Improving Salmon & Steelhead Management › Hatchery Reform › The Pacific Region Federal Hatchery Review

Design

USFWS Hatchery Review LocationsA Scientific Review of Federally-Owned Salmon Hatcheries in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho 

This internal federal review is modeled on the Puget Sound and Coastal Washington Hatchery Reform Project conducted by the Hatchery Scientific Review Group (HSRG) and Long Live the Kings from 2000-2005. That project provided the template and operational tools for reviewing US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) hatcheries.

The review was divided into regions. For each region, the Hatchery Review Team, comprised of USFWS and other federal scientists:

  • conducted field tours with hatchery managers and their staffs;
  • reviewed background documentation and current hatchery operations;
  • met with the comanaging agencies and tribes to gain a clear understanding of the goals for and status of each wild and hatchery population and associated habitat and management strategies;
  • and convened to draft their assessments and recommendations for each program. The Team’s draft regional reports subsequently underwent a formal review process by the comanaging agencies and general public before being finalized.

Warm Springs NFH Serves as Pilot Review

The review process began in October 2005 with the Warm Springs National Fish Hatchery (NFH). This hatchery is located on the Warm Springs River, in the Deschutes River watershed/Columbia Plateau province, in Oregon. The Warm Springs review was conducted as a pilot to help test and refine the review process. Fishers and other stakeholders were asked to comment on draft reports and recommendations before those assessments were finalized. The final report for Warm Springs NFH was released in May, 2006.

Click here to view the Warm Springs report

Completing Reviews in the Columbia and Snake River Basins and the Olympic Peninsula

Following the Warm Springs pilot review, USFWS adjusted the process for reviewing federal hatcheries that support artificial propagation programs for four regions: Lower Columbia River, Mid-Columbia River, Snake River, and the Olympic Peninsula. Facilities in those regions include five NFHs in the Lower Columbia River region (Eagle Creek, Carson, Little White Salmon, Willard and Spring Creek NFHs); three NFHs in the Mid-Columbia River region (Leavenworth, Entiat and Winthrop NFHs); three NFHs in the Snake River region: (Dworshak, Kooskia and Hagerman NFHs), three NFHs in the Olympic Peninsula region (Makah, Quilcene, and Quinault NFHs), and nine federally-owned hatcheries operated by the states of Idaho, Oregon, or Washington as part of the Lower Snake River Compensation Plan (LSRCP).

In June, 2009, USFWS teams completed their reviews of all National Fish Hatcheries and expect to complete reviews of all federally owned facilities in the Snake River region by June 2010

Click here to view individual and summary reports on all of the above programs