Any info forthcoming tonight outside of the WDFW website reporting? Went searching today for regular maintenance on emergency backup supply requirements and as I stated last night weekly, monthly and annual maintenance are the norm! KIRO news reported last night from a hatchery spokesman last "regular" maintenance was performed in October........Early or late October is still 45-60+ days way past the due date! Shame On You WDFW!

Told ya! Preventative maintenance is the first to go. Always. Upper Management is last to go. Always.

WDFW's tag line should be "No Diesel".

I agree.....also IMO heads should roll, no way this get "shoved under the rug", 6.2 million fish, wasted, never get a chance to do what could have helped feed orcas, given sports hundreds of hours of recreation time, allowed the non-fishing population salmon for eating, salmon for tribal fishing rights.


Heads that roll should not be the person, at the bottom of the ladder....someone just didn't have the overall hatchery/fish, in the day to day operation of this hatchery. "The buck stops here"......

Is it too much to have a “hatchery manager” who understands logical order and big picture critical failures and assuring they never happen?

Rivers don't fail when the power goes out. Just sayin'... (again).

No matter how many tests you run, there is no way to ensure equipment like this won't fail when it's needed. As has been said, $hit happens.

A thing like this would never happen at a commercial facility or you go broke, just sayin.

Not so sure about that Rivrguy. Seen a number of businesses run themselves in bankruptcy by making sure that dividends were paid ahead of maintenance. I know what you mean about accountability (and lack of in some places we might be familiar with) but there are enough examples of "feed the stockholders first".

This is, in my experience, a very rare event. Folks, both staff and volunteers, have and will go to great lengths and risks to keep fish and eggs alive. You've been there. I agree that this situation was (probably) avoidable; the investigation might show that. In my view, the overriding cause was lack of (in no particular order) maintenance, testing, and training. But, we know that all things mechanical can and do break even when well maintained.

I am afraid that the investigation will show something like Challenger; the real folks responsible won't be held accountable while the staff onboard...

I doubt that how this played out will ever be fully understood as that seldom happens with government agencies, CYA model. To the point which is failure is an acceptable outcome for agencies. Nothing new here on that one and frankly it is likely a WDF&W process driven event.

My prediction is that no one in the government will get fired over this huge mistake and the incompetency will continue. This mistake of killing 6.2 million chinook valued at over 10 million dollars should result in several people in the government getting fired. If it were the private sector I can guarantee that there would be many folks getting fired but the WDFW does not have to answer to anyone so they continue to produce an inferior product. Hatcheries should be privatized and contracted out to run efficiently and generate the best possible outcome. As a commercial fisherman and a fly fisherman, I feel that James Losee should probably resign.

The neat thing about government is they can hide mistakes in the wrinkles of their own fat ass.

Pathetic.

I think that WDFW must be following the Sears/K-Mart business model plan. Their downward trend is about the same time span. Both have failed to follow what their customers want. There's a basic question here: Is WDFW a service agency or a regulatory agency, or do they even know?

Why would they, as this is not a government operated hatchery?

You and Stam need to get together. You can sit and lump anyone who works for the state, city, county, or Feds as "government".

Damn all you "government" workers!!!!!!

Now, I will concur and say your probably right in your prediction that no state employee will get fired over this.

PS. The other one I love, when interacting with the un-educated public, is:

"Damn all those fish-bios. What the hell do they know? They are ruining our fisheries!"

Cracks me the hell up.

When did Minter stop being a gubmint operated facility?

You beat me to that question. Is there some form of identity crisis warping the universe?

The universe is getting awfully warped, that's for sure. I sure spent a boatload of time either at Minter or doing stuff to support it.

Christmas eve and that info brings out the cynic in me. Those fish were described as being excess at their hatcheries of origin but what does that mean?

If they would have been destroyed then this is good news. If they would have been reared and released anyway then transferring them to Minter is not a net increase but may have other benefits.

And now for the rest of the story (if anyone knows).

Tell us, oh educated one. . .what non-public entity runs it then?

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This site is full of posts from anti hatchery folks. Those who support hatchery fish need to speak up and not let the minority speak for you. Otherwise you will have nothing left over to fish on but wild catch and release. That is the hidden agenda of the more outspoken posters on this site which is anti hatchery in nature. They would be happy to have all rivers cnr for wild fish only and buy farm raised salmon in the grocery stores or commercial/tribal caught fish. There are many on here that cannot afford to buy salmon in the grocery stores at 6 to 9 dollars a pound but can catch one in the river and take our kids out for a day in nature.

Oh, and you have had one to many margaritas if you believe that minter is not a government ruin facility. What Kool aid have you been drinking. Your post just shows how ignorant you and your views really are. Very out of touch and typical to spread lies with completely false statements.