Irishrover
This ruling could have huge ramifications going forward for hatchery operations.
Thanks for posting it here, Irish,
Best,
“It is undisputed that hatchery operations can pose a host of risks to wild fish…it is clear that the Sandy River Basin is of particular importance to the recovery of the four [Endangered Species Act] listed species and is an ecologically critical area,” the judge wrote.
He's got my vote.
If hatchery fish are really to blame, then why when looking at rivers where hatchery fish have been removed do we not see an uptick in wild populations? Why on Southern Oregon streams can hatchery steelhead mingle with wild fish, but the population of wild steelhead still be strong enough to support quite a bit of harvest?
That leaves hatcheries as the last and only variable that can be controlled.
I say end the hatchery runs and close the sandy to any and all sport fishing in the entire watershed, putting a sonar wier in and let it ride for 5 years.. And raise the hatchery releases on the clack watershed to 180,000 fish with a five fish limit... Only the guides and property owners will complain.. And its those property owners that are one of the biggest parts of the problem. Lets give the science a chance. You cannot let people catch and release fish that are endangered in a recovering watershed since a caught fish is considered a dead fish, right?
I say end the hatchery runs and close the sandy to any and all sport fishing in the entire watershed, putting a sonar wier in and let it ride for 5 years.. And raise the hatchery releases on the clack watershed to 180,000 fish with a five fish limit... Only the guides and property owners will complain.. And its those property owners that are one of the biggest parts of the problem. Lets give the science a chance. You cannot let people catch and release fish that are endangered in a recovering watershed since a caught fish is considered a dead fish, right?
It's the four H's.
Habitat, Hydro, Harvest, and Hatcheries. People don't want to restore flood plains or allow flooding, they want cheap electricity, and they want to eat fish. That leaves hatcheries as the last and only variable that can be controlled.
Between 1986 and 1991, between 2,000 and 7,750 Clack summers went above NF dam and the Clack wild population was between 800 and 1,750 for those same years.
Since 2000, and for the last 13 years, no hatchery steelhead can go above NF and the last few years of wild Clack steelhead numbers look like this:
2013 = 868
2012 = 1,249
2011 = 1,242
Can't you see? Isn't the impact obvious?
http://www.hatchmag.com/articles/major-victory-oregon-wild-steelhead-and-salmon/7711159NFS said:Major Victory for Oregon Wild Steelhead and Salmon
Wild fish advocates all over the country and world have, for many years, been arguing that stocking hatchery fish in waters where wild fish populations exist poses a threat to those wild fish. As of yesterday, it appears as though the courts in the state of Oregon agree.
Via a ruling by District Court Judge Ancer Haggerty, the court sided with the the Native Fish Society and the McKenzie Flyfishers which claimed that hatchery operations on Oregon's Sandy River were harmful to the Sandy's wild steelhead and salmon, resulting in the defendants -- the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and the National Marine Fisheries Service -- being in violation of both the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act.
Mike Moody, director of the Native Fish Society, noted in a statement released yesterday that "the science is irrefutable. The law is irrefutable. And, Judge Haggerty affirmed this. This is the most significant decision benefiting wild fish in Oregon in over a decade."
One things for certain, when lawyers and judges come in the door.. Science goes out the window, always-