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rely on focus sessions with fishermen and olher testimony to build econoinlc models. 

 Resulting computations of the net benefits to society, which are generated far from 

 the fishing grounds, have often been found to be out of touch with reality— excluding 

 benefits derived from experiences of fishermen and processors. 



THE ROLE OF HATCHERY FACIUTIES IN THE RECOVERY 

 OF NATURAIXY SPAWNING SALMON POPULATIONS 



As Alaska's fish management and habitat protection programs have proven very successful, 

 the hatchery program, which I will detail below, has concentrated on the enhancement of 

 salmon stocks rather than on wild slock restoration programs. Early on, it was stressed that 

 hatchery production would supplement, not supplant, wild slock production; hence Ihe 

 development of the rigorous genetics and fish health policies to guide the program. We are 

 now applying the hatchery technologies we developed to ihe restoration of salmon 

 populations. 



Question 1. Givtn the Ussons learned from past hatchery practices, what is the best 

 possible role for hatcheries in the restoration of naturally spawning salmon 

 populations? 



In my opinion, salmon hatcheries have been misused. The construction of a hatchery 

 has been the common mitigation for fisheries habitat alteration or destruction. These 

 large faculties were monuments to the good intentions of society toward the fish. 

 People who might have otherwise questioned the loss of the salmon were convinced 

 that hatcheries would more than compoisate for the loss of necessary habitat. 



The success of hatcheries was most often judged simply by how many fish were 

 released, not by the condition of those fish; or, pcrhsq)S most important, not by the 

 survival of hatchery-produced fish to adult. Unfortunately, this practice was often the 

 rule and, perh^s equally unfortimaie, is the common stereotype of salmon hatcheries 

 today that was generated from these activities. Some people now contend that the 

 best possible role for hatcheries in the restoration of naturally spawning salmon would 

 be to close the facilities, All hatcheries do not fit tliis stereotype. Some hatchery 

 programs lived up to the expectations of those who designed the programs. We have 

 also learned from failures in the past. I feel that tl-.e application of modern hatchery 

 practices may be necessary for the timely restoration of naturally spawning salmon 

 populations. 



Hatchery production can be used in several ways to assist in tlie restoration of 

 naturally spawning salmon stocks: 



• To supplement the production of naturally spawning stocks of fish; 



• As a management tool to divert fishing pressure from stocks of naturally 

 spawning fish; 



• As a subject of research designed to understand both the effects of 

 environmental parameters and the activities of man on the survival of fish; and 



