PORTLAND — The Wild Fish Conservancy has withdrawn its motion for an injunction against the National Marine Fisheries Service, clearing the way for the federal agency to release $11.3 million to Washington and Oregon to fund Columbia River salmon and steelhead hatcheries.
The conservation group filed a complaint in March 2016 in U.S. District Court alleging NMFS funded the hatchery programs without completing procedures required by the Endangered Species Act and National Environmental Policy Act.
Rob Jones, chief for anadromous production and inland fisheries for NMFS West Coast Region, said the agency formalized the procedural steps effective Jan. 15. The Wild Fish Conservancy withdrew its motion on Jan. 29.
At issue were the Mitchell Act hatcheries.
The Mitchell Act was passed by Congress in 1938 and pays for hatchery operations as partial compensation for losses caused by the Columbia River dams.
Most of the hatcheries are operated by the Washington or Oregon departments of Fish and Wildlife.
The two state agencies have been operating the hatcheries with state dollars. However, Washington now has access to $5.5 million in Mitchell Act funding and Oregon has access to $5.8 million, Jones said.
NMFS announced in December its plan for a wide variety of changes proposed for the operation of lower Columbia River hatcheries and their releases of fall chinook, coho and steelhead.
In summary, the changes would result in a moderate reduction in fall chinook production, shift some coho from the lower Columbia River to central Washington and tweak winter and summer steelhead stocks primarily in Southwest Washington streams.
The changes are projected to lessen the sport catch in the Buoy 10 fishery at the Columbia River mouth by about 6 percent. The cut in the catch between Tongue Point and the Lewis River was projected to be 4 percent, and 1 percent between the Lewis River and Bonneville Dam.
The changes will be phased in, starting with young fish produced by 2017 spawning parents and completed by 2022.
