I think that salmon and steelhead hatcheries must remain an integral part of
any salmonid management program for many years to come. Remember that
recovering viable numbers of sea-run cutthroat has taken more than twenty
years; first with restrictive size and number limits in the rivers, and
finally with catch-and-release regulations in all marine areas. Even if we
achieve c-and-r regulations for all wild steelhead, don't expect an
overnight explosion in their populations. If we expect to have any kind of
steelhead fishery at all, in winter or especially in summer, some kind of
hatchery supplementation will still be necessary. Don't forget that the
highly successful summer-run programs on the Skykomish, Snoqualmie, Green,
and South and upper North Forks of the Stillaguamish are entirely hatchery
runs. Because there were no hatchery smolts planted from the Whitehorse
rearing ponds two years ago there are virtually no two-salt fish in the
North Fork of the Stillaguamish (above the mouth of Deer Creek, which is as
far as the native summer-runs go) this year. Consider also the increasing
population of the Puget Sound basin and the consequent increase in numbers
of fishermen and fishing pressure. I am certainly no advocate of hatcheries
and agree that many hatchery programs have undoubtedly done more harm than
good in the past, but it seems to me that we're caught between a rock and a
hard place; development, with its consequent damage to habitat, fisheries,
both commercial and sport, and all the other obstacles to rebuilding runs to
historical levels convince me that I will not, in my lifetime, see an end to
hatchery supplemetation. I think that the best we can hope for is much
wiser use of the hatchery resource.
