By Joe Durham
The Wynoochee River is an important steelhead and salmon-producing river that draws fishers from all over the region. Nearly 50 years ago, in 1971, a dam was completed on the upper river to provide flood control and an industrial water supply for the pulp mills in Cosmopolis and Hoquiam, and fresh clean water to the Aberdeen Lake Hatchery. Mitigation for the loss of spawning grounds was planned in the form of hatchery supplementation of steelhead with a required number of wild coho to return to the base of the dam.
The initial mitigation plan had not been implemented by the time a revision was made to produce hydro power at the dam in 1993. At that time, the mitigation plan had major revisions due to funding changes. It included raising 55,700 coho smolts and an additional 25,000 steelhead smolts at the Aberdeen Lake Hatchery plus equipment to handle and transport fish. Tacoma Power operates the generators and contributed $1 million to a mitigation fund. That fund has grown to about $2.5 million over the past 25 years as nothing has been done to implement the plan! This loss of fishing opportunity amounts to an extraordinary financial loss to the Grays Harbor community.
There have been three local fishermen who have tried to shepherd this project to completion. They have mountains of paperwork and 25 years of trying to get the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to get this project done. Many recreation and conservation groups have also supported this group in their efforts.
The most recent plan was developed in 2015 and included doubling the smolt production in the prior plan. The WDFW intended to meet with the Quinault Indian Nation to finalize the plan but so far, any activity is a mystery.
The advocate group has raised this issue at Wildlife Commission meetings and has witnessed the commission directing the standing WDFW Director to get this project done. Yet nothing more than excuses and finger pointing happens. There seems to be no accountability in the department for this abject failure to mitigate the fishery losses.
Through the years WDFW has stated they are our spokespeople with all other co-managers. The three advocates for the fishing communities within the Chehalis System have put trust in Region Six Fish Managers. Nothing positive has happened.
If any of you — the public fishers, commercial, recreational or tribal fishers — have any concern, we urge you to contact Region 6 fish program managers, the director of WDFW, your elected legislators and the wildlife commission, and express your concerns that for 25 years user groups have been shortchanged of fishing opportunities. This project is funded and just needs priority by WDFW to make it happen. Your voice could help get their attention.
Joe Durham lives in Aberdeen and has been working as a sport- fishing advocate for many years.
