[env-trinity] Fw: EPIC Press Release: Historic Agreement Reforms Trinity River Fish Hatchery

Mon Apr 28 19:14:40 PDT 2014

----- Forwarded Message -----

From: Gary Graham Hughes <gary at wildcalifornia.org>
To: Gary Hughes <gary at wildcalifornia.org> 
Sent: Monday, April 28, 2014 3:27 PM
Subject: EPIC Press Release: Historic Agreement Reforms Trinity River Fish Hatchery

http://www.wildcalifornia.org/blog/historic-agreement-reforms-trinity-river-fish-hatchery/

April 28, 2014 – For Immediate Release

Contacts:         Gary Graham Hughes, Executive Director, EPIC,
707-822-7711
                        Pete
Frost, Attorney, Western Environmental Law Center, 541-359-3238

Historic Agreement Reforms Trinity River Fish
Hatchery

(EUREKA, Ca)– Today a federal court
approved the settlement
agreement in a lawsuit challenging operations at the Trinity River Fish
Hatchery. The agreement between EPIC, state agencies and Tribes allows the
hatchery to continue to operate, but with needed reforms to restore imperiled wild
coho salmon. 

The
suit alleged that the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Bureau) operated the hatchery illegally because it
lacked an approved plan from the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). The
suit also alleged that the millions of hatchery fish released into the Trinity
harm threatened wild salmon runs.

"This
settlement shows the commitment of a broad array of stakeholders in the Trinity
basin to insure that hatchery operations support recovery of wild salmon,"
said Gary Graham Hughes, executive director at EPIC. "There is still a
long road to travel," said Hughes, "yet this agreement is an historic
moment in the process of bringing back our wild salmon."

Represented
by the Western Environmental Law Center (WELC) in Eugene, Oregon, EPIC filed
suit last year to curb the number of hatchery fish released into the Trinity,
alleging that they harm naturally producing coho salmon, listed under the
Endangered Species Act (ESA) as threatened with extinction.  On the eve of a motion to the court, the
parties – EPIC, CDFW, the Bureau, and the Hoopa Valley and Yurok Tribes –
reached agreement that the hatchery could continue to operate, but in 2015
would release fewer hatchery-bred coho salmon and steelhead trout, and release
the trout later in the season, so they do not prey on young coho.  The agreement also requires the Bureau to
submit to NMFS a new plan for hatchery operations by May 31, 2014.

“After
decades of saturating the Trinity with hatchery fish, this agreement is a first
step toward recovering wild coho runs that are so important in the system,”
said Pete Frost, attorney for EPIC.

Principle
amongst the terms of the settlement agreement is that the Bureau will consult
with NMFS to develop in a timely manner a long-overdue Hatchery Genetic
Management Plan (HGMP), which the agency must complete as a requirement of fish
hatchery management under the ESA. Genetic considerations are of great
importance in fish hatchery management. Hatchery coho salmon harm wild coho
salmon when the two populations interbreed. Hatchery coho salmon alter the
genetic composition, phenotypic traits, and behavior of wild coho salmon.
Genetic introgression—the transfer of genetics from stray hatchery fish to wild
populations—owers the fitness and genetic variability of wild coho salmon
populations, decreasing productivity and abundance. The release of
hatchery-raised Chinook and coho salmon and steelhead trout can also have
harmful ecological effects on wild coho salmon and their habitat. Hatchery fish
prey on wild coho salmon. Hatchery fish can introduce and transmit disease
to wild coho salmon. Hatchery fish compete with wild coho salmon for food and
spawning and rearing habitat. These ecological effects decrease the fitness and
abundance of listed wild coho salmon.

To
address these impacts the settlement agreement requires the timely development
of the HGMP, and also includes terms that address the timing and number of the
release of hatchery coho salmon and hatchery steelhead trout in order to best
manage the resultant ecological interactions between hatchery and wild fish in
a manner that promotes the recovery of wild Coho salmon.

Background on the Trinity River Fish Hatchery
The Trinity River flows north-northwest 165 miles from the California
Coast Range Mountains to its confluence with the Klamath River at Weitchpec,
approximately 20 miles from the Pacific Ocean. The South Fork Trinity River,
which enters the mainstem Trinity River below any impoundments, is the one of
the longest undammed stretches of river in California. Before reaching its
confluence with the South Fork, the mainstem Trinity River flows into Trinity
Lake, an impoundment created by the Trinity Dam, which stores water for the
Central Valley Project. Seven miles downstream of the Trinity Dam is Lewiston
Lake, an impoundment created by the Lewiston Dam, where stored water is
diverted into the Sacramento River basin.
The
Trinity hatchery is located at river mile 110 immediately downstream of the
Lewiston Dam.  It was built to mitigate
for the loss of salmon and steelhead habitat due to the construction of the
Trinity and Lewiston dams and the operation of the Central Valley Project. The
Bureau funds the hatchery and CDFW runs it.

The
Trinity River provides habitat for wild coho salmon. Wild coho salmon in the
Trinity River and its tributaries are part of the Southern Oregon/Northern
California Coast (SONCC) evolutionarily significant unit (ESU) and listed as
threatened with extinction under the ESA. Critical habitat for the SONCC coho
ESU includes all accessible reaches of the Klamath River and the Trinity River
and the tributaries to each.

Recently,
the California Fish Hatchery Review Project completed a comprehensive statewide review
of fish hatcheriesand found major problems in current operations throughout the state of
California.  The leading scientific experts in this project recommended
many important changes, of which several have been incorporated into the
settlement regarding the Trinity River fish hatchery.

The
consultation process for the HGMP for the Trinity fish hatchery under the ESA
will result in hatchery operations that promote restoring genetic viability of
wild fish.  This will further advance natural recovery of native fish
species to their historical abundance. EPIC and WELC will continue to be
engaged on crucial water and endangered species management issues on the
Trinity, Mad, and Klamath Rivers, as well as other rivers in our bioregion.

****
For more information:

http://www.wildcalifornia.org/blog/reforming-hatcheries-to-recover-wild-fish-populations/

http://www.wildcalifornia.org/blog/lawsuit-filed-to-protect-wild-coho-salmon-in-the-trinity-river-from-harmful-fish-hatchery-operations/

http://www.wildcalifornia.org/blog/epic-advocacy-secures-reforms-at-mad-river-hatchery/

****

-- 

Gary Graham Hughes
Executive Director
EPIC -- the Environmental Protection Information Center
Office: 145 G St., Suite A, Arcata, CA 95521
Tel: 707-822-7711
Skype: garygrahamhughes
Email: gary at wildcalifornia.org
Web: http://www.wildcalifornia.org

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