Why has the broodstock goal at pahsimeroi gone from 600 to 474??? Last year the brood goal at sawtooth went from 700 to 900 this year back to 700??? Why is the broodstock goals at all Idaho hatcherys not every last salmon that swims in to traps? Dump all the excess that there is not room for rearing in the rivers as eyed eggs??
Answer:
Broodstock goals for the adipose-clipped portion of the production (the fish that sport anglers can harvest when they return) sometimes change from one year to the next because of other changes in rearing space at the hatcheries or other rearing programs that also are occurring. At Pahsimeroi Hatchery more rearing space is needed this year for a program to supplement and rebuild the natural population that spawns above the weir. Over all the programs, the same number of adults are required for spawning because the hatchery can only rear a total of one million smolts. As smolt production in one program increases more adults are need for brood in that program, but brood need decreases in the other program since the total number of smolts that can be produced stays the same. At Sawtooth Hatchery, the increase in the brood need from 2012 to 2013 was a result of bringing another pump on line to provide more water to the hatchery. The additional water resulted in an increase in rearing capacity at the hatchery and the ability to rear more smolts resulted in the need for more adults for brood. The reduction from 900 in 2013 to 800 (800 is the correct brood number for 2014 at Sawtooth) was because of the need for more space for the supplementation and natural stock rebuilding program there.
For fish that return to a hatchery weir, most natural origin fish are passed upstream to spawn naturally. If the sport and tribal fisheries downstream of the weirs are successful at catching the hatchery fish they are targeting, there are very few fish that are excess to brood needs at the weirs. Putting eyed eggs in the streams has proven unsuccessful in the past. The returning adult hatchery fish are most valuable to everyone if they are harvested in a fishery or used as brood for fish reared to smolts in the hatchery so they can be released to support future fisheries. Each year, after brood needs at the hatcheries are determined, the sport and tribal fisheries are managed to catch the returning hatchery fish that aren't need for brood.
Answered on:
Wednesday, July 30, 2014 - 4:45 PM MDT