4. Artificial Production 

 Strategies 



Primary stratc}»y: Artificial pro- 

 duction can be used, under llie 

 proper conditions, to 1 ) comple- 

 ment habitat improvements by sup- 

 plementing nati\e fish populations 

 up to the sustainable carrying 

 capacity of the habitat with fish that 

 are as similar as possible, in genet- 

 ics and beha\ ior, to wild native 

 fish, and 2) replace lost salmon and 

 steelhead in blocked areas. 



The critical issue that the region 

 faces on artificial production is 

 whether artificial production activi- 

 ties can play a role in providing 

 significant harvest opportunities 

 throughout the basin while also 

 acting to protect and even rebuild 

 naturally spawning populations. Arti- 

 ficial production must be used in a 

 manner consistent with ecologically 

 based scientific principles for fish 

 recovery. Fish raised in hatcheries 

 for harvest should have a minimal 

 impact on fish that spawn naturally. 

 Fish reared in hatcheries or by other 





artificial means for the purpose of 

 supplementing the reco\eiy of a wild 

 population should clearly benefit that 

 population. 



The science on this issue is far 

 from settled. Improperly run, arti- 

 ficial production programs can do 

 damage to wild fish runs. However, 

 when lish runs fall to extremely low 

 levels, artificial production may be 

 the only way to keep enough of that 

 population alive in the short term so 

 that it has a chance of recovering in 

 the long term. What is not so clear 

 is the extent to which artificially pro- 

 duced fish can be mixed with a wild 

 population in a way that sustains and 

 rebuilds the wild population. 



The Council has weighed these 

 uncertainties and, recognizing that 

 inaction also holds a large risk, has 

 adopted the strategies in this section. 

 These strategies, which are summa- 

 rized in the Biological Objectives 

 table on page 15, are intended to 

 address the limitations and opportuni- 

 ties of specific habitat conditions. 



Implementation of Recommenda- 

 tions from Artificial Production 

 Review 



The Council and the region's fish 

 and wildlife managers recently com- 

 pleted a multiyear review of artificial 

 production in the Columbia River 

 Basin. This review established a 

 set of standards to be applied in all 

 artificial production programs in the 

 Columbia River Basin, and this pro- 

 gram mcorporates these standards 

 as minimum standards for all artifi- 

 cial production projects. The full 

 description of these standards is in 

 the Artificial Production Review sec- 

 tion of the Appendix. In summary, 

 the policies are: 



• The purpose and use of artificial 

 prt)duclK)n must be considered in 

 the context of the ecological envi- 

 i-onment in which it will be used. 



• Artificial production must be 

 implemented within an exper- 

 uiiental, adaptnc management 

 design that includes an aggres- 



sive program to evaluate the risks 

 and benefits and address scien- 

 tific uncertainties. 



I lalcheries must be operated in a 

 manner that recognizes that they 

 exist within ecological systems 

 whose behavior is constrained by 

 larger-scale basin, regional and 

 global factors. 



A diversity of life history types 

 and species needs to be main- 

 tained in order to sustain a 

 system of populations in the face 

 of environmental variation. 



Naturally selected populations 

 should provide the model for 

 successful artificially reared 

 populations, in regard to pop- 

 ulation structure, mating proto- 

 col, behavior, growth, moiphol- 

 ogy, nutrient cycling, and other 

 biological characteristics. 



The entities authorizing or 

 managing an artificial production 

 facility or program should explic- 

 itly identify whether the artificial 

 propagation product is intended 

 for the purpose of augmentation, 

 mitigation, restoration, preserva- 

 tion, research, or some combina- 

 tion of those puiposes for each 

 population offish addressed. 



Decisions on the use of the arti- 

 ficial production tool need to be 

 made in the context of deciding 

 on fish and u ildlife goals, objec- 

 tives and strategies at the sub- 

 basin and province levels. 



Appropriate risk management 

 needs to be maintained in using 

 the tool of artificial propagation. 



Pfoduclion for hanest is a legit- 

 imate management objective of 

 artificial production, but to mini- 

 mize adverse impacts on natural 

 populations associated with har- 

 vest management of artificially 

 produced populations, haivest rates 

 and practices must be dictated by 

 the rec]uirements to sustain natu- 

 rally spawning populations. 



22 



lA RIVER Basin Fish and Wildlife Program 



