RE: Maybe Ammo for keeping the hatchery programs going

[Jeff Nance]

Killer Whales could use more food it sounds, so why not lean on this for a reason to support the hatchery programs?
http://mynorthwest.com/11/2868648/Baby- ... er-drought

[Nelly]

That's good thinking Jeff and we've brought that up to NOAA.

If orca recovery is NOAA's aim then there is NO ONE better to work with than the sportsmen whose license fee and tax dollars go a long way to paying for all those hatchery chinook!

[Sandlance]

Jeff/Nelly - good points. The same applies to seals/sea lions, porpoise/dolphins, bald eagles/ospreys, and other species of special concern (through either the ESA or the Marine Mammal Act or other acts for protection of these predator species). The regulators and anti-hatchery groups apparently overlooked or ignore the fact that these populations have grown over the recent decades through protection from these acts and a food supply that is heavily supported by hatchery production.

Most sports fishermen would likely favor fisheries supported by "wild" fish. However, the freshwater habitat in the Puget Sound apparently does not currently favor "wild" steelhead populations (which have early life stages that require 1 to 2 years of rearing in freshwater before they migrate to marine waters). Reasons: urbanization, stream habitat alterations (e.g., channelization), pollution, land uses, etc. - not real "natural". The recent drought (last summer) just made the situation much worse for "wild" steelhead juveniles rearing in freshwater - the current flood situations also likely are a negative.

Efforts are being made to improve the habitat, but this takes a long time to show results (decades). The anti-hatchery groups want to abruptly end the hatchery programs - not let them play out over time as the habitat recovers (if it ever will with the millions of people now in the Puget Sound region). This can and likely will have profound effects on other protected species such as those mentioned above, along with the Orcas mentioned by Jeff. A good example would be the devastating effects of the abrupt cessation of hatcheries if it were to occur on the Columbia River. If this happened, the ecosystem effects would likely be devastating (e.g., sea lions populations in the Columbia River would likely crash).