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commercial, tribal, and recreational interests that 

 benefitted from these fish. It will be an to hatcheries on 

 rivers that harm wild fish. This facility has a spring 

 water source with no wild fish, a direct release site into 

 salt water with no negative impact on wild fish, and a 

 terminal area fishery with no mixed-stock fishing with 

 potential impacts on wild fish. The sale of excess eggs and 

 carcasses could cover the operating costs. 



If this operation were duplicated in similar sites with 

 adjacent water sources, it would greatly benefit fishermen 

 and relieve pressure on wild fish. In addition, the site 

 will also be used for captive broodstock rearing of North 

 Puget Sound depleted wild stocks. 



The Glenwood Springs Salmon Enhancement Project began in 

 1978 as a private non-profit effort to enhance depleted 

 stocks of Coho and Chinook salmon in the northern Puget 

 Sound area. 



The initial stocks of Coho and Chinook came from the 

 Samish River hatchery near Burlington and were transferred 

 as "eyed" eggs for the initial three years, after which the 

 program became self-sustaining. 



The original coho rearing and release program resulted in 

 returns of up to 10 percent to Eastsound area and justified 

 the state opening a terminal net fishery. 



The Chinook program was even more successful. We had excess 

 eggs after three years. In 1988, Glenwood Springs generated 

 a surplus of over three million eggs in addition to 

 filling its own rearing capacity needs of 400,000. This 

 was all in addition to a commercial purse seine and 

 gillnet fishery in Eastsound Bay that allowed a catch of 

 approximately 5000 adult fish averaging 20 pounds. 



LLTK believes hatcheries can play a major role in recovering wild 

 salmon and in maintaining viable fisheries economies. Without 

 hatcheries, wild fish alone could not maintain existing sport, 

 commercial and tribal harvests. It is desirable to restore wild 

 fish to the maximum extent possible and to maintain hatchery 

 production to serve existing fish constituencies. The challenge 

 is to restructure hatchery operations to minimize conflicts with 

 wild stocks. If we truly start restoring watersheds to wild 

 productivity, then the hatchery role should be diminished. 



