Factors that contribute to the ecological risks of salmon and steelhead hatchery programs and some mitigating strategies |
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Authors: | Kathryn Kostow |
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Institution: | (1) Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, 17330 SE Evelyn St., Clackamas, OR 97015, USA |
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Abstract: | State and federal agencies in the United States annually release millions of hatchery salmon and steelhead into public waters.
Many of the hatchery programs are located in areas where the wild populations are now listed under the U.S. Endangered Species
Act (ESA) (16 U.S.C. §§ 1531–1544). These hatchery programs pose genetic and ecological risks to wild fish populations. Genetic
risks occur when hatchery and wild fish interbreed and usually occur within a taxonomic species. Ecological risks occur when
the presence of hatchery fish affects how wild fish interact with their environment or with other species and may affect whole
species assemblages. This paper reviews some of the factors that contribute to ecological risks. Important contributing factors
include the relative abundance of hatchery and wild fish in natural production areas, hatchery programs that increase density-dependant
mortality, residual hatchery fish, some physical advantages that hatchery fish can have over wild fish, and life history characteristics
that may make some species especially vulnerable to the effects of ecological risks. Many of these risk factors can be mitigated
by management activities that reduce the level of interactions between hatchery and wild fish. This paper concludes by recommending
twelve mitigation strategies that may be useful when agencies need to bring hatchery programs into compliance with the take
provisions of the ESA. |
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Keywords: | Salmon Steelhead Hatchery Ecology Risk |
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