[Daryle Holmstrom]

From a local shop:

Steve Stout, manager of the Cascade River/Marblemount hatchery reported that he’d seen very few steelhead in the trap. Fishermen in the Cascade have had mixed success with a few good days and a few bad days. Expect the next precipitation to push a few fresh fish in.



The Skagit River has been producing similar results to the Cascade. A few fishermen have had good days but overall, reports of fish are slim.

 

[KerryS]

The fish are slim or the reports are slim? I'm confused.

Sounds like a typical Skagit River hatchery return. I think I have heard the same report for the past 10 years or so. They should dump the steelhead program. At some point you have to say "It ain't working" and move on.

 

[Dr. Magill]

I agree - spend the bucks elsewhere - perhaps clipping more east side hatchery fish.

 

[Lazy Drifter]

Marblemount has had 20 times as many fish return as Whitehorse so far. Sweet.

 

[Ernie Adams]

I recently spoke with the a wdfw bio that works on the Skagit. He stated that the HSRc recomendations of locally adapted broodstock made shutting any of the hatcheries down difficult. The reason was that to start up the hatchery when and if ocan conditions improved would require out of basin hatchery stock.
Sometimes the need to have written guidelines has unintended consequences.

Go Sox,
cds

 

[KerryS]

I recently spoke with the a wdfw bio that works on the Skagit. He stated that the HSRc recomendations of locally adapted broodstock made shutting any of the hatcheries down difficult. The reason was that to start up the hatchery when and if ocan conditions improved would require out of basin hatchery stock.
Sometimes the need to have written guidelines has unintended consequences.

Go Sox,
cds

Not sure what that means. I was under the impression the Marblemount hatchery stock was originally Chamber's Creek steelhead because they return earlier than the Skagit's native fish and thus would not interfere with the natives. If this is true what is the issue? Shut it down. The Marblemount hatchery has one of the worst return ratios for steelhead out there. It is a waste of money.

Here is a retired biologist take on HSRG http://bakke-nativefish.blogspot.com/2009/11/hatcheries-defeat-wild-fish-recovery.html

 

[Ernie Adams]

The hatcheries are no longer allowed to transfer from one hatchery to another. The idea is that the fish used as broodstock at marblemount have succeeded in getting back. They are then more fit for that river.

In reality what it means is that if marblemount does not get enough fish back they can't borrow some from Tokul or some other hatchery. This is why we have been seeing closures below hatcheries. If they don't get enough fish they can't borrow from a hathery some place else.

None of the hatchery fish are anything but out of basin stock in reality, but what out of basin means in this situation is "from a hatchery in another basin."

I agree that the hatchery at marblemount and kendall and on the Stilly are monumental wastes. Unfortunately, the state has us addicted to them because without them many of the rvers would have no justification to allow fishing for winter steelhead. At this point that may be something I'd put with, since I believe that the hatcheries are far more damaging than the majority of bio.'s believe that they are, especially in the sound. They don't take flies worth a damn anyhow.