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<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span
style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>CASTING ABOUT
FOR HATCHERY CHANGES </span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><br>
</span><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Agencies
seek optimum use for Lewiston facility </span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><br>
<b>BY AMY GITTELSOHN THE TRINITY JOURNAL </b><br>
<br>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:blue;
text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=128 height=250
id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.jpg@01CA5A39.18DAF940"
alt="http://www.trinityjournal.com/news/2009/1028/front_page/001p1_lg.jpg"></span></a><span
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mso-element-wrap:around;mso-element-anchor-vertical:paragraph;mso-element-anchor-horizontal:
column;mso-height-rule:exactly'><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><br>
A Trinity River Hatchery worker Monday handles a wild coho which entered
hatchery waters. The fish was saved for later spawning. </span></b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>The Trinity
River Hatchery may be too successful in producing fish, at the expense of wild
fish in the Trinity River. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>That concern has
resulted in formation of a multi-agency technical advisory group to review
operations at the hatchery, which is owned by the federal Bureau of Reclamation
and run by the state Department of Fish and Game. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>"There are
genetic concerns, ecological and competition concerns," said Wade Sinnen,
a DFG associate biologist and member of the advisory group.</span></b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'> <b>"It's a
balancing act to not eliminate the hatchery but make it fit better with the
whole ecosystem." <o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>The group will
make recommendations to higher-ups in the agencies involved. This worries some
who fear that drastic reductions in hatchery production will be implemented, to
the detriment of the sports fishery. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>However, Sinnen
said the first recommendation is likely to address the least controversial fish
produced at the hatchery, coho salmon. Coho are a listed species which must be
released if caught (with the exception of some tribal fisheries), whether
hatchery or wild. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
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href="javascript:openimage('001p2_xlg.jpg',938,976)"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:blue;
text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=250 height=240
id="Picture_x0020_2" src="cid:image002.jpg@01CA5A39.18DAF940"
alt="http://www.trinityjournal.com/news/2009/1028/front_page/001p2_lg.jpg"></span></a><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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column;mso-element-left:right;mso-element-top:middle;mso-height-rule:exactly'><b><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><br>
Trinity River Hatchery workers on Monday prepare fish for spawning. The
procedure involves anesthetizing and killing the fish, removing eggs from
the female and sperm from the male. </span></b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>The hatchery
production goal is to release 500,000 coho each year and get back 2,100,
reflecting numbers thought to have been produced naturally before Trinity Dam
blocked 109 miles of habitat. Those goals were established in an era when
returns were lower — before the ban on sports harvest and improved
disease prevention technology at the hatchery, Sinnen said. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Hatchery coho
returns far exceed the goal now, averaging about 6,600 annually. The hatchery
is thought to account for 80 to 90 percent of the Trinity River coho run. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Meanwhile, the
Trinity River Restoration Program is charged with restoring wild fish
populations. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>"That's a
little out of balance, it appears to us," Sinnen said, adding that
possible recommendations regarding coho could include reduced production or
allowing a limited harvest of the hatchery coho. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>In addition to
coho, the hatchery releases 800,000 steelhead and 4.3 million chinook salmon
annually. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>"The plan
is to review the steelhead and chinook production as well," Sinnen said. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Changes in
hatchery operations have been advocated by the Friends of the Trinity River for
several years and gained steam with the release of a master's thesis on
predation of wild fish by hatchery steelhead. Through catch and release and
stomach pumping, Seth Naman, now a fisheries biologist with the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Service, found that the
hatchery steelhead released as yearlings consumed a significant number of the
smaller salmon fry within two miles of the dam. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>DFG officials
have said the study has merit and warrants further research, but also noted
that the hatchery is to mitigate for habitat upstream which itself would be
producing predator fish if not blocked by the dam. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>From the DFG,
Sinnen reiterated that point recently — but noted that interbreeding is
another issue. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>"Some of
these hatchery fish do stray and spawn with wild fish," he said.
"There's a plethora of studies that suggest hatchery fish interbreeding
with wild fish in the wild reduces the fitness of those fish. They don't
necessarily need the same traits to survive." <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>The advisory
group could make recommendations ranging from production levels, timing of
releases, ideas for further research or maybe no change at all. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>"Everything
is up for discussion," Sinnen said. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>From the Friends
of the Trinity River, Chairman Byron Leydecker said he sees progress on this
issue. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>He stressed that
no one wants to hurt the fishing industry, and from the discussions he's had,
any changes would be incremental. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>"People are
concerned about their livelihoods because they think there's some effort afoot
to demolish hatchery production of fish. That isn't the case at all," he
said. "What we do want to see is that over a period of years — not
in my lifetime, we're talking about decades — a fishery comprised mainly
of wild fish, not hatchery fish … We want to see action taken so there's
a sustained fishery on that river." <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>He's right about
the concerns. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Fishing guide Ed
Duggan of Willow Creek worries that hatchery fish releases will be changed
without enough research into how many wild fish there are. Weirs are not in
operation in December when the wild steelhead are coming in fast, he noted, and
there are no studies on wild steelhead production in tributaries to the Trinity
River. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>"So how can
we say we're overburdening the system with hatchery fish?" he asked. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Regarding
hatchery coho, Duggan is in favor of some harvest to reduce those numbers. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>"We need to
keep supplying the river with chinook," he said. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Byron
Leydecker, JcT</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Chair, Friends
of Trinity River</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>PO Box 2327</span></i><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Mill Valley, CA
94942-2327</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 383 4810
land</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 519 4810
cell</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'><a
href="mailto:bwl3@comcast.net"><span style='color:blue'>bwl3@comcast.net</span></a></span></i></b><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'><a
href="mailto:bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org"><span style='color:blue'>bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org</span></a>
</span></i></b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>(secondary)</span></i><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'><a
href="http://fotr.org/"><span style='color:blue'>http://www.fotr.org</span></a>
</span></i></b><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p>
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