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Snafu results in death of 390,000 hatchery-raised salmon

Category: article

 Apr 1st, 2019 by Keith Worrall  270

Modified Apr 1st, 2019 at 10:34 AM

An oversight at the Coleman National Fish Hatchery resulted in the death of some 390,000 fall Chinook salmon this week.

Water was shut off to one of the hatchery’s raceways and wasn’t turned back on during fish-tagging operations Thursday night, according to Brett Galyean, the project leader at the Coleman National Fish Hatchery Complex east of Anderson.

“It is an unfortunate mistake and the hatchery has already made adjustments in the hatchery procedures to reduce the likelihood of this happening again,” Galyean said via email Saturday.

Read More: Snafu results in death of 390,000 hatchery-raised salmon

A late-fall chinook salmon returning to Coleman National Fish Hatchery. (Photo: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)