Program aims to preserve Elwha River chinook salmon

PORT ANGELES — The ultimate goal of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife's Elwha River chinook hatchery program is to shut it down.

Before that happens, the agency said it must first prevent lethal levels of sediment resulting from the Elwha dam removal project from wiping out the chinook population.

“Absent a hatchery, with the dam removal, we'd lose them all,” Ron Warren, Region 6 Fish Program Manager said during a public meeting at the City Council Chambers in Port Angeles on Thursday.

The sparsely attended meeting gave the state an opportunity to educate the public on its updated draft of the Hatchery and Genetic Management Plan.

The state's first update of its hatchery plan in more than a decade is intended to show the efforts to protect and restore wild salmon populations in the Elwha.

It describes the artificial production program and the potential effects on endangered species.

The chinook program has two main phases, preservation and recolonization.

The preservation phase began when the dam removal began in September.

This phase's goal is to preserve the genetic legacy of the legendary native chinook, which were known to weigh as much as 100 pounds before the dams were erected nearly a century ago.

“We want that vigorous productive trait to return,” Warren said.

The objective of the recolonization phase is ensure the chinook are accessing .... http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/articl...-chinook-salmon