PORT ANGELES — The ultimate goal of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Elwha River chinook hatchery program is to shut it down.
Before that happens, the agency said it must first prevent lethal levels of sediment resulting from the Elwha dam removal project from wiping out the chinook population.
“Absent a hatchery, with the dam removal, we’d lose them all,” Ron Warren, Region 6 Fish Program Manager said during a public meeting at the City Council Chambers in Port Angeles on Thursday.
The sparsely attended meeting gave the state an opportunity to educate the public on its updated draft of the Hatchery and Genetic Management Plan.
The state’s first update of its hatchery plan in more than a decade is intended to show the efforts to protect and restore wild salmon populations in the Elwha.
It describes the artificial production program and the potential effects on endangered species.
The chinook program has two main phases, preservation and recolonization.
The preservation phase began when the dam removal began in September.
This phase’s goal is to preserve the genetic legacy of the legendary native chinook, which were known to weigh as much as 100 pounds before the dams were erected nearly a century ago.
“We want that vigorous productive trait to return,” Warren said.
The objective of the recolonization phase is ensure the chinook are accessing the areas above dams.
Recolonization will start when the dams are down and the sediment is no longer lethal to the chinook.
When self-sustaining chinook populations exist, the hatchery program will be discontinued.
Public comment
The meeting also provided those in attendance to ask questions and express concerns.
Most of the questions and comments pertained to the methods of the hatchery plan and the effect on the genetic makeup of the native chinook.
The state is also accepting public comments about the proposed plan.
Submit comments and questions to Jon Anderson by email at jon.anderson@dfw.wa.gov or mail to Jon Anderson, 600 Capitol Way North, Olympia, WA, 98501.
Warren said the agency welcomes input about the program from the public, both positive and negative.
“They spur on our conversations on how we do things,” he said.
Because of a glitch, the public comment period has been extended to Aug. 5.
The public comments will be posted on the Department of Fish and Wildlife website at http://wdfw.wa.gov.
Warren said the agency plans to submit the final revision of the Hatchery Genetic and Management Plan to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Service by the end of August.
The current draft can be downloaded at http://wdfw.wa.gov/hatcheries/hgmp.
Clarification
Warren cleared up a few misunderstandings regarding the state’s hatchery as well as Elwha fish restoration.
■ The state’s chinook hatchery program is not part of the $16.4 million hatchery facility operated by the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe.
■ The interim agreement reached in February to not release hatchery fish in 2012 pertained only to non-native hatchery steelhead.
The agreement came a few weeks after four conservation groups filed a suit to block Elwha hatchery programs.
