April 26, 2014 — State Fish and Wildlife officials and the Wild Fish Conservancy, a non-profit group, cut a deal that will lead to a drastic cut of 720,000 of the 900,000 young steelhead that were raised in hatcheries and set to be planted this spring into Puget Sound rivers.
The contentious lawsuit filed by the Wild Fish Conservancy over the release of winter hatchery steelhead appears settled, although the net results have the sport and tribal fishing communities up in arms.
State Fish and Wildlife officials and the Wild Fish Conservancy, a non-profit group, cut a deal that will lead to a drastic cut of 720,000 of the 900,000 young steelhead that were raised in hatcheries and set to be planted this spring into Puget Sound rivers.
The conservancy group’s issue is that hatchery steelhead plants undermine the recovery of Puget Sound wild steelhead, salmon and bull trout, which are listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). They believe hatchery fish cause negative genetic, ecological and demographic effects.
Read the full story at the Seattle Times