Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife seeks to improve fish hatcheries

SALEM, Ore. – The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) hosted a public meeting Thursday addressing the current problems plaguing Oregon’s fish hatcheries.

ODFW Deputy Administrator Shaun Clements says hatcheries serve an important purpose, and provide social, economic, and cultural benefits to Oregonians. Hatcheries also play a significant role in re-establishing declining fish populations. But climate change, aging hatchery infrastructure, and increasing costs are making it difficult to reach fishery and conservation goals.

Clements says the main priorities of ODFW are investing in hatchery infrastructure and collaborating with community members for more solutions.

“These hatcheries produce about 35 million salmon steelhead a year and about 5 million trout. Hatcheries are an incredibly important source for harvest opportunity, constituting about 70% of the harvested fish in Oregon,” Clements said.

As part of an established timeline ODFW will conduct a webinar series in August, as well as more public meetings and a report to the state legislature by early 2025.