SPOrT FISHIng regulaTIOnS - Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife

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OREGON HATCHERY RESEARCH CENTER
Balancing the use
of hatchery fish with
conservation.
Since 2005, researchers at the Oregon
Hatchery Research Center have been
studying ways to help minimize the effect
hatchery salmon, steelhead and trout can
have on wild fish populations while still
providing for healthy fisheries.
Some of the studies undertaken and research
questions addressed by OHRC scientists have
included:
n Knowing the extent to which fish rely
on chemical imprinting and the earth’s
magnetic field to navigate the oceans
and return to spawn could help us
manage hatchery programs to reduce
interactions with wild fish, especially on
the spawning beds.
n Many young salmon and steelhead smolts
don’t survive the migration from freshwater
to the ocean. By tagging and tracking
individual fish to learn specific causes
of mortality, managers may be able to
produce and release hatchery fish that
better survive them.
n Researchers continue to study the question
of whether hatchery fish should be different
from or similar to wild fish. The answers
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
could determine
whether wild
or hatchery
broodstocks are
best-suited for specific water bodies.
n By evaluating better ways to produce
sterile, triploid trout, scientists at OHRC have
given fishery managers new options for
producing great fishing opportunities with
little impact on wild fish and other animals.
The Oregon Hatchery Research Center
is a cooporative effort between the
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
and the Oregon State University.
For more information on any of these topics please visit
our website at www.dfw.state.or.us/OHRC/
Text highlighted in blue is new or changed from 2012