Fall salmon run lowest in years

The number of fall Chinook salmon returning to the Elochoman Fish Hatchery this fall was one of the lowest in recent years.

Aaron Roberts, regional hatchery complex manager, reported the hatchery took 849 fall Chinook and allowed about another 85 to spawn naturally.

Last year, the hatchery crew spawned 1,023 and released 185. The number has been decreasing over the past seven years; in 2001, the hatchery spawned 3,791 fish and released 1,860.

“That was a really big run,” Roberts said. "This year's run was predicted to be low."

The quantity of returning salmon typically runs in a wave-like pattern with peaks and troughs, Roberts said. The run of 2001 was likely a peak, and the 2007 run was likely the trough, he said.

Each run of each species is different, and runs at each hatchery are also different, he added. For example, salmon raised at the Elochoman hatchery are designed to be caught by commercial and sport fishers in the Columbia and at Buoy 10 fisheries.

Chinook spawned at the Grays River hatchery, which is funded from a different program than the Elochoman, are raised in net pens in Deep River for a commercial terminal fishery.

Other factors affect run size, Roberts said. These include environmental conditions in the Elochoman, estuary and ocean; predation, and sport and commercial harvest.

Here are the recent returns for the Elochoman Hatchery:

Fall

Chinook

Early Silver

Late

Silver

Winter

Steelhead

2007

849/85*

1200

1000

not yet complete

2006

1023/185

2720

761

668

2005

1311/240

2811

770

372

2004

1415/756

5124

1024

878

2003

1728/1317

7738

2800

247

2002

1978/777

7952

4071

3779**

2001

3791/1860

11618

7404

309

2000

1753/557

6851

4525

not available

Source: Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife

*Figures represent number spawned and number released.

** Spike comes from mass release of steelhead two years earlier at closure of Beaver Creek Hatchery.

For more information on the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife hatchery program, see its website: http://wdfw.wa.gov/hat/hat-main.htm