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, Washington Trout, 425/788-1167 x222, ramon@washingtontrout.org ;

Lea Mitchell, PEER, (360) 528-2110, wapeer@peer.org .

For Immediate Release: February 27, 2002

 

Notice to WDFW: Fix Problems at Hatchery or Face Suit

Two local environmental organizations have notified the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife that they intend to sue the state agency for violating the Endangered Species Act at its Tokul Creek Fish Hatchery near the Snoqualmie River. Washington Trout and Washington Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility are accusing the WDFW facility of harming Puget Sound chinook, listed as Threatened under the ESA.

The hatchery blocks migrating chinook from reaching their spawning grounds, traps and kills adult salmon, destroys naturally incubating chinook eggs, and damages chinook habitats in Tokul Creek, a critical chinook-spawning tributary of the Snoqualmie River, according to the two groups.

“WDFW must be held accountable for ensuring that their hatcheries don’t harm ESA-listed salmon -- this notice is a step in that direction,” said Lea Mitchell, Director of Washington PEER.

The two groups have sent WDFW what is called a 60-day Notice of Intent to Sue. If the Department does not remedy the problems alleged in the notice before the 60-day period expires, the two organizations will have standing under the ESA to sue the state agency in Federal Court.

Tokul Creek has the highest density of spawning chinook of any tributary in the Snoqualmie Basin. The Tokul Creek Hatchery produces ocean-migrating steelhead for sport harvest in the Snoqualmie and Skykomish Rivers, and freshwater trout for planting in mountain lakes, including non-native species like brook trout. Other than Tokul Creek steelhead, the Snoqualmie system is managed for all-wild fish.

The hatchery is located at the confluence of Tokul Creek and the Snoqualmie River, just downstream of Snoqualmie Falls. The small dam that diverts water from Tokul Creek to the hatchery blocks all fish from migrating upstream of the hatchery, except during the most extreme high flows, confining spawning salmon, including Threatened chinook, to the bottom 1/3-mile of creek. In 1994, the Washington Department of Natural Resources identified the dam at Tokul Creek as one of the most significant salmon blockages in the Snoqualmie System. Fish-passage barriers are specifically illegal under the ESA, and a violation of Washington law.

The Tokul Creek Hatchery is built on fill over the old Tokul Creek floodplain. Rocks armor one bank of the creek to keep it from migrating back onto the hatchery grounds. The constrained creek has eroded the base of the steep slope opposite the hatchery, contributing to a large landslide. Because the dam blocks their progress, almost all chinook in Tokul Creek must spawn below the slide. During winter rains the landslide dumps large loads of silt into the stream, suffocating and destroying the incubating chinook eggs laid there.

Some fish can occasionally pass over the dam during very extreme – and infrequent – high-water events. Over the last two years, WDFW has been capturing and hand-transporting chinook around the dam. But  the dam’s water-intake is not adequately screened – another violation of the ESA and state law – and some of the transported fish have been drawn into it and killed.

“WDFW has had ample opportunity and time to fix the problems at Tokul Creek,” said Kurt Beardslee, Executive Director of Washington Trout. “They’ve acknowledged the barrier for years without taking any action. Washington Trout raised money for the emergency capture-and-transport project, with the understanding that they would find a permanent solution. The Department has still not stepped up.”

Puget Sound chinook were listed under the ESA in March 1999. The 4d Rule, which defines illegal activities under the ESA, was adopted for Puget Sound in June 2000. A federally funded task force recently published its “Hatchery Reform Recommendations” that were publicly endorsed by WDFW Director Jeff Koenings. The report mentions the Tokul Hatchery, but does not address the issues in Washington Trout’s and PEER’s notice. 

“Puget Sound chinook have been listed for three years,” said Beardslee. “The Tokul Creek hatchery has been violating the ESA for over a year. WDFW should be setting the example on salmon protection. Instead, they’re continuing to scoff at the law.”

Washington Trout is a non-profit salmon-conservation and advocacy group, located in Duvall, Washington. PEER is a national non-profit alliance of public employees that works to hold government agencies accountable to environmental laws and natural resource protection.

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For copies of the 60-Day Notice, contact Ramon Vanden Brulle at Washington Trout, or Lea Mitchell at PEER.