Columbia Basin Efforts to Integrate/Standardize Hatchery Evaluations

For over a century, stocking of hatchery-produced salmon has been used in an attempt to augment the number salmon and steelhead available for harvest in the Pacific Northwest commercial, sport and tribal fisheries, and more recently as a means to rebuild the abundance of depressed wild populations (supplementation).  However, the benefits and potential for deleterious effects of hatchery actions on natural populations are critical uncertainties relative to the use of hatcheries for achieving management goals.  A three-pronged approach has been developed to monitor and evaluate hatcheries in the Columbia River basin.  The approach involves, 1) an investigation of the long-term trends in the abundance and productivity of supplemented populations relative to un-supplemented populations, 2) conducting a series of relative reproductive success studies to quantify short-term impacts, and 3) implementation of intensive studies designed to elucidate various biological mechanisms by which introduction of hatchery-produced fish may influence natural population productivity and diversity. A regional framework aims to standardize and integrate hatchery monitoring and evaluation programs for regional evaluations (Beasley et al 2008; http://www.cbfwa.org/csmep/web/documents/general/Documents/FINAL%20REPORT%20AHSWG.pdf).  The framework contains standardized performance measures (and associated definitions) and a description of monitoring and evaluation intensities (implementation and compliance, effectiveness, and uncertainty research) to be considered for individual programs.