Hatchery steelhead season is requested

The Associated Press

WENATCHEE — So many steelhead are returning to north-central Washington rivers that federal officials are considering opening a fishing season for the endangered species.

The National Marine Fisheries Service is considering the idea, which would be the first public fishing for steelhead in north-central Washington since they were protected under the federal Endangered Species Act in 1997.

"I know it sounds crazy. We list these fish for protection, and now we want to go fishing on them," said Art Viola, district biologist for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife in Chelan and Douglas counties.

"But this is really about managing hatchery fish, not catching naturally produced fish," he said. "The purpose is to control the hatchery ones in order to help restore and conserve the natural ones."

Both hatchery and wild steelhead in the upper Columbia River were listed as endangered in 1997 because both populations were too low, averaging between 1,000 and 2,000 returning to spawn each year between 1992 and 1999.

Most of the 32,000 steelhead that are expected to pass upstream through Priest Rapids Dam on the Columbia River by the end of the month were produced at hatcheries. It is the largest run since 1986.

Of those, about 6,400 are wild, 8,400 have at least one wild parent, and 16,500 are hatchery fish.

State wildlife officials believe hatchery steelhead are overwhelming the wild runs and harming their survival by competing for spawning areas.

"We’re really hoping for a decision this week," Dennis Beich, regional director of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, said Tuesday.

The Endangered Species Act prohibits intentionally killing or harassing a species that is endangered or threatened.

Steelhead, a trout that migrates to the ocean, is listed as threatened or endangered in all of Eastern Washington, and much of Oregon, Idaho and California.

Jeff Koenings, director of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, asked the fisheries service in an Oct. 3 letter to let it waive the normal review period and give emergency approval for the fishing season "based on the extraordinary and unforeseen abundance" of returning fish.

Rob Jones, director of hatcheries and inland fishing for the agency’s Northwest region, said he is negotiating with state officials.

His agency allowed fishing for endangered chinook salmon on the Imnaha River in eastern Oregon this year because of large numbers of returning fish.

"As long as we can provide biological justification, it can be done," Jones said. "The returns of wild and hatchery steelhead are way up, and we have some flexibility to deal with situations like this."

Jones attributed this year’s larger run to good ocean conditions and better migration conditions in the Columbia River system in recent years, including water spilled from dams.

The big number of hatchery fish poses a challenge in efforts to protect endangered species from extinction, he said. The hatchery steelhead were listed as endangered to protect the wild ones, and now may need to be harvested to do the same.

"There isn’t any other example anywhere in the country where you have artificial propagation programs for species like you have here in the Northwest," Jones said. "To protect wild fish now requires us to manage hatchery fish differently."