Today the National Marine Fisheries Service (or NOAA Fisheries) issued its hatchery policy, listing determinations for 16 populations of salmon in the West, and an extension on determinations for the Oregon coastal coho and 10 populations of West Coast steelhead. Under this new hatchery policy, the federal fish agency will treat fish spawned and reared in a concrete hatchery raceway the same as a fish spawned and reared in a real stream.

The California Hydropower Reform Coalition and Pacific Northwest region of the Hydropower Reform Coalition submitted comments this Friday, November 12, 2004 on the National Marine Fisheries Service's proposed hatchery policy.

The policy proposes to consider hatchery fish the same as wild fish under Endangered Species Act protections, and will downgrade the quality of protection measures for endangered fish in the hydropower licensing process.

You may have seen our billboards up in Sacramento (on I-80 East near Leisuretown), Seattle (corner of 4th and Cherry), and Portland (corner of Burnside and NW 22nd).

Whether or not you've seen the billboards, you should visit the Why Wild website to learn:

• Why wild salmon are special and important
• Why a proposed federal hatchery policy does not protect wild salmon
• What you can to restore protections to wild salmon.

See Trout Unlimited's blueprint for 21st century hatchery reform.

Statement on Federal Salmon Hatchery Policy

4/29/2004 - Washington - North America' s largest trout and salmon organization, Trout Unlimited (TU), today criticized a proposal by the federal government to count hatchery fish in determining whether to protect salmon and steelhead under the Endangered Species Act.