no 



Then, all fisheries management agencies operating salmon hatcheries in the 

 Pacific Northwest should be encouraged to adopt the final policy. 



ARTinCIAL PRODUCTION TECHNIQUES AND SYSTEMS, RISK 

 ASSESSMENT, AND MONITORING 



Traditional methods and physical facilities for sahnon hatchery production need 

 to be revised in order to be compatible with the twin goals of (a) restoring 

 naturally-spawning populations and (b) maintaining existing genetic resources in 

 all affected hatchery and naturally-spawning populations. Hatchery systems 

 should aim to reduce the major limiting factor in freshwater habitats. In many 

 Pacific Northwest cases (outside of Alaska), the major freshwater Umitation 

 appears to be depressed production and downstream survival of smolts due to 

 habitat loss and damage. Therefore, appropriate hatchery systems for most 

 restoration cases should involve artificial propagation from fertilized eggs to the 

 smolt stage. 



Geneticallv-sound revisions are needed in hat cherv techniques and operations. 



My current work on the Yakima/Klickitat Fisheries Project is to develop 

 specific and feasible genetic guidelines for all possible phases of hatchery 

 operations, including aduh collection and mating, offspring rearing, fish releases, 

 and related activities (Kapuscinski and Miller in prep., table of contents attached). 

 Scientific peer review and appropriate revision of these draft guidelines must 

 occur before they are implemented and evaluated in new Yakima hatcheries. 

 Some elements of these guidelines, such as how to best mate males and females, 

 are based on well documented biological principles and data. They are 

 immediately and generally appropriate for all hatcheries used in sustainable 

 restoration of namrally-spawning populations. Incenrives for their general and 

 coordinated application in the Pacific Northwest are needed. 



Captive broodstock programs, where fish are maintained in caprivity for an 

 entire life cycle, are expensive and involve increased biological risks compared to 

 traditional salmon culture programs, where only part of the life cycle is in 

 captivity (usually from fertilized egg to sub-adult smoh). They are appropriate 

 as a last resort when a population is dangerously close to extinction (Hard et al. 

 1992). For example, a captive broodstock program was recently initiated for the 

 endangered Snake River sockeye salmon. 



