1994 NORTHWEST PACIFIC CHINOOK 


AND COHO SALMON WORKSHOP


Salmon Ecosystem Restoration:


Myth And Reality





Eugene, Oregon


November 7-10, 1994





INTRODUCTION:


	This conference is the fourth one and is the creation of the 


Oregon and Western Division of the American Fisheries Society. Sponsors 


for this workshop were ODFW, NMFS, BLM, USFS, and BPA. The following are 


notes taken by Bill Bakke on some of the sessions.


          


IDAHO HATCHERY SUPPLEMENTATION EXPERIMENT


Peter F. Hassemer, 


IDFG





	The role of supplementation in helping to recover listed and 


declining anadromous stocks in the Columbia Basin is the subject of much 


debate.  We are currently assessing the use of hatchery Chinook salmon 


to restore or augment natural populations, and evaluating the effects of 


supplementation on the survival and fitness of existing natural 


populations.  This work is an ongoing experiment by the IDFG department, 


started in 1989.





	Idaho has three production strategies. The purpose of a 


conventional hatchery is to maximize adult production for harvest, 


maximize post-release survival and minimize effects on natural 


populations.  Supplementation, on the other hand, has the purpose of 


increasing natural production and maintaining the productivity of 


supplemented stocks.  Another strategy Idaho has is the refuge system 


which is a repository for genetic information.





	Idaho has adopted the following new hatchery objectives:


1) A hatchery, must create an adult to adult survival advantage, 2) the 


hatchery must avoid genetic and behavioral divergence from the wild 


stocks, and 3) produce no harm to target or other populations, such as 


the reduction of productivity in natural stocks.  Idaho has also 


established a conservation objective for its hatchery program: Increase 


the effective population size for natural populations.





	Idaho claims that 62% of its historic salmon habitat remains 


accessible, and 30% of this habitat is in protected areas such as 


wilderness.  However, Idaho salmon production is only 16% of what it was 


in 1960s.





	Hatcheries were built to mitigate for the effects of the federal 


dams on the Snake River.  However, the mitigation objectives of these 


hatcheries has not been met.  In fact, the speaker said the Idaho has 


not come even close to meeting these mitigation objectives.





	The objectives of the hatchery supplementation research are to 


determine whether natural production and productivity can be increased.  


The speaker was confident that Idaho can increase natural production, 


but is uncertain about sustaining the natural productivity of the 


stocks.  The supplementation hatchery must be able to show a survival 


advantage over nature.  A survival advantage to the release stage, at 


least, is desirable.





	During the questions, the speaker said hatchery supplementation 


presents a big risk of reducing productivity of natural salmon stocks.  


He believed that supplementation will not increase productivity of 


natural stocks.  "At best," he said, "there will be an increase in 


production."  





	The speaker confirmed that by 1999 Idaho expects less than 100 


wild spring Chinook to the Snake Basin.  Idaho expects to get, on an 


annual basis, less than 10 females back in 22 spring Chinook populations 


over the next four years.  He says that 1995 spring Chinook juvenile 


outmigration is the largest that can be expected in the foreseeable 


future.  He says that local extinction is happening now, and the loss of 


Chinook sub populations is taking place.  He did note this year they saw 


the few adults that did come back tended to group rather than spread 


throughout the watershed.  This he hopes will improve natural 


reproduction.





	While the speaker said the dams are the main problem and doubted 


salmon could be restored without their removal, the Idaho program is 


focused on hatchery technology to compensate for adverse climate 


conditions and dams.  Also, a key question concerns what institutional 


arrangements are in place that would cause a shift in hatchery 


management if evaluation shows problems with hatchery practices.  At 


this time Idaho is running out of eggs so they cannot run their hatchery 


program, and the wild salmon are going extinct, yet Idaho is building 


more hatcheries and still has not requested the removal of the dams.