By Bob Brown
Anglers who fish for steelhead in the lower Columbia and its tributaries can expect some major changes in those fisheries in the not too distant future, and they are not going to be happy about it. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recently issued new federal requirements for state hatchery production. According to the new requirements, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) can no longer release Chambers Creek winter steelhead into the Kalama, Coweenman and Washougal rivers and Rock and Salmon creeks after this year. The new federal requirement is the end result of a biological opinion (known as a BiOp) issued by NOAA -Fisheries in January.
Eric Kinne, WDFW hatchery division manager, said the department expects to release the last of about 200,000 Chambers Creek fish into those waters later this month. Starting next year, the department will replace those fish with steelhead from local stocks. The BiOp concluded eliminating that stock would help protect the genetic integrity of wild steelhead populations.
"We are committed to recovering wild salmon and steelhead populations, while providing sustainable fishing opportunities for anglers in the Columbia River Basin and throughout the state," Kinne said. He added that Chambers Creek fish will return to rivers and streams for the next three years, after which area fisheries will depend on steelhead from local stocks.
To support those fisheries, the WDFW plans to:
• Release a total of 135,000 local Kalama late winter steelhead, an increase of 45,000 fish into the Kalama River each year. In the long term, the WDFW plans to develop and early-timed run, similar to that of the Chambers Creek stock, that will return from November through January.
• Release winter steelhead available from Oregon's Eagle Creek hatchery as a near-term replacement for Chambers Creek stock in the Washougal and Coweeman rivers and Rock Creek.
• Replace Chambers Creek fish with Kalama stock in Salmon Creek. On the Kalama River, WDFW also plans to substitute a local brood stock, Kalama summer steelhead for Skamania origin summer steelhead.
The department's plan for replacing the Chambers Creek fish is expected to increase the annual number of smolt plants by 50 percent, although the department's effort to develop an early-timed corresponding run to the Chambers Creek return will likely take a decade or more. Kinne also said anglers will definitely miss that early winter steelhead fishery until we can establish an early run using local stock.
Meanwhile, state fishery managers are preparing for future requirements of the federal BiOp that will be phased in through 2022. The next phase focuses on salmon hatcheries in the Columbia River Basin, establishing new requirements on the type, number and location of salmon released by hatcheries in Washington, Oregon and Idaho that receive federal funding under the Mitchel Act. Seven of those facilities operated by the WDFW below Bonneville Dam receive approximately $5.5 million in Mitchel Act funding per year.
Kelly Cunningham, a deputy assistant director of WDFW, said the new requirements will put a strain on department resources, and those changes envisioned under the BiOp will require new funding.
"Without additional support, we will not be able to achieve the goals set by NOAA Fisheries, and will be forced to reduce hatchery releases or halt production at some hatcheries altogether," Cunningham said.
Is this going to be a case of having to pay more for less? It's quite possible.
Bob Brown lives in Roy and is a freelance outdoors writer. He can be contacted at robertb1285@centurylink.net.
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