Projects and Research
There's more to our hatchery than meets the eye! We aim to restore and support native fish populations. Read about our projects with coho, steelhead, and spring Chinook.
We support the Yakama Nation in rebuilding populations of coho salmon. Their vision is "to re-establish naturally spawning coho populations in mid-Columbia tributaries to biologically sustainable levels which provide significant harvest in most years."
Coho salmon are native to the Columbia River and were once found through the river system. But populations were decimated in...
Our hatchery was built to compensate for lost natural fish production caused by the construction of the Grand Coulee Dam. The population of spring Chinook native to our mid-Columbia River is listed under the Endangered Species Act, partially due to dam construction. We aim to supplement the population so that there are some fish available for harvest. Douglas County Public Utility...
The Winthrop NFH steelhead program is an integrated recovery hatchery program. This means it aims to boost abundance of natural spawning by using wild adults and allowing most of their offspring to spawn in the wild. Both the hatchery and wild fish are considered to be part of the same Upper Columbia population. Both are listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
Program...