Current:Home > NewsUS promises $240 million to improve fish hatcheries, protect tribal rights in Pacific Northwest-DB Wealth Institute B2 Reviews & Ratings
US promises $240 million to improve fish hatcheries, protect tribal rights in Pacific Northwest
lotradecoin social trading platform View Date:2024-12-25 15:57:28
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The U.S. government will invest $240 million in salmon and steelhead hatcheries in the Pacific Northwest to boost declining fish populations and support the treaty-protected fishing rights of Native American tribes, officials announced Thursday.
The departments of Commerce and the Interior said there will be an initial $54 million for hatchery maintenance and modernization made available to 27 tribes in the region, which includes Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Alaska.
The hatcheries “produce the salmon that tribes need to live,” said Jennifer Quan, the regional administrator for NOAA Fisheries West Coast Region. “We are talking about food for the tribes and supporting their culture and their spirituality.”
Some of the facilities are on the brink of failure, Quan said, with a backlog of deferred maintenance that has a cost estimated at more than $1 billion.
“For instance, the roof of the Makah Tribe’s Stony Creek facility is literally a tarp. The Lummi Nation Skookum Hatchery is the only hatchery that raises spring Chinook salmon native to the recovery of our Puget Sound Chinook Salmon,” and it is falling down, Quan said.
The Columbia River Basin was once the world’s greatest salmon-producing river system, with at least 16 stocks of salmon and steelhead. Today, four are extinct and seven are listed under the Endangered Species Act. Salmon are a key part of the ecosystem, and another endangered Northwest species, a population of killer whales, depend on Chinook salmon for food.
Salmon are born in rivers and migrate long distances downstream to the ocean, where they spend most of their adult lives. They then make the difficult trip back upstream to their birthplace to spawn and die.
Columbia Basin dams have played a major part in devastating the wild fish runs, cutting off access to upstream habitat, slowing the water and sometimes allowing it to warm to temperatures that are fatal for fish.
For decades, state, federal and tribal governments have tried to supplement declining fish populations by building hatcheries to breed and hatch salmon that are later released into the wild. But multiple studies have shown that hatchery programs frequently have negative impacts on wild fish, in part by reducing genetic diversity and by increasing competition for food.
Quan acknowledged the hatcheries “come with risks” but said they can be managed to produce additional fish for harvest and even to help restore populations while minimizing risks to wild fish.
“Hatcheries have been around for a long time, and we’ve seen the damage that they can do,” Quan said.
Still the programs have gone through a course correction in recent years, following genetic management plans and the principles established by scientific review groups, she said. “We are in a different place now.”
It will take habitat restoration, improved water quality, adjustments to harvest and other steps if salmon are going to recover, but so far society has not been willing to make the needed changes for that to happen, she said. Add in the impacts of climate change, and the calculus of bad and good hatchery impacts changes further.
“We need to start having a conversation about hatcheries and how they are going to be an important adaptation tool for us moving forward,” Quan said.
Greg Ruggerone, a salmon research scientist with Natural Resources Consultants Inc. in Seattle, said the key is to determine how to better harvest hatchery salmon from rivers without harming the wild salmon that are making the same trek to spawning grounds. Robust harvests of hatchery fish will help ensure that the federal government is meeting its treaty obligations to the tribes, while reducing competition for wild fish, Ruggerone said.
“A big purpose of the hatcheries in the Pacific Northwest is to provide for harvest — especially harvest for the tribes — so there is a big opportunity if we can figure out how to harvest without harming wild salmon,” Ruggerone said.
Every hatchery in the Columbia River basin was built to mitigate the effects of the hydropower dams built in the region, said Becky Johnson, the production division director for the Nez Perce Tribe’s Department of Fisheries Resource Management.
Most were built in the 1960s, 1970s or earlier, she said.
“I’m super excited about this opportunity. Tribal and non-tribal people benefit from them — more salmon coming back to the basin means more salmon for everyone,” Johnson said. “It’s critical that we have fish and that the tribal people have food. Tribal members will tell you they’re fighting hard to continue to hang on to fish, and they’re never going to stop that fight.”
veryGood! (55)
Related
- Collin Gosselin claims he was discharged from Marines due to institutionalization by mom Kate
- Immigration issues sorted, Guatemala runner Luis Grijalva can now focus solely on sports
- Kehlani Responds to Hurtful Accusation She’s in a Cult
- Tropical rains flood homes in an inland Georgia neighborhood for the second time since 2016
- Usher concert postponed hours before tour opener in Atlanta
- How breaking emerged from battles in the burning Bronx to the Paris Olympics stage
- Olympic women's basketball bracket: Schedule, results, Team USA's path to gold
- Charges: D'Vontaye Mitchell died after being held down for about 9 minutes
- Usher concert postponed hours before tour opener in Atlanta
- Paris Olympics live updates: Quincy Hall wins 400m thriller; USA women's hoops in action
Ranking
- US unemployment claims fall 7,000 to 227,000 in sign of resiliency in job market
- Kehlani Responds to Hurtful Accusation She’s in a Cult
- Michigan lawmaker who was arrested in June loses reelection bid in Republican primary
- Clay Aiken's son Parker, 15, makes his TV debut, looks like his father's twin
- New York county signs controversial mask ban meant to hide people's identities in public
- NCAA hands former Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh a 4-year show cause order for recruiting violations
- Illinois Gov. Pritzker calls for sheriff to resign after Sonya Massey shooting
- Family of explorer who died in the Titan sub implosion seeks $50M-plus in wrongful death lawsuit
Recommendation
-
Proposal to allow local police to make arrests near Arizona border with Mexico will appear on ballot
-
Blake Lively’s Inner Circle Shares Rare Insight on Her Life as a Mom to 4 Kids
-
Jay Kanter, veteran Hollywood producer and Marlon Brando agent, dies at 97: Reports
-
Judge says Mexican ex-official tried to bribe inmates in a bid for new US drug trial
-
State, local officials failed 12-year-old Pennsylvania girl who died after abuse, lawsuits say
-
British swimmer Adam Peaty: There are worms in the food at Paris Olympic Village
-
The 'Rebel Ridge' trailer is here: Get an exclusive first look at Netflix movie
-
What polling shows about Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris’ new running mate