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Pacific Region Federal Hatchery Review |
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About the Project
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) proactively initiated a series of hatchery reviews in May 2005 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. We plan to complete these reviews in 2008. The Service’s Hatchery Review Team completed the first of these reviews as a pilot in May 2006, on the Service’s spring chinook hatchery program, (Warm Springs National Fish Hatchery) in the Deschutes Basin of central Oregon. The team completed their review of Service hatchery programs in the mid-Columbia area of eastern Washington (Leavenworth, Entiat, and Winthrop National Fish Hatcheries) in April 2007. The review of Eagle Creek NFH located on the Clackamas River near Estacada, Oregon has just been completed in July 2007. The team completed the final report and recommendations for the Columbia Gorge facilities in December 2007 (Carson, Little White Salmon, Spring Creek and Willard National Fish Hatcheries). See Stakeholders News to view the fianl report and supporting documents.
The Hatchery Review Team, comprised of Service and other federal scientists (NOAA & USGS) are conducting field tours with hatchery managers and their staffs, reviewing hatchery operations, and meeting with the comanaging agencies and tribes to get a clear understanding of the goals for and status of each wild and hatchery population and associated habitat and management strategies. The Review Team is applying the Puget Sound Coastal Washington Hatchery Scientific Review Group's scientific framework and hatchery review tools to create reform recommendations for each hatchery program.
More information about this review contact Cheri Anderson at 509-493-2934 or by e-mail at cheri_anderson@fws.gov. This website will be updated periodically so that you can monitor the progress of these reviews.
Site Map: About The Project: overview of the USFWS Columbia River Hatchery Review Process Hatchery Review Team: Meet the individual team members and the expertise they bring to this process Stakeholders News: your link to hatchery review updates, public meeting schedule and location, and how you can provide input to the process Reports and Publications: your link to Hatchery Review Team reports and other publications that this team uses in the hatchery review process Links: Partner websites on the subject of hatchery review/reform Contact Us: for information you need but cannot find on this site |
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In
the past 150 years, habitat alterations, hydroelectric development and consumptive
fisheries have impacted most of the salmon and steelhead populations in the
Pacific Northwest. To mitigate for those impacts, hatcheries have been used
to increase the number of fish available for harvest. However, long-term conservation
needs of natural salmonid populations and their inherent genetic resources
require a re-examination of the role of hatcheries in basin-wide management
and conservation strategies.
"Our goal is to ensure that
our hatcheries are operated on the best scientific principles and contribute
to sustainable fisheries and the recovery of naturally spawning populations
of salmon," said Dan Diggs, Assistant Regional Director of the regional
fisheries program.
We believe the hatchery review
process developed in western Washington provides both a solid template and
operational tools (e.g., software spreadsheets, population dynamic models)
for reviewing Service hatcheries in the Columbia River Basin. We also believe
that much of the background information necessary for reviewing Service hatcheries
in the Columbia River Basin has already been compiled in Hatchery and Genetic
Management Plans, Comprehensive Hatchery Management Plans and the Artificial
Propagation Review and Evaluation (APRE ) database developed by the Northwest
Planning and Conservation Council (NWPCC ).