Hatcheries work; increase their production before it’s too late

Published 12:01 am Sunday, December 13, 2009

The Pilchuck River was not planted with juvenile steelhead (smolts) this year, and will close to steelhead fishing on Feb. 15. This beautiful stream has been planted with steelhead 138 times since 1915, according to our records, and had a fantastic run of large, early returning December fish.

The Snohomish Sportsmen’s Club, for which I maintain the archives, has detailed catch records and has been convinced for some time the current efforts to recover salmon and steelhead are, for the most part, a failure.

It is obvious that our 1997 document, “Researching The Pilchuck Winter Steelhead,” prepared for the Washington State Game Commission, has been totally ignored and the irrefutable evidence discarded. That has ushered in the “Dark Ages” for steelheading on the Pilchuck.

As I enter my 78th year, I often remember those who fished the Pilchuck in the early days and recall my 1979 interview with baseball Hall of Famer Earl Averill of Snohomish, who once hooked 50 steelhead in a day. What a privilege for me to regularly fish with Vic Mathison, Brick Peacor and Les McCulloch, all gone but certainly not forgotten.

Did hatchery fish cause the demise of the Pilchuck? Of course not! We caught numerous spawned out hatchery fish for decades. In the early days, there were only native fish. Some were trapped and spawned and their offspring became hatchery fish, and then — horror of all horrors — some hatchery fish spawned and became “wild” fish. (Our club has been making wild coho out of hatchery coho for over 50 years.)

For some strange reason, our salmon and steelhead are thriving in Michigan. Why? It’s obvious these condemned hatchery fish have gone “wild.” Whatever happened to the sea lions at the Ballard Locks? Could it be that they ate this run of steelhead?

I was one of the original sportsmen who worked for 11 years to develop the Reiter Steelhead Ponds near Gold Bar, and on April 6, 1975, this facility was dedicated in memory of the immortal Fish Scientist Clarence Pautzke. According to the dedication brochure, “Eggs for the summer steelhead program were obtained from adults trapped at Sunset Falls in 1973. There is a popular belief that local stocks provide greater returns to fish cultural efforts. Fishermen angling for summer steelhead in 1977 will be challenged to help verify or refute this premise.”

The summer steelhead at Reiter came from the Skykomish River and are fantastic fish. Thousands have been trucked over Sunset Falls since 1958 to spawn in the upstream tributaries. Mind you, no steelhead and salmon went above the falls until 1958 and the only reason they inhabit this wonderful watershed is because of great fish biologists, concerned political leaders and sportsmen uniting to expand our fisheries.

Has the success of this program been verified? Of course it has! The summer steelhead of Reiter are the most gorgeous fish around and fantastic eating. Sadly, today, the hatchery summer steelhead of this river are being trapped and killed to prevent them from spawning with their ancestors. We have recently distributed 182 of these fish to the Snohomish Senior Center and other needy seniors.

Some of us have worked on habitat protection for decades and have struggled to prevent our little rills in the river from being ruined. We fail every day as “progress” takes a heavy toll. It is nice that many people now realize the importance of good habitat, but planting trees, placing large woody debris, replacing culverts that were already passing fish with huge culverts and killing hatchery fish will not restore our salmon and steelhead.

Nutrients are vital in salmon recovery and for more than 30 years, I have been writing about the value of dead salmon to our watersheds. Does it matter if it is a dead “wild” salmon or a dead hatchery salmon? Of course not! Nutrients are nutrients!

A little history is instructive. The Wallace River Hatchery was built in 1907, and for 102 years, has produced millions of fish to the benefit of the general public. The recent Everett Coho Derby showed 37 percent of the 1,101 fish entered were hatchery fish that ate the same food in the ocean as the “wild” fish, and they taste the same. Great angling opportunity brings in millions of dollars to our economy. We should be increasing hatchery production.

Clarence Pautzke and friends ushered in the “Golden Age” of steelheading. Recently, judges and politicians have ushered it out!

Author and conservationist Bob Heirman lives in Snohomish.