Groups claim hatchery releases illegal

03/21/03

Salmon from hatcheries are preying on threatened chinook salmon in Puget Sound, making the hatchery releases illegal under the Endangered Species Act, conservation groups claim in a federal lawsuit filed Thursday.

The suit seeks to halt the release of 8 million coho salmon and steelhead from hatcheries run by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

If the legal challenge prevails, it could drastically reshape salmon recovery efforts. As it stands, most of the salmon in Northwest rivers originated from hatcheries. In the Columbia Basin, hatchery fish make up 95 percent of the coho, 70 percent of the steelhead, and 50 percent to 80 percent of the chinook.

Washington Trout and the Native Fish Society, the groups that are suing, said wild chinook newly emerged from egg nests are overwhelmed by the larger and more numerous hatchery coho and steelhead. The lawsuit is limited to Puget Sound releases, but the groups said its claims could be extended to the Columbia Basin and other rivers in Oregon and California.

The Washington attorney general's office said Thursday it is considering how to respond to the suit. A federal judge in Seattle could decide as early as April 11 whether to grant a temporary restraining order to halt the hatchery releases while the case is pending.

Joe Rojas-Burke

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