July 9, 2019 — Tens of millions of salmon spawned and raised in hatcheries are released into waterways like the Columbia River every year.
The goal is to increase the numbers of the endangered fish. It is no doubt an important effort. But some wonder if this tinkering with Mother Nature could be harming wild salmon.
Scientists with NOAA Fisheries spent the first part of the summer along the Columbia River in Kalama and are hoping to answer that question.
They collected samples of juvenile chinook salmon. Some were wild, spawned in natural waterways. Others were spawned in hatcheries like Fallert Creek, just a few miles up the Kalama River.
In May, the hatchery released close to two million juvenile salmon into the area.
So, why are these scientists now scooping some of them up?
“With the input of all the hatchery fish coming in, we’re not quite sure where that leaves the wild stocks,” said Regan McNatte, a NOAA Research Fisheries biologist.
Simply put, they want to find out once and for all if the hatchery-raised fish are hurting the wild salmon in this area by competing too much with them for things like food and habitat.