Hatcheries Approved

[Bodofish]

For those interested and not on the mailing list:


NOAA Fisheries
Approves Five Early Winter Steelhead Hatchery Programs
in Puget Sound

NOAA Fisheries has approved five hatchery programs that support steelhead fishing in the Dungeness, Stillaguamish, Nooksack, and Snohomish (Skykomish and Snoqualmie) River basins in Puget Sound.

The programs produce early winter steelhead for harvest. The fish are adapted to conditions in the hatcheries, and return to rivers and streams earlier than most wild Puget Sound steelhead. NOAA Fisheries is the lead federal agency for salmon and steelhead recovery and reviewed plans for the hatchery programs for adverse impacts on natural populations of Puget Sound steelhead, Chinook salmon, and Hood Canal summer chum salmon protected under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA).

In November of 2014, the jointly submitted state and tribal plans for the five steelhead hatchery programs were ready for NOAA Fisheries review. Since then, NOAA Fisheries has published several analyses, including an Environmental Impact Statement to evaluate the potential impact of the programs. After seeking extensive public input through five public comment periods, NOAA Fisheries produced a Record of Decision for the Environmental Impact Statement and reached its determination under the ESA to approve the hatchery steelhead programs under specific conditions.

NOAA Fisheries' approval requires hatchery managers to limit the impacts of the hatchery steelhead on Puget Sound's natural populations of steelhead and salmon. These impacts can result from interbreeding, competition, and predation. The conditions applied to the hatchery programs are based on best available scientific information and are tailored to hatchery practices, environmental conditions, and hatchery effects that are unique to each hatchery program. The approval also requires annual monitoring and reporting to verify that impacts of the hatchery programs do not exceed the low levels outlined in the conditions.

There is no expiration date for these approvals. They are effective as long as the effects of the hatchery programs remain low, and there are no changes to the status of ESA-listed species.

NOAA Fisheries has so far approved plans for 22 hatchery programs in Puget Sound and nearby areas, and is currently working on review of another 26. For more information, including access to NOAA Fisheries' decision documents and other materials for this action, please visit our website at http://www.westcoast.fisheries.noaa.gov ... eries.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


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[4steelhead]

It's about time. WFC needs to focus on stream restoration and not our hatcheries.

[Ian Horning]

Great news for our anglers and guides!

[4steelhead]

I didn't believe it. I thought it could have been a dream. But it's true!