Weir and Hatchery Reform

The Hatchery Scientific Review Group (HSRG) has studied 178 salmon and steelhead hatchery programs in the Columbia River basin, along with 351 counterpart natural populations. The group's mandate from Congress was to recommend ways for hatcheries to help conserve wild populations and to support sustainable fisheries.

One of the HSRG's primary recommendations is the use of weirs to regulate hatchery origin fish access to spawning grounds.

Weirs and other hatchery reform tools will improve reproductive fitness of natural salmon and steelhead populations and also increase the benefit of habitat restoration by providing more successful adult fish to occupy the habitat.

Hatchery Reform Report

Here are some specific weir related excerpts from, "Report to Congress on Columbia River Basin Hatchery Reform", Hatchery Scientific Review Group, February 2009. (Download the full report here [PDF])

"Recognizing that weirs and traps have a legitimate role in controlling hatchery strays that could affect naturally spawning populations, the HSRG encourages the use of low impact weirs that have minimal effect on natural populations and their habitats."

"The HSRG's analysis showed that both conservation goals and harvest goals could be met with an appropriate combination of reduced hatchery production, selective harvest of hatchery fish, and/or selective removal of hatchery adults with tributary traps or weirs."

"For segregated programs, the number of hatchery-origin fish spawning naturally will need to be limited, in some cases through the use of weirs or a combination of weirs and selective harvest."