TACOMA, Wash. (CN) — An environmental lawsuit accusing federally-funded fish hatchery programs of contributing to the decline of threatened salmon and steelhead and endangering the orcas that prey on wild salmon ended on Thursday in a settlement that will see the closure of two Washington state fishery programs and the reduction of a third.
Wild Fish Conservancy and The Conservation Angler filed a lawsuit against the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife in April, arguing that the department’s Lower Columbia River basin hatchery programs violated the Endangered Species Act.
Now, the Washougal River winter steelhead hatchery program is set to close at the beginning of next year, according to the consent decree, which both parties filed in September and U.S. District Judge Benjamin H. Settle signed on Thursday.
The Deep River net pens coho salmon program has until April to close, and the Kalama River/Fallert Creek Chinook salmon hatchery program will limit its release to 1.9 million fish in 2025.
“WDFW is pleased to resolve this litigation,” Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Director Kelly Susewind said in a statement. “This agreement allows us to focus on conserving and recovering our salmon, steelhead, adaptively managing our hatcheries and providing sustainable fisheries.”
Under the terms of the settlement, the department must also bolster its online data disclosure practices by developing a public-facing website to provide information about each of the Mitchell Act-funded and Select Area Fisheries Enhancement hatchery programs it operates.
The Mitchell Act was enacted in 1938 to help mitigate the effect dam construction in the Columbia River Basin had on salmon and steelhead by authorizing federal funding for hatcheries, management programs and habitat restoration.
When announcing their intent to sue the department, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Clatsop County and NOAA Fisheries in January, the conservation groups cited a 2023 study that determined that — despite a $9 billion federal investment into Columbia River hatcheries and restoration efforts partially funded through the Mitchell Act — the return numbers of wild salmon and steelhead over the last 40 years have been paltry.
The settlement terms also require the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to collaborate with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife in managing impacts from Washington’s gillnet license buyback program and advancing alternative commercial fishing methods.
“The settlement agreement is a favorable outcome for at-risk wild salmon and steelhead populations in the Columbia River,” David Moskowitz, Executive Director of The Conservation Angler, said in a statement. “While we are encouraged by this positive development, we remain discouraged by our fishery management agencies’ recurring failure to comply with the [Endangered Species Act] when managing Columbia River hatcheries.”
In exchange for closing the hatchery programs and meeting the other terms, the department “denies any fault, wrongdoing or liability,” but must reimburse the conservation groups’ attorney fees.
The terms also prevent the conservation groups from suing the agencies for any violations of the Endangered Species Act that occur before the end of the year or violations caused by the number of adult hatchery fish present in the lower Columbia River tributaries through the end of 2027.