...if we are trying to preserve wild chinook, then WHY

[Nelly]

...is WDFW and the Muckelshoots dumping live hatchery chinook on top of wild kings on the spawning grounds???
Check out this letter from Sportco's Tom Pollock to WDFW's Pat Patillo... read on...

"Pat,
I am confused about a planting of hatchery chinook today above the
Soos Creek hatchery. I understand that the Muckelshoots got from the Soos
Creek holding area at the hatchery 500 male hatchery chinook and 500 female
hatchery chinook and transported them upstream to the Whitney bridge and
released them to spawn in the wild. I thought that the Green River upstream
was managed for wild stocks and now we are getting hatchery spawning in with
the natural spawners. The result will be in a few months outgoing unmarked
chinook. So much for marked selective fishing for the sportsmen and the
purest wild stocks. A new breed is being created for what purpose and so
much for all the data being collected on the wild spawning stocks.
Yesterday I was visiting the Soos Creek hatchery and witnessed
hatchery chinook being netted and put into totes to go to food banks. I did
see 20 to 30 totes being processed and I do not know haw many other times
this has happened. It sure would have been great to have had these surplus
fish available for a limited sports fishery in Elliott Bay.

Tom Pollack"

Here is WDFW's Pat Patillo's response:

"Tom,

I got your phone message and I'll put this topic on the agenda for our
October 26 Sport Fishing Advisory Group meeting at Mill Creek. WDFW will
bring more information about the status of hatchery surplus Chinook at Soos
Creek and the agreement between WDFW and Muckleshoot Tribe to transfer 1,000
adults onto the spawning ground. We put a large number of surplus hatchery
fish onto the spawning ground last year as well. I'm not sure what you
meant by "So much for marked selective fishing for the sportsmen and the
purest wild stocks", or "...so much for all the data being collected on the
wild spawning stocks". The data we've collected shows that hatchery fish
consistently comprise the majority of the natural spawning population. An
Elliott Bay sport selective fishery would not have eliminated that high rate
of hatchery straying, as we've been getting very large surpluses at the Soos
Creek Hatchery rack, including this year. The early, general indicators
point to a natural spawning Chinook population of only about 900 (compared
to the goal of 5,800). I agree that it would have been great if we could
have accessed those surplus hatchery fish with a sport fishery in Elliott
Bay, but that fishery would have increased the impact on the very low
natural population and we still would have had surplus fish at the hatchery.
We'll provide an opportunity to discuss these points on the 26th but I want
to focus on what we'll do next year, not rehash the 2011 season.

I look forward to discussing the issues with you at that time. If you need
to discuss it with me prior to the 26th, then let's set something up -
either a phone call or an in-person meeting.

Thanks Tom,

Pat"

My take on this? The State of Washington has entered into an "agreement" with the Muckelshoots to raise unclipped hatchery fish.
Since recreational anglers fish selectively, no one but the Muckelshoots will have the ability to harvest these unclipped, naturally spawned offspring of hatchery fish.

On the heels of the 2011 Elliott Bay recreational chinook closure which saw a Muckelshoot gillnet fishery as the only directed harvest, this behavior by the State stinks on ice.

I can personally promise you that this is not the last you'll hear of this issue.

[Salmonhawk]

"The data we've collected shows that hatchery fish
consistently comprise the majority of the natural spawning population"
Pat

If this is true then why are we closing recreational fisheries? If we aren't saving wild fish in this river then what's the issue? Let's put fish in the river and just go fish. We need to quit pretending and wasting taxpayer dollars on supposed wild recovery in some of these rivers. The department has some real explaining to do. In my mind they still have not given us a valid reason as to why they let the tribes kill so many unmarked salmon with their gillnets and not provide a recreational fishery.

[Dan Carney]

There is a major flaw in the premise that only clipped-fin fish are hatchery, and adipose-fin fish are wild. My dad started me on this issue; but many hatchery personnel have confessed that not all hatchery fish get a fin clipped. Some hatcheries have fin-clipping goals that are well below 100%. No one will officially admit this from the hatchery management or WDFW officials. But; I have heard both hatchery staff and WDFW biologists admit this to be true. I also have a hard time believing that all hatchery fish return to the hatchery to spawn and none of them go on upstream to spawn. One more comment about wild DNA stocks - where did they get the DNA to start up the hatchery programs anyway - in a test tube??? What we need are good fisheries management programs!
L8R
Dan

[Nelly]

We are going to find out a bit more about this unfortunate series of events.
Tom Pollack will be joining us for Saturday's show and next week is a PS Recreational Salmon Advisor meeting.
We should have some form of an explanation soon.

[Steve parsons]

Hi Nelly,
I use to br more involved in fish politics. I agree the Muckleshoots should have stayed off the water this year. There is the distinction between 'wild' and natural spawners in the Green. I believe the numbers were up to 50% finned clip salmon naturally spawning in the river, and a significant % of non finned clip fish returning to the hatchery. Releasing those fish to the river is a non-issue to me. They should just have no selective Elliott Bay fishery and manage for total salmon returning to the Green.

[Nelly]

I can't argue that fact with you Steve as I think you're right on the money.

If we are going to manage the Green on a "total fish" basis then we're writing off the wild stocks in that system.

If that is indeed the case, then the State and the Co-managers should just come out and say so.

Producing non-clipped hatchery fish that only one user-group can, and will, harvest is unwise, unfair and ultimately damaging on a public relations point of view.