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200 Fish stolen from Leavenworth Hatchery.


Tom_Sjolseth

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I apologize if this has already been posted...

 

http://www.komotv.com/stories/43883.htm

 

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Salmon Theft Deals Blow To Fisherman, Biologists

 

June 12, 2006

 

By KOMO Staff

 

 

 

 

LEAVENWORTH - In one night, an entire fishing season was gone.

 

About 200 adult spring chinook weighing about 15 pounds each were stolen from the national fish hatchery in Leavenworth.

 

The theft will effect sport fisherman, river guides, biologists, and the salmon population itself.

 

"It's really devastating," said Corky Broaddus, Executive Director of the hatchery.

 

The thieves slipped into the Leavenworth hatchery late Friday night and made off with nearly 3,000 pounds of salmon.

 

"We're pretty bummed," said Broaddus. "It's not an easy thing to be part of, and to the guys and gals that work here, these are their babies."

 

Leavenworth's hatchery is one of the most successful in the country. Every year salmon return to their hatchery birth place - a 500-mile swim.

 

Travis Collier is a biologist at the hatchery and described the journey each salmon makes when it returns to spawn: "Coming from the ocean, up the Columbia River, through the hydro systems, into the Wenatchee River and then here into the Icicle River."

 

The hatchery's goal is to keep fish in river. To do that fish biologist need 1,000 fish to return to the hatchery every year.

 

With a fifth of the fish stolen and half of them females, at least 350,000 salmon eggs are gone too. The loss means no fishing.

 

The Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife on Monday announced that it would halt all chinook salmon sport fishing on the Icicle River near the hatchery starting June 14.

 

"There's a great economical hit," Broaddus said of the fishing closure.

 

Bob Stroup is an avid sport fisherman and has been fishing since he was a kid. "I'm really bitter inside," he said.

 

In one night, every fishing charter and river guide in the area lost their fishing season, meaning a loss of thousands of dollars in business.

 

"We have guys that are practically in tears over this whole thing," Stroup said. "It's a shockwave."

 

The state may allow fishing to resume when enough salmon are caught to replace the stolen broodstock.

 

The thieves came in the middle of the night. They used an open road that leads to the back of the hatchery building and broke through a pad-locked fence in what appears to be an elaborate and well-planned operation. No one saw a thing.

 

The thieves used mesh panels to trap the salmon in their hatchery pond and then used a piece of metal fencing to push the salmon into an area where they could be collected.

 

"I hope they're caught," said Stroup. "And if they're not caught, I hope they don't sleep at night."

 

There is a way for the public to help. If you buy a salmon, and the fin on the salmon's back has been cut, then you likely have a hatchery fish. That's how hatchery biologists track the salmon. Or, if you filet a salmon, and find a small tracking device in the stomach cavity, call the Leavenworth hatchery.

 

 

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Farmed fish. Stolen. Where to begin, Man.... boxing_smiley.gif

 

Friends don't let friends eat farmed fish

 

This would never happen with wild salmon, farms get fucked with: old story...

 

 

EDIT: The stolen fish were brood stock. I was a little fuzzy on pain meds when I read this last night. See below for an explanation of hatchery fish versus farmed fish.

Edited by marylou
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Farmed fish. Stolen. Where to begin, Man.... boxing_smiley.gif

 

Friends don't let friends eat farmed fish

 

This would never happen with wild salmon, farms get fucked with: old story...

 

Poaching, overfishing, dams...

 

etc, etc, ad nauseum rolleyes.gif

 

Hatchery fish aren't farmed fish. These fish spawn in the hatchery but live their lives in the wild. The only place they farmed salmon is in saltwater. Maybe you should at least sorta know what you're talking about before you get on your soapbox.

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Farmed fish. Stolen. Where to begin, Man.... boxing_smiley.gif

 

Friends don't let friends eat farmed fish

 

This would never happen with wild salmon, farms get fucked with: old story...

 

Poaching, overfishing, dams...

 

etc, etc, ad nauseum rolleyes.gif

 

Unfortunately, here in reality, the farmed fish are an important part of bringing a decimated species back to healthy numbers. I certainly stick to eating wild salmon, but still, this sucks awful.

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Dude, you are likewise one misinformed human. Farmed seafood is a purely for profit industry that is bad for the environment and ecosystem and produces a tasteless disgusting product. HATCHERY fish rearing, on the other hand, is a state (Fish and Wildlife)action that supplements and substitutes the natural process of fish spawning because of the decimation of natural fish populations due to destruction of spawning habitat, water quality, dams, and fishing.

 

Natural salmon runs still exist in Washington, but most purely natural runs are gone from Washingtons rivers and are completely dependant on hatcheries for their existence.

 

Farmed salmon operations are primarily located in the Washington and BC coastal areas (primarily BC because Canada has less strict enviro reg's). This process involves huge holding pens for growing east-coast salmon, a completley different species. Farmed fish is bad because the high concentrations of fish food and fish shit fuck up the water quality and because these fish escape and may breed with native salmon fucking up the genetics.

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I have read that it is really unlikely that atlantic salmon will breed with pacific. the problem is that escapees compete with native fish for limited spawning habitat (Fleming et al., 2000.) there are other problems associated with salmon aquiculture such as but not limited to the huge amounts of antibiotics involved, the ridiculous amount of fishmeal and oil necessary to feed the fuckers, spreading pathogens to native fish passing near pens etc...

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poached salmon.

 

1/4 c. olive oil

2 cloves sliced garlic

3/4 c. white wine

1 can (10 1/2 oz.) chicken broth

Pepper to taste

1 tsp. parsley

200 salmon

 

Saute in large skillet olive oil and garlic. Add white wine and cover until it stops spitting. Cook 6 minutes covered. Add chicken broth, pepper and parsley and cook 6 minutes. Put in salmon, cover, and cook 6 minutes each side.

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