Ill 



Some revisions of physical hatchery faciliries mav be needed to accommodate 

 restoration and genetic goals. 



Although I am not directly involved with revision of hatchery facilities, I 

 am aware that some changes are necessary to accommodate the twin goals of 

 restoration and genetic conservation. Designs for the Yakima Basin hatchery 

 program, for instance, include (a) improved separation of genetically distinct 

 populations in incubation, fry and smolt rearing units; and (b) establishment of 

 streamside smoh acclimation ponds. Smolt acclimation ponds are intended to 

 improve survival of released smolts and adult homing to desired natural spawning 

 sites. Application of these and other facility modifications requires careful 

 evaluation before considering them for widespread use. 



Genetic risk assessment should be conducted on all proposed hatcheries and 



comprehensive, coordinated monitoring systems implemented for all functioning 

 hatcheries. 



Risks of damaging (a) existing genetic resources and (b) long-term 

 persistence of naturally-spawning populations should be assessed during early 

 plarming of hatchery programs and before large amounts of money have been 

 spent. Proposed actions with high risk should be identified and altered in order 

 to remove or substantially reduce these risks. The Pacific Northwest currently 

 lacks a uniform protocol for genetic risk assessment of all planned hatcheries. 

 The first review draft of a generic protocol, however, will soon be available 

 from work under the Yakima/Klickitat Fisheries Project. Following revision 

 based on independent scientific review. I recommend creation of incentives for 

 application of the final risk assessment protocol to all plaimed hatcheries in the 

 region. 



Currently, no comprehensive system is in place to monitor salmon hatchery 

 programs (both individually and collectively) for (a) restoration of natiu-ally- 

 spawnmg populations, and (b) reduction of all genetic risks. To reduce costs and 

 increase learning, a uniform and comprehensive monitoring program should be 

 developed and its implementation coordinated among all Pacific Northwest 

 fisheries agencies with junsdiction over the same or interacting salmon 

 populations. This recommendation echoes the calls in Section 6.2 of the Strategy 

 for Salmon (Northwest Power Planning Council 1992) for performance 

 standards, independent audits, and unpact assessment for all Columbia Basin 

 hatcheries. Finally, results from hatchery monitoring must be regularly 

 evaluated to make appropriate mid-course corrections, even when this may mean 

 termination of a hatchery program because major problems cannot be corrected. 



Some pieces of a comprehensive hatchery monitoring system exist or are 

 under development. The Columbia River Basin is rapidly moving towards 

 marking of all hatchery fish, although several concerns must be resolved. This 



