Creating a Sanctuary for Wild Steelhead Trout Through Hatchery Operations

The Deschutes River basin in north-central Oregon supports a wild population of threatened summer steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss). The basin has seen large increases in the number of out-of-basin stray hatchery steelhead in recent years. Since 1987, hatchery strays have accounted for over 50% of the total steelhead returns to the Warm Springs River, a major tributary of the Deschutes River. While the large numbers of stray hatchery steelhead have contributed to making the Deschutes River one of Oregon’s premier summer steelhead fishing streams, the impact of hatchery strays on the wild steelhead population is a concern for fishery managers. Warm Springs National Fish Hatchery, located on the Warm Springs River, is cooperatively managed with the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon to produce spring Chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha) for harvest while protecting the indigenous fish populations in the river. To preserve the genetic integrity of wild steelhead populations, the hatchery is operated to allow only wild, unmarked steelhead upriver into the major steelhead spawning areas. The management and operation of the hatchery since its inception has created the only wild steelhead sanctuary in the Deschutes River basin