .... http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/articl...d-over-hatchery

Aside from the lawsuit, it would be beneficial to know what these groups want to do with the recovery program. Case in point, Wild fish Conservancy came to the rockfish recovery program meetings. Their plan to recover rockfish included no artificial reefs, no hatcheries, no reduction in seals and a lot less fishing in puget sound.

Perhaps the Elwha would make a great candidate for a transferred "Snider Creek" project? Oh, wait.....that "obviously" didn't work or it wouldn't have been scuddled. I know, let's just let the "wild" fish that remain in the Elwha (sure there are some, fool) repopulate on their own.

Fish are complicated, you know.

What was it I read the other day on the MSNBC site?....Oh, yes..... "Too many meetings make you dumb."

Excuse me, I have a meeting at 10.



Remote incubation sites?

Just to clarify on this topic, WFC and the other agencies are suing INDIVIDUAL biologists and research workers and NOT the tribe itself due to fear of upwelling from area tribes. If you read the above quote it states the lawsuit is being filed against "representatives of the tribe." and not "the Elwha tribe."

Horrible move by WFC in my opinion.

They are suing the hard working individuals who have advocated for years for dam removal. What a slap in the face!

Nothing to do with "upsetting" anyone or not...tribes have what's called "sovereign immunity".

It's nothing personal, it's just business, and the bios know that.

Fish on...

Todd

If successful this could indeed have huge implications, but this suit is not just about using Chambers Creek steelhead in the Elwha. While most of the claims for relief are about procedures used in developing and implementing the restoration plan, the plaintiffs have asked for a ruling that the fish restoration plan using hatchery fish jeopardizes the continued existence of all the listed populations (along with some killer whales thrown in) in the river. If that argument is successful, I wouldn't expect there to be many hatchery programs around any more. I don't believe that I will be sending in any support.

Luckily, I doubt that jeopardy can be proved.