FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL 77. NO 1 



of valuation seemed satisfactory. The commercial 

 price paid to fishermen during the sampling years 

 ranged from $0.68 to $0.82/kg depending on the 

 area of catch. The benefit/cost ratio averaged 

 0.039:1, or approximately 4 cents returned for 

 each dollar spent (Table 5). 



Table 5. — Benefit-cost ratios for Leavenworth sockeye 1960-63 

 broods. 



DISCUSSION 



As our results clearly show, hatchery fish did 

 not appear significantly in the commercial catch, 

 averaging only 13.5% of the total harvest. Consid- 

 ering that the hatchery fish may have utilized 

 almost one-half of the natural rearing space avail- 

 able, we expected their contribution would be 

 greater. We also expected a larger proportion of 

 hatchery fish in the returning adult run based on 

 the ratio of hatchery to wild smolts emigrating 

 from Lake Wenatchee. In a concurrent study, 

 Craddock^ determined that hatchery fish made up 

 53% and 72% of the 1962 and 1963 total outmigra- 

 tion, respectively. 



From the economic viewpoint we feel that the 

 study produced an accurate assessment of the ben- 

 efits provided to the commercial fishermen by the 

 addition of hatchery fish to their catch. We are 

 confident that the method of determining the pro- 

 duction costs of the hatchery sockeye salmon pro- 

 vided a valid estimate for that portion of the 

 benefit/cost ratio. 



Benefits as a measure of value in this study 

 applied specifically to those received by the com- 

 mercial fishery. Not considered were intangible 

 benefits derived from the preservation, mainte- 

 nance, and enhancement of the Columbia River 

 sockeye salmon. The return of adults to the system 

 for a hatchery egg source is another value. 

 Another unmeasured benefit was the contribution 

 to the Indian subsistence and ceremonial fisheries. 

 In short, the total benefits from the Leavenworth 



^D. R. Craddock, Northwest and Alaska Fisheries Center. 

 National Marine Fisheries Service. NOAA. Mukilteo. WA 

 98272, pers. Commun. April 1964. 



Hatchery sockeye salmon program were obviously 

 greater than the value derived within the specific 

 confines of the study. 



From the catch results it is apparent that the 

 study period was one of an abnormally low har- 

 vest. The river below Bonneville Dam was closed 

 completely for two of the catch seasons and only 5 

 days fishing allowed in another, with almost all of 

 the small catch taken in the Indian fishery. As the 

 benefits were based on the number offish provided 

 the commercial fishery, and the zones 1-5 fisher- 

 men were almost completely denied the opportun- 

 ity to harvest these fish, then little in the way of 

 value could be expected under these conditions. It 

 should be noted that the regulatory measures 

 were in effect specifically for the protection of low 

 runs of summer chinook salmon and summer 

 steelhead trout which can be netted at the same 

 time in the area. 



Another indication of the unusually low harvest 

 of sockeye salmon during the study period is noted 

 in catch/ escapement ratios ( C/E ), which in the 5 yr 

 preceding the study were 1/1 - 2.6/1. During the 

 study the ratio did not exceed 0.5/1 and ranged 

 downward to 0.02/1 (Fish Commission of Oregon 

 and Washington Department of Fisheries 1968). 



In addition to the low rate of return associated 

 with adult harvest, we suspected that poor surviv- 

 al of the released fish through various stages was a 

 primary cause of low adult returns. Problems con- 

 fronting the young sockeye salmon are discussed 

 below. 



We could not assess any effect on the released 

 fingerlings caused by rearing practices at Leav- 

 enworth Hatchery, as there was no comparable 

 rearing of sockeye salmon elsewhere. We assumed 

 that the produced fish were of good quality, as the 

 rearing techniques, disease control, and nutrition 

 in effect at the hatchery were essentially the same 

 at other Columbia River salmon hatcheries rais- 

 ing other species. 



A possible hatchery-related effect on the quality 

 of the stocked fish may have been undetected dis- 

 ease. As reported by Guenther et al. (1959), a 

 filterable virus disease transmitted by feeding of 

 sockeye salmon carcasses at Leavenworth Hatch- 

 ery caused extreme mortalities prior to 1954 when 

 the practice was discontinued. Losses from unde- 

 tected diseases could have had significant effect on 

 survival following release of the fingerlings. Al- 

 though kidney disease was not detected at the 

 hatchery, prior to release, the senior author ob- 

 served it in fish held in saltwater during the mark 



238 



