Trout Unlimited Scores Victory With Hatcheries Fish Decision

Kaitlin Lovell, the salmon policy coordinator for Trout Unlimited in Portland, was justifiably ecstatic about the wakeup call that was given Wednesday to the National Marine Fisheries Service and NOAA over their persistent attempts to count hatcheries steelhead as wild fish. “The group is the lead plaintiff in both suits, the first challenging allowing hatchery fish to count with wild for the purpose of listings, and the second the federal downlisting of upper Columbia steelhead. If the rulings stand, it could affect other salmon in which hatchery fish are part of the listing decisions.” With any luck, Wednesday’s decision by a federal judge in Seattle will become a precedent in future rulings regarding the inclusion of hatcheries fish in the measurement of fish population health. In the Salem, Oregon Statesman-Journal.