April 20, 2022 3:40 a.m.

On Tuesday, the Douglas County Board of Commissioners, the Oregon Anglers Alliance, and the Umpqua Fishery Enhancement Derby, sent a letter to the Oregon Fish & Wildlife Commission supporting continuation of the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife’s summer steelhead hatchery program for the North Umpqua River.

A joint release said on Friday, the Commission will decide whether to terminate, modify or continue the hatchery program that supports the summer steelhead recreational fishery in that river. A recent assessment by ODFW staff found that the recent downturn in steelhead returns across Oregon was not related to the presence of hatchery fish. The release said however, ODFW staff is recommending that the Commission reduce summer steelhead hatchery smolt release from 165,000 to 30,000, an 80 percent reduction.

The Commissioners, OHA, and UFED offered these comments supporting the summer steelhead hatchery program, and opposing a reduction or elimination of hatchery production:

*The best available science rebuts the hypothesis that hatchery fish reduce the productivity of wild fish

*ODFW’s own data does not warrant elimination or reduction in the summer steelhead hatchery program

*Hatchery fish trapping at Rock Creek Hatchery can be improved to maintain a higher percentage of natural origin summer steelhead in the North Umpqua River

*Eliminating or reducing the summer steelhead hatchery program would violate the existing fishery management plan

*ODFW should focus its efforts on re-building a state-of-the-art Rock Creek Hatchery

The release said the letter to the Commission was accompanied by a scientific review of the influence of hatchery summer steelhead releases on natural production of summer steelhead in the North Umpqua River.

The full document sent to state officials is linked with this story at www.541radio.com NU StS Commission Comments FINAL