“Deficient methods and limited presentation of results are followed by sweeping conclusions that are not well supported. The scientific data presented in this study is insufficient to reach broad conclusions regarding the reproductive success of hatchery reared fish,” said Shawn Narum, manager of the Hagerman Fish Culture Experiment Station, a joint project of the University of Idaho and the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission.

Tribal programs in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho utilize artificial propagation at hatcheries along with habitat improvements as the primary means of restoring naturally spawning salmon populations throughout the Columbia Basin.

Reports of the study, published June 10 in Biology Letters, claim that the offspring of spawned hatchery fish and hatchery-reared steelhead that breed with wild fish have lower reproductive success than their wild counterparts. The report also notes that this finding could have significant effects on recovery management.

“Supplementation of native populations to increase spawning numbers is a cornerstone to the tribes’ recovery efforts,” said N. Kathryn Brigham, chair of CRITFC. “Our success at restoring Umatilla River Chinook, coho and steelhead are examples of where these techniques have worked. We pride ourselves in creating hatchery programs that are designed to minimize impacts to wild populations while increasing their abundance in areas that were devastated by destruction of rearing and migration habitat.”

The tribes have been on the cutting edge of hatchery supplementation for years. In the 80’s and 90’s spring Chinook in the Yakima River numbered around 2000 fish. After the Yakama Nation began its supplementation program, this run peaked in 2001 at 21,000 fish. Since then, over 5,000 spring Chinook return a year as a result of the Yakama Nation’s supplementation. In the Clearwater River, the Nez Perce Tribe has restored a healthy run of coho that was declared extinct in 1984.

“These science reports seem to be simply a new mask for an old policy that said upriver salmon restoration was impossible and too expensive. Our science and culture says salmon recovery is possible and we are proving it,” said Brigham.