October 16, 2003

PORTLAND — The Council is seeking public comments on the first-ever comprehensive evaluation of fish hatcheries in the Columbia River Basin.

The Artificial Production Review and Evaluation, which was administered by the Council, is intended to provide the basis for decisions about the future uses of fish hatcheries in the Columbia Basin. The evaluation was conducted by a committee of fish production experts assembled by the Council, with participation by hatchery managers.

The evaluation, which identified 227 hatchery programs, reveals that more than 235 million juvenile fish are released annually and that 88 percent of them are salmon or steelhead. Of these, nearly half are released downstream of Bonneville Dam for the purpose of providing harvest opportunities in the river and the ocean, and most of those are fall chinook salmon.

The focus on fall chinook production means that most Columbia River salmon and steelhead return from the ocean in the late summer and fall months. As a result, inriver harvest seasons are necessarily compressed into the same timeframe. This means there are fewer opportunities to catch salmon during the spring and summer because there are fewer fish available in those seasons, according to the review. At the same time, many of the fall chinook released from Columbia Basin hatcheries are intended for harvest in the ocean off British Columbia and Alaska, consistent with United States obligations under the 1985 Pacific Salmon Treaty.

"Historically, salmon and steelhead returned to the Columbia River Basin throughout the spring, summer and fall," Council Chair Judi Danielson said. "Currently, hatcheries are contributing to the large return of fall chinook to the basin. We'd like to hear from the public whether that is proper goal for the future, or whether we should recommend a change in hatchery practices to distribute salmon more evenly through the year."

This week the Council released the evaluation for 45 days of public comment. Following the public comment period, the Council intends to prepare an issue paper for further comment and then make recommendations on future hatchery operations. Most of the hatcheries in the Columbia basin are funded through Congressional appropriations or through the federal Bonneville Power Administration.

The Council is an agency of the states of Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington and is directed by the Northwest Power Act of 1980 to prepare a program to protect, mitigate and enhance fish and wildlife of the Columbia River Basin affected by hydropower dams while also assuring the region an adequate, efficient, economical and reliable power supply.