Improving Salmon & Steelhead Management

Hatchery Reform

What is Hatchery Reform and Why is it Critical to Salmon Recovery?

Concrete rearing ponds, Samish Hatchery, 1913, Image courtesy of the UW's Freshwater and Marine Image Bank.Hatchery reform is a systematic, science-driven approach to rethinking how to use hatcheries to help recover wild salmon and steelhead populations and provide sustainable fisheries. 

More than 100 hatcheries are operated in Puget Sound and coastal Washington by the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), Puget Sound and coastal Indian Tribes, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). Most were built over the past century to produce fish for harvest in response to declines in naturally spawning salmon populations. As better scientific information has become available, however, hatcheries have been identified as one of the factors responsible for the decline of naturally spawning populations.

State, Tribal, and federal managers of Washington's salmon and steelhead must ensure their hatcheries do not present a risk to several Puget Sound and coastal stocks that are listed or proposed for listing as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA). But the managers are seeking to go beyond merely complying with ESA directives, to create a hatchery system that helps to conserve wild populations, as well as to support sustainable fisheries. 

The Principles of Hatchery Reform

Managers are looking to the recommendations of the independent Hatchery Scientific Review Group (HSRG), a science panel with experience reviewing hundreds of hatchery programs and developing recommendations for programmatic changes, to guide their decision-making toward hatchery reform. The HSRG concluded that three principles should drive hatchery management and operations:

  • clear goals;
  • scientifically defensible programs; and
  • informed decision making.

LLTK and Hatchery Reform

LLTK works to demonstrate the principles of hatchery reform at our two conservation hatcheries on Hood Canal and Orcas Island. Additionally, we have served as the independent third-party facilitator for two extensive regional hatchery reviews, one with the HSRG to review Puget Sound and Coastal Washington hatcheries and another with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to review federal facitilites in the Columbia River Basin. Use the links below to learn more about hatchery reform efforts.

Hatchery Reform at our Hatcheries