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Preamble: 



Before commenting on the role of hatcheries in the restoration of naturally spawning 

 salmon populations, I would like to emphasize that hatcheries can only be a part of the answer 

 to this problem. Since salmon utilize an entire waterway from the origin of a stream to the 

 marine waters, they are impacted by events that occur within these all of environments. 

 Salmon reproduce and grow in the freshwater environment during their early life stages; they 

 travel through this environment to get to and return from the ocean and, consequendy, it must 

 be of high quality and passable. The quality of the marine waters in which they spend the 

 majority of their life growing must also be maintained. Finally, the salmon harvest must be 

 reasonably managed if the naturally-reproducing populations are to survive. Thus, if we are to 

 do an effective job at restoring the populations of this diverse and economically important 

 natural resource, all factors must be considered when actions are taken that may have an 

 adverse impact 



Question No. 1 



Definition of a "best possible role" for hatcheries in the restoration of naturally- 

 reproducing salmon populations is fraught with problems and contains a trap that has been 

 opened and fallen into before. Simply staled, there is no single "best possible role" for 

 hatcheries to accomplish this function. On a historical basis, this type of thinking has been a 

 major factor in getting us into some of the problems we now face with naturally-reproducing 

 salmon populations. To illustrate my viewpoint, I would like to cite two historical views of 

 "the" purpose of the hatchery system with regard to Pacific salmon management and mention 

 the problems they engendered. 



The original purpose for developing fish hatcheries, in general, was to aid the restoration 

 of naturally reproducing populations in streams and rivers where fish production had decreased 

 or ceased to exist However, during Uie latter part of the 19* century the prevailing view was 

 that hatcheries were best used as a conduit for a stocking program to spread many species of 

 fish across the continent Since the culture of Pacific salmon was getting started about this 

 time, large numbers of eggs from these species (e.g., about 51 million chinook salmon eggs 

 from the McCloud River in northern California) were used for stocking programs across the 

 U.S., including such unlikely places as Kansas and Missouri. It should be pointed out that 

 this opinion was not unanimously held. Spencer Baird, the first head of the U.S. Commission 

 of Fish and Fisheries, felt that fish culture was a tool that should be used to restore viable runs 

 of anadromous fish. In spite of this opinion, a lot of effort was expended by the U.S. 

 Commission introducing Pacific salmon species across the continent While a few of the 



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