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years before results of tagging studies can confirm clean-up effectiveness, 

 preliminary habitat restoration projects should be started and evaluated. 

 Once the inner Harbor water quality allows reasonable smolt survival, proven 

 habitat restoration projects can begin throughout the Basin on a larger scale. 

 Selection of habitat restoration projects will be guided by the ongoing 

 habitat survey. 



Criteria for Hatchery Programs 



Hatchery production supports a large share of the catch in several important 

 fisheries. However, once habitat problems have been corrected, the primary 

 hatchery role in fishery restoration should be to augment, rather than 

 replace, natural production. Hatcheries may produce fish poorly adapted for 

 wild survival and can jeopardize the health of wild runs, so. programs must be 

 developed cautiously. Any new hatchery initiatives should meet these concerns 

 by either (1) being phased out after reaching optimum natural production, or 

 (2), if permanent, support harvest at a time and place that does not preclude 

 meeting the wild escapement goal. 



Ongoing State and Tribal processes are designed, and should continue, to 

 carefully evaluate all hatchery programs for both their likely production 

 contributions and their potential interaction with wild stocks. Artificial 

 enhancement can and should be utilized wherever it will not harm the integrity 

 of wild stocks. The key to successful integration of hatchery and wild 

 production is 



1) choosing locations and stocks that do not conflict biologically or in 

 harvest strategies with natural runs, and/or 



2) possible acceptance of hatchery stock overescapement . 



Restoration Project Evaluation 



It will be necessary to monitor the effectiveness of the restoration program 

 so that mid-course corrections can be made, if necessary. The FWS recognizes 

 the immediate need to extend the existing coded wire tagging program to 

 evaluate relative survival of hatchery fall Chinook from the Chehalis and 

 Humptulips River Systems. Moat other proposals to study inner Harbor water 

 quality and environmental contaminants should be postponed until the effect of 

 the 1989 waste treatment improvements at both Grays Harbor pulp mills is 

 adequately evaluated. If survival does not increase significantly, additional 

 studies leading to further water quality remedial actions will be necessary. 



Some types of both hatchery and habitat restoration projects have not yet been 

 proven for their effectiveness. Therefore, it is recommended that all unproven 

 restoration projects initially include careful evaluation to determine how 

 well they produce additional fish. As the most productive restoration 

 techniques become apparent, they will be emphasized in the restoration 

 efforts. The general type of restoration projects needing evaluation include 



