Once thought to be the easy answer to assaults on salmon and steelhead from dams and habitat loss, traditional hatcheries have largely failed to be either easy or an answer. Historically managers treated hatchery fish as livestock without biology – frequently transferring highly adapted fish between rivers, rearing and releasing too many fish at the wrong time and failing to account for the delicate balance needed by wild fish, and wild fish suffered. Despite recent improvements, TU believes we can do much better. First, we need to figure out if a hatchery will help us reach the goal of healthy, harvestable wild salmon populations. If so, then the hatchery must be carefully metered to the river and then mimic it, as if it were a tributary itself inside and out. Using the best salmon science, TU is searching for ways to make hatcheries that can genuinely help with recovery and help fishing, most importantly without doing any harm to wild stocks.
Kaitlin Lovell
Salmon Policy Coordinator
»View Hatchery Power-Point Presentation (PPT/2MB)
|
