LITTLE BOSTON (Sept. 20, 2005) – The Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe is conducting two projects to better understand how hatchery coho salmon return to Port Gamble Bay and nearby Hood Canal streams.
“We want to really know what is truly happening with these hatchery coho populations; when they return, where they are going, and how they affect other salmon stocks,” said Cindy Gray, finfish manager for the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe. The tribe rears a hatchery coho stock from the Quilcene National Fish Hatchery at the Port Gamble Bay Net Pens.
To find out exactly what those fish are doing, the tribe is combining information from a Port Gamble Bay test fishery with a new genetic study. Coupling information from the two projects will help the tribe determine the best way to manage hatchery coho salmon fisheries with minimal risks to wild salmon stocks.