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Senate Field Hearing on Washington Salmon Recovery
Remarks by Dr. Jeff Koenings
April 20, 2000
Thank you Mr. Chairman and members of the committee. I am Dr.Jeff Koenings, Director of Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife. I appreciate the opportunity to testify today on the very important topic of hatchery reform in the state of Washington.
It is my opinion that Washington state's hatcheries, designed and operated to provide for the recovery of wild stocks and for sustainable harvest by citizens, needs to remain viable.
Why? Because about 80 percent of the chinook and coho harvested in Puget Sound this year will be of hatchery origin.
I think most of us here would agree that our hatcheries originally were designed and operated as fish production facilities for recreational and commercial fisheries.
In recent years, however, as we have increasingly focused on ways to conserve wild fish, we have altered our view of how we conduct both our fisheries and our hatchery operations. Not only have the co-managers adopted new fisheries regulations to protect wild runs, we've come to use hatcheries to help restore wild runs.
Despite this shift, our approach to repositioning hatcheries has not been consistent. Hatchery operators - state, tribal and federal - have lacked a cohesive strategy, largely because we have lacked the resources to implement any strategy.
Many hatcheries were built to mitigate for lost habitat. Their mission was to produce as many adult salmon as possible. Now, however, the fisheries they supported have had to be substantially reduced because the ESA has constrained harvest practices. And with a downscaled fishing effort, our hatcheries and habitat cannot support the large numbers of fish returning to some hatcheries. In order to use these fish for egg-takes, food banks and other uses, these fish have been killed. Realigning the production of fish at hatcheries to reflect the present-day effort is one way of reducing the need to sacrifice fish at hatchery weirs.
Two decades ago, my department had one hatchery involved in wild stock recovery efforts. Today, approximately a third of the 90 hatcheries the department operates are used in wild fish recovery.
Despite these ongoing changes, many of our hatcheries are operated in a way inconsistent with the recovery of wild fish. Some of our hatcheries have built-in deficiencies that pose obstacles to spawning salmon. Some impede upstream migration; others are in dire need of physical improvements; still others require different broodstocks.
As co-managers of the state's fisheries resources, my department and the tribes are committed to working together as partners. And we are committed to a single vision for our hatcheries: to help recover and conserve wild fish populations, and to provide sustainable fisheries.
Just as we are committed to this joint vision, the department is committed to the historic effort now underway to achieve the comprehensive repositioning of hatchery operations in Puget Sound and western Washington. This collaborative effort is the primary effort by which Washington state can address ESA compliance issues, and is absolutely critical if we are to avoid the unsatisfactory, patchwork approaches of the past and achieve true hatchery reform. The funds obtained by Senator Gorton and Congressman Dicks are the primary means by which Washington state is addressing the repositioning of hatcheries to address ESA requirements, and still provide for tribal and non-tribal fishing opportunities.
The foundation for this reform will come from the recently-formed Hatchery Scientific Review Group. This independent group, charged with reviewing current processes and policies and identifying the scientific needs of hatchery reform is essential. And it is critical that the findings of the hatchery scientific review group are adopted by not only the co-managers but also by appropriate federal agencies.
Bottomline: No matter how good our intentions, no matter how good our science and ability to implement it, the end result will be determined by our resources. Besides the federal appropriation earmarked this year for hatchery reform, state leaders also recently appropriated funds for hatchery reform. One state leader who has shown interest on this issue is Rep. Regala, who is here today. Activities carried out using these funds have been folded into those now being carried out with federal monies.
We have also presented the concept of the HSRG's tasks to the combined leadership of the state House and Senate.
Finally, Just as salmon recovery efforts now underway in Washington state must be science-driven and carried out in a collaborative way, so must hatchery reform. In my opinion, the reform process put in place under the direction of Senator Gorton and Congressman Dicks accomplishes both these goals.
The Department of Fish and Wildlife along with our tribal co-managers look forward to participating in this effort and making it become a reality.
Thank you for this opportunity.
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