ODFW Acknowledges Bad Coquille Chinook Stocking Site Decision

Stocking young Chinook in a bad location led to the deaths of all 37,600 of the fish on an Oregon Coast slough, ODFW acknowledged in a joint statement with the Coquille Indian Tribe.

The announcement came out last Friday from new ODFW Director Debbie Colbert and tribal Chairman Brenda Meade, two and a half weeks after the dieoff came to light and three and a half weeks after the smolts were initially released on September 11.

“ODFW biologists thought Beaver Slough would support salmon. It is now clear that conditions at Beaver Slough at the time of the smolt release did not support survival,” the joint statement says, according to local reports.

Initial speculation focused on a lack of disolved oxygen in the slough. Members of the public first spotted the dead fish. The loss angered local anglers and last night there was a public meeting at the Coquille Community Building.

TV station KOBI reported that the “traditional release site” – an acclimation pond on the Coquille River – wasn’t available, so ODFW and the Coquille Tribe needed to turn the fish loose elsewhere, with the latter partners pointing towards the upper North Fork Coquille River and the former wanting to go with Beaver Slough, which dumps into the mainstem Coquille about 20 miles above the mouth at Bandon.

 “The Tribe agreed to this on a one-year trial based on ODFW’s assurances that conditions would be tested and confirmed as suitable for successful outmigration,” the statement says, according to KOBI, which added that “ODFW owns responsibility saying ‘these ultimately proved not to be the case.’”

It’s at least the second large loss of Chinook smolts on the Oregon Coast this year. In July, Joshua Heckathorn was sentenced to 30 days in jail, pay $15,000 in restitution and stay the hell away from hatcheries for purposefully poisoning 18,000 fish set to be released into the Umpqua.

Also reporting on the Coquille dieoff were KEZI and KVAL.

“An ODFW investigation remains underway. The investigation will be thorough and detailed so that we can learn from this, put safeguards in place to prevent future loss of fish, and take any other actions warranted by its findings,” reads the joint ODFW-Coquille statement, as posted by KVAL.

The two parties have been working to reduce smallmouth bass predation on young salmon in the Coquille River in recent years, implemented an emergency hatchery program, and signed a comanagement agreement.

That agreement is notably touched on near the end of last week’s joint statement:

“The Coquille Tribe-ODFW Co-management relationship has highlighted management policies where we do not have full alignment,” it states. “We are working on harmonizing our policies and goals consistent with our respective authorities. We acknowledge the challenges faced in the Coos and Coquille are unique along the Oregon coast. We have to be bold and adaptive to changing circumstances, including a changing climate. We are committed to a foundational principle of managing for abundant salmon/steelhead populations and fisheries. We will take account of new research results showing that hatchery salmonids retain adaptive capacity in the same way naturally produced fish do. We will gather and apply more data, including studying the utility of streamside incubators or ‘hatchboxes’ to support our goals in this area. New science and information must prompt reviews of old management policies and practices. We will lead.”