Hoh River Trust – PNW Gal On The Fly

Well, for one thing, they have a huge negative impact on wild fish populations. This is why when my husband and I catch a hatchery salmon or steelhead (you can tell by the adipose fin being clipped), if at all possible, we kill and eat it.

The WSC (Wild Steelhead Coalition) has provided useful information about why hatcheries do more harm than good for wild steelhead and salmon:

“The ecological impacts of hatcheries are also increasingly being highlighted as cause for concern for wild populations. Production hatcheries release several billion hatchery salmon and steelhead each year. These fish, often larger than their wild counterparts compete for finite resources with wild fish, prey upon wild juveniles, spread disease, and attract predators. Furthermore, many of these fish will remain in freshwater and wild fish in most systems are subject to competition and predation from residualized hatchery fish.”

Read the whole article Here

There is a lot that people can do to help, but the easiest way to do your part to help save wild populations of salmon and steelhead, is by educating yourself and getting involved with organizations that have already started the dirty work for you.

To name just a few organizations that are doing their best at conservation projects:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

While we are on the topic of conservation, there is a big reason why I support clothing companies like Patagonia: THEY CARE.

“We can’t pose Patagonia as the model of a responsible company. We don’t do everything a responsible company can do, nor does anyone else we know. But we can tell you how we came to realize our environmental and social responsibilities, and then began to act on them. Like other things in human life, it began with one step that led to another.” -Yvon Chouinard and Vincent Stanley

Read about why the company that not only stands behind their quality, but also stands behind the environment that allows us to keep enjoying the outdoors: http://www.patagonia.com/us/environmentalism

Cheers~

-L.S.

My good friend, Pam Harris, shared this article with me that talks about a group that was formed, called the Hoh River Trust, to help protect the Hoh river and the wildlife that it inhabits.

Here is the part of the article that, to me, highlights the importance of why the group was formed:

“The Hoh River has been called “a last great American river.”

It is home to one of the healthiest native salmon and steelhead runs in the continental U.S., and famous for its huge trees and rain forests.

It remains untouched by dams, major river diversions or significant hatchery influence.

The Hoh River is one of the larger river systems on the Peninsula, with headwaters on Mount Olympus, then coursing almost 60 miles to the Pacific Ocean.

The first 30 miles and the mouth are protected within Olympic National Park.

And now the 26 miles outside the park are largely protected with conservation easements on state, federal and private lands as well as almost 7,000 acres owned by the Hoh River Trust.

The mission of the Hoh River Trust is to preserve and enhance lands forming a corridor along the river while maintaining public access for fishing, hunting, hiking and boating.” click here for the rest

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here has is the breakdown of what the Trust has done since it was established in 2004:

$12mm in Federal Grants for land acquisition
6,800 acres under HRT ownership
$1mm in grants for restoration projects
29 river miles protected
9 fish barriers and blockages removed
8 tributary miles opened for fish passage
533 acres of forest lands in active restoration
1.9 miles of roads decommissioned
1066 acres controlled per year for invasive plants

Source: http://www.hohrivertrust.org

For more information on the Hoh River Trust and how you can get involved:
Click Here

Category: Hoh River Trust

What’s wrong with hatcheries?

The Hoh River Trust