|
|
Hatcheries
Hatcheries and ESA
Since the mid-1800s, habitat alterations, overfishing, and then hydroelectric dams have reduced most of the salmon and steelhead populations in the Pacific Northwest. And since that time, the region has built hatcheries to increase the number of fish available for harvest. More recently, though, the impacts of these hatchery fish on threatened and endangered fish has led to a re-examination of the role of hatcheries in basin-wide management and conservation strategies.
Hatchery reform
To be helpful to ESA listed fish, a hatchery program - whether for harvest or conservation purposes - cannot be successful unless it serves the needs of the wild populations it is derived from and/or encounters outside the hatchery. Hatchery fish must be managed either as part of a wild population (in which case the size and health of that wild population will determine how large the hatchery population can be) or as a wholly separate population (in which case strict guidelines must be met to ensure the hatchery fish do not influence or alter the wild population).
The federal caucus is pursuing hatchery reform through a number of efforts. In May 2005, USFWS initiated a series of hatchery reviews to assure that its 21 hatchery programs are part of a holistic and integrated strategy-consistent with State, Tribal, and Federal strategies-for conserving wild stocks and managing fisheries in watersheds within the Columbia River Basin. These reviews are tailored after a successful process recently implemented in Puget Sound and Coastal Washington watersheds.USFWS plans to complete these reviews in 2008.
The Columbia River Hatchery Reform Project, under the auspices of NOAA Fisheries, began work in the spring of 2006 to look at hatcheries within the U.S. portion of the Columbia River Basin. These programs are managed by federal agencies, state agencies, Tribal agencies, and private entities. By mid-2008, a Hatchery Scientific Review Group expects to have looked at hatcheries in 13 review regions, beginning with Lower Columbia and estuary hatcheries. A key aspect of the review is to establish improved planning and management practices that will allow hatcheries to meet their conservation and harvest goals and satisfy their legal responsibilities.
| | |
|