‘Controlling the genetics’ in spawning salmon

WASHOUGAL, Wash. (KOIN 6) — About 9 miles upriver from downtown Washougal is a weir — a fishtrap — that stops some salmon from migrating further upstream.

About a half-mile further upstream on the Washougal River is where Mary Grode lives. She doesn’t appreciate the fish blockade.

“My kids and I used to watch them go by in the hundreds and we’d count them,” she said. “Now there’s maybe four or five.”

Eric Kinne with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife said the agency is working to restore the wild population. That means separating hatchery fish from the natural population.

About 1,000 wild salmon were allowed to continue past the weir to spawn, and 3800 more fish were collected for broodstock at the hatchery.

But another 6500 were turned into what the department calls “nutrient enchancement.”

“What we’re trying to do,” Kinne said, “is control the genetics on the natural spawning grounds.”

It’s being done to comply with the Endangered Species Act, but that is an explanation people like Mary Grode will never agree with.

“Why can’t they leave the whole thing alone, close the fish hatchery and let the fish do their own thing?” she said. .... http://koin.com/2014/10/28/controlling-the-genetics-in-spawning-salmon/

Folks should get used to the idea that THIS is the way hatcheries WILL be managed into the future.... often using an ESA-caliber HSRG standard even when no ESA listing is in effect.

It's all about controlling hatchery gene flow into the gravel (P-hos), and wild gene inflow back into the hatchery broodstock (P-nob).


The commission has made a commitment to managing for a wild fish priority and has set a goal for uniform P-nob and P-hos compliance across ALL hatchery programs in the year 2015.

"3) The Department will prioritize and implement improved broodstock management (including selective removal of hatchery fish) to reduce the impacts of hatchery fish and improve the fitness and viability of natural production, working toward a goal of achieving the HSRG broodstock standards for 100% of the hatchery programs by 2015."

Time to get busy, WDFW.

Doc, is that compliance by 2015 or 2115?

It is not clear from the article how they are separating wild from hatchery fish or if the method is 100% accurate.

The figure caption is a real laugh - see the last six words: "People on the West Coast have counted on fish hatcheries for more than a century to help rebuild populations of salmon and steelhead and bring them to a level where government would no longer need to regulate fisheries."
Does this remind you of a certain Spanish knight?

They were just looking back at the verbiage being spouted when hatchery production began. Man could do better than nature. And we still believe that because we won't leave the systems alone. I am sure that you can find lots of support for the idea that we HAVE to harvest those wild fish because if we didn't they would overwhelm the streams and spawn in catastrophically high numbers.

Nature couldn't survive without our management of it.