Hatchery Reform Project News Conference
Remarks by Jeffrey Koenings, Ph.D., WDFW Director
February 15, 2002

For more than a century now, the Department of Fish and Wildlife has operated hatcheries in our state. These hatcheries have played–and continue to play–an indispensable role in providing sustainable fisheries. An estimated 75 to 80% of our state's salmon and steelhead hatcheries were built to replace lost wild fish habitat. Freshwater habitat that was permanently lost because of a variety of land-use decisions.

These fisheries today contribute more than $1 billion annually to the state's economy, and are the life blood of many of our rural coastal communities. For example, last year's hugely successful spring fisheries for Columbia River hatchery fish netted local merchants on both sides of the river an estimated $15 to $18 million in business–said simply by the Spokesman Review–cash flow! Returns of salmon, steelhead pumps big bucks into an ailing economy.

Hatcheries also have another, equally important role to play–helping to both jump start and conserve the state's naturally spawning salmon populations. Indeed, a third of my Department's 91 hatcheries are involved in some aspect of salmon recovery, from the "supplementation" efforts on the Nooksack River (spring chinook) to "captive broodstock" strategies on the Dungeness (chinook).

Sustainable fisheries and wild species recovery: This is the dual role of our hatcheries.

But help is needed.

And that is where the Hatchery Reform Project comes in.

The Hatchery Reform Project provides, for the first time ever, a comprehensive, scientifically-based framework to move our hatchery system into the next century and dramatically increase its efficiency and cost effectiveness.

I am pleased to be here today with Governor Locke, who has supported funds for the project as part of a statewide economic stimulus package. I am also pleased to be here with Representative Dicks and Senator Murray, who likewise have pledged their support for the Hatchery Reform Project. Indeed, Representative Dicks was one of the early proponents of the project, and was instrumental in getting it launched.

The Hatchery Scientific Review Group has produced a "product" with specific recommendations. As a fisheries scientist myself, I have participated in, and fully supported, the Hatchery Reform Project from its inception, and I am committing my agency to the implementation of hatchery reform through these recommendations.

What we have started is a world-class, scientific blueprint that will move us towards a state-of-the-art hatchery system in the years ahead. This blueprint will allow us to prioritize our projects and funding, and manage from a big picture perspective that we heretofore lacked.

I'm confident that Washington State can have not only the world's largest hatchery system, but a system that benefits both the fish and the economy. Thriving fish populations are simply good business.

Thank you.

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