PRESS RELEASE

WASHINGTON TROUT

PO Box 402 Duvall, WA 98019 · Tel 425/788-1167 · Fax 425/788-9634 · wildfish@washingtontrout.org

Contact: Ramon Vanden Brulle

425/788-1167; ramon@washingtontrout.org

 

For Immediate Release: June 18, 2003

Puget Sound Hatchery Plans Available for Review

A new, expanded public-involvement process begins today that will enhance citizen opportunity to help shape salmon-management practices in Washington. In the June 18 issue of the Washington State Register, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has announced the beginning of a 30-day public comment period for Puget Sound Hatchery Genetic Management Plans (HGMPs) submitted to NOAA Fisheries for ESA authorization.

The public is invited to review the plans and submit comments to WDFW. WDFW will respond to all comments in writing, and forward the comments and responses to NOAA Fisheries for review with the HGMPS.

The public-comment period is part of an agreement negotiated between Washington Trout, the Native Fish Society, and WDFW to settle lawsuits brought by the two environmental groups over WDFW’s Puget Sound salmon hatchery operations.

The department submitted HGMPs for its Puget Sound hatcheries in late 2002 and earlier this year, and is in the process of preparing others for submission to NOAA Fisheries, the federal agency charged with enforcing ESA rules for listed salmon and steelhead populations. NOAA Fisheries requires HGMPs for any hatchery operation with the potential to impact a listed salmon or steelhead population. Washington State has 13 salmon and steelhead populations with federal ESA protection. Many HGMPs are still overdue a January 2001 deadline.

Washington Trout and Native Fish Society charged that WDFW’s Puget Sound hatchery operations were harming and killing wild chinook, through competition for food and habitat, displacement, predation, and harmful genetic interactions. During settlement negotiations, WT proposed the comment and response process as a way to make hatchery management more transparent, engage the public, and influence improvements in current hatchery practices.

Typically, NOAA Fisheries would seek public review and comment on HGMPs during its own review and approval process. WDFW will now augment that process by soliciting public input on the hatchery plans prior to NOAA Fisheries’ review.

The State Register Notice, the full text of the HGMPs, and instructions for submitting comments can be found on the WDFW website at: http://www.wa.gov/wdfw/hat/hgmp/ .

Washington Trout encourages all interested parties to review any or all of the Puget Sound HGMPs and submit appropriate comments. This is an opportunity to become meaningfully involved in this important process, to influence improvements in WDFW hatchery practices, and to help ensure the effective recovery of federally listed Puget Sound chinook salmon.

Those interested in hatchery reform processes can review these operational hatchery plans for consistency with acknowledged reform needs, and with recommendations from the Hatchery Science Review Group and other independent science panels.

WT will of course be significantly involved in this process. As they become available, we will post drafts of our comments on the WT website (www.washingtontrout.org), along with relevant source material, to assist individuals and organizations in their own reviews and comments. Anyone seeking more detailed information is welcome to contact Washington Trout directly.

 

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