MSI Program Manager:
Bill Heard
Auke Bay Laboratories
Alaska Fisheries Science Center, NOAA Fisheries

Ted Stevens Marine Research Institute
17109 Pt Lena Loop Rd
Juneau AK 99801
(907)789-6003
Bill.Heard@noaa.gov

According to the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC), between 4 and 6 billion juvenile salmon are released annually from hatcheries into North Pacific Ocean waters. Wild salmon, by one estimate, may produce from four to five times more juveniles, which enter the ocean each year, than are produced by hatcheries. With perhaps 25 billion young salmon leading to upwards of 1.0 million metric tons of returning adults each year, current salmon production in North Pacific Ocean waters is at or near all-time record levels, in spite of depressed runs and endangered stocks in some regions. However, with one-fifth to one-fourth of Pacific salmon production derived from hatcheries, many questions arise about potential adverse interactions between wild and hatchery fish.

The proportion of salmon production coming from artificial enhancement varies widely among North Pacific Rim countries. In Japan, for instance, hatcheries provide more than 90% of salmon production (mostly from chum salmon), while in Alaska, hatcheries produce around 30% of total salmon production (mostly from pink and chum salmon).

In the Pacific Northwest of the United States, according to a National Research Council (NRC) report (see NRCC 1996 below), more than half of the Chinook and coho salmon production comes from an extensive hatchery system that has been in operation for more than 100 years. Presently in this same region, 26 stocks of salmon and steelhead are listed either as threatened or endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA). Many factors are associated with the general decline of salmon runs and the multiple ESA listings in the Pacific Northwest. According to the NRC Report, hatcheries played a major role in the demise of wild stocks of salmon in the Pacific Northwest, particularly because of inappropriate policies such as the long-term use of hatcheries to mitigate for habitat losses such as those caused by the damming of major rivers.  

In Alaska, important issues are associated with potential interactions between salmon from wild and hatchery sources. Alaska's contemporary salmon hatchery program started in the 1970s when commercial harvests of wild stocks were at record low levels. In developing the Alaska program, several steps were taken to avoid pitfalls caused by hatcheries in the Pacific Northwest and elsewhere. For Alaska, these steps included rigorous genetics and fish health policies, restrictive broodstock programs, careful siting of hatcheries, and policies designed to conserve and protect the integrity of wild stocks. For example, most Alaska hatcheries are located at or near tidewater on non-anadromous water sources and not on rivers that are major producers of wild salmon. Alaska hatchery policies are specifically designed to supplement and help rebuild depressed fisheries, not to rebuild or interact directly with depressed wild stocks.

Nevertheless, while there are no ESA-listed stocks of salmon originating in Alaska, there is still a need to ensure that current hatchery programs do not inadvertently become a deleterious liability to Alaska's abundant healthy wild salmon stocks. Particular areas of concern include genetic dilution of wild stocks from hatchery strays, over-harvesting of weak wild stocks while targeting abundant hatchery fish, domestication, inbreeding or outbreeding depression, and loss of fitness due to hatchery breeding programs. Other issues include possible competition for food between wild and hatchery fish in nearshore estuarine nurseries and other marine waters. Therefore to address some of these concerns, considerable MSI research activity will continue to be focused on these important issues.

For more information, see

1)  Southeast Alaska Chinook salmon hatchery-wild stock interactions

2)  Prince William Sound pink salmon hatchery-wild stock interactions

Literature cited

National Research Council Committee on Protection and Management of Pacific Northwest Anadromous Salmonids. (NRCC). 1996. Upstream: salmon and society in the Pacific Northwest. National Academy Press. Washington D.C. 452 p.