Hatchery Reform Implementation in Washington State

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has instituted a systematic hatchery reform planning and implementation process. This process has been termed the Hatchery Action Implementation Plan (HAIP). The goal is to help define, in a strategic manor, the steps needed over the next two decades to make sure that all of our hatchery facilities and the programs produced from them are operating in a manor conducive to the recovery and sustainability of natural salmon and steelhead stocks. This overarching approach is built on local, watershed-level plans that are being developed with the area co-managers.

These basin/subbasin-level plans will include: Identification of all salmon and steelhead populations, with short- and long-term objectives for the status of each population.  Population objectives will be expressed in terms of abundance, productivity, diversity, and spatial structure (i.e., viable salmonid population (VSP) parameters) developed in the context of the role of the population in achieving conservation goals at larger geographical scales (i.e., regional, Evolutionarily Significant Units, or Distinct Population Segments);  A list of artificial production programs with the objective for each program (i.e, conservation, fisheries, research, or educational) and a discussion of the desired economic, ecological, and cultural benefits of the artificial production program;  The broodstock management strategy (i.e., segregated or integrated) for each artificial production program and the PNI goals for these programs; The sequence of hatchery program changes and facility improvements to achieve population objectives, comply with environmental regulatory requirements, and provide sustainable fisheries

These plans will be used as supporting documentation for coordinated funding requests to implement comprehensive hatchery management, develop HGMPs, and where applicable, can be used as agreed to hatchery production plans between the state and the co-managers.