Wednesday March 29, 2023
Tri-City Herald —
In an attempt to boost survival, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife will use a barge next month to move about 20,000 Tucannon River spring chinook smolts through the Snake and Columbia rivers hydrosystem.
The agency also will truck the same number of smolts from the Tucannon Hatchery and release them near the river’s mouth. But most of the 130,000 juvenile spring chinook raised at the hatchery will be released from the facility, directly into the river.
Tucannon River spring chinook are part of the Snake River run that is protected as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
It is the only Snake River population wholly within the state of Washington and it has been struggling for decades. A recent report listed the population to be in crisis and poor juvenile survival is one of the main reasons.