Yesterday, Caddis Fly Shop Owner Chris Daughters’ Op-Ed ran in the Register-Guard, in support of the McKenzie Flyfishers and Steamboaters lawsuit, filed earlier this month regarding hatchery spring chinook on the McKenzie River.
An excerpt of the column is here:
The state Department of Fish and Wildlife claims that its No. 1 priority is to maintain and improve wild spring chinook salmon in the McKenzie. However, you might be surprised to learn that in the years since the listing of the wild spring chinook as threatened, the department has continued hatchery operations that harm wild spring chinook without an open, public assessment of how its hatcheries are run.
Each year, the department breeds and releases more than 1 million hatchery-raised chinook salmon into the McKenzie. But for at least a decade, fish biologists — including those within the department — have noted that hatchery fish have harmful effects on the survival of wild fish.
Read the piece and comment on the blog or the RG site. And thanks for your support of wild, native fish.
Chris;
Thank you so much for speaking up yet again. As the grandfather of three with another on the way, you pretty much said word for word what I wish I had said.
If my future generations are to have native wild stocks left, it’ll be because of those who have spoken up and questioned current operation policies within ODFW.
Again, thank you.
Moon
+1 to Moon’s comments. Thank you, Chris.