Thousands of smolts escape from hatchery
By Terry Murry on Sunday, February 6th, 2022 in Columbia Basin News Columbia Basin Top Stories
OLYMPIA – The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife reports nearly 250,000 steelhead smolts were recently lost at the Lyons Ferry Hatchery in Starbuck due to an equipment failure. Failure in a rotating screen system and rubber gasket meant to retain fish within a rearing pond allowed smolts to escape and make their way into the mainstream Snake River.
Hatchery employees are pursuing better-engineered equipment and will implement increased equipment checks going forward to prevent a similar loss in the future.
This loss accounts for about 64 percent of the hatchery’s Wallowa stock steelhead production for release this year, but less than eight percent of the overall hatchery steelhead production in the Snake River basin. The gasket, which operates under about six feet of water and isn’t readily visible without drawing down the rearing pond, was found to have deteriorated, leaving a 1.5-inch gap between the pond outlet and the rotating screen.
Due to the gap, the fish escaped the rearing pond into the Snake River. Prior routine assessments to the rotating screen and gasket area did not indicate equipment failure or any fish losses. The failed gasket was serviced annually and had been installed in August 2021 prior to watering up the pond and populating it with steelhead fingerlings.
