President Message
State Board Presidents Message for November.
Chapters,
Below is the explanation that we were talking through on the unclipped fish in the south south at the lase4st state board meeting.
They are a springer fish that are getting very rare in the Puget Sound and the only springer in the South Sound. When we started working with our local hatchery in Edmonds, I enquired about using Chinook instead of Coho and it was hands off. Especially spring kings. These fish are highly protected. So please read the letter from WDFW's Jim Scott and special thanks to Dave Johnson for Bird Dogging this info for us. As previous past away Seve Theisfeldt WDFW Salmon manager, used to say that "salmon is not rocket science. Its much harder." I believe that.
Thanks
Ron Garner
Minter Creek
Date:
2026-10-29 12:09 pm
From:
"Scott, James B (DFW)" <James.Scott@dfw.wa.gov>
Here is some information on the White River Spring Chinook hatchery programs. Sorry for the delay – took a bit longer than I would have hoped to track down some of the details.
The Minter-Hupp program is one component of the White River Spring Chinook hatchery programs that are co-managed by WDFW (Minter-Hupp facilities and acclimation ponds), the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe (White River Hatchery and acclimation ponds), and the Puyallup Indian Tribe (acclimation ponds). The Minter-Hupp program has evolved through discussions with the tribal co-managers and with the advent of funding to support the hatchery production of prey for Southern Resident Killer Whales. The current Minter-Hupp program objectives are: 1) increase prey for ESA-listed Southern Resident Killer Whales (SRKW); 2) maintain a "fail-safe" gene pool for White River Spring Chinook (WRSC) salmon recovery efforts; and 3) provide fishing opportunities for Treaty and non-Treaty fisheries.
A bit of context for WRSC. As you probably know, NOAA has identified WRSC as essential for recovery because of their unique genetic and biological characteristics. Probably most importantly, they are the only remaining spring Chinook run in south Puget Sound. WRSC were brought back from the verge of extinction (less than 20 fish per year in early 1980s) through the development of a conservation hatchery program and other management measures. Because of the importance of WRSC to the conservation and recovery of Puget Sound Chinook, NOAA intensively scrutinizes any proposed hatchery and fishery management actions.
The "fail-safe" objective (objective 2) of the hatchery program at Minter-Hupp has proved to be indispensable in the last two years (2025 and 2026). The Muckleshoot Indian Tribe was unable to collect sufficient eggs to fully support the acclimation ponds in those years. That would have been problematic given the importance of the hatchery programs to maintaining this "essential" stock. To fill the gap, in 2025 and 2026 (planned), 350-400K green eggs from the Minter Creek Hatchery were incubated and reared at the Puyallup Hatchery prior to the transport of juveniles to the acclimation ponds in the upper White River. That was in addition to maintaining a target on-station release of 500K.
Here are the details for each year:
Minter 2025 Brood Year (White River stock), On-Station Release
Green egg: 660,100 (200 pair, includes 20 males from White River Hatchery)
Adjusted live eggtake: 522,586
Minter 2025 Brood Year (White River stock), Support for Acclimation Ponds
Green eggs: 384,832 (112 pair)
Live eggs shipped to Puyallup Hatchery from Minter: 215,933
Minter 2026 Brood Year (White River stock), On-Station Release
Green eggs: 616,514 ( 201 pair, includes 20 males from WR Hatchery)
Adjusted egg take: Last take will be shocked and picked 10/26/27
Minter 2026 Brood Year (White River stock), Support for Acclimation Ponds
Green eggs: 343,504 (112 pair)
Live eggs shipped to Puyallup Hatchery from Minter: estimated ship date 11/3/26
Let me know if you have any further questions. I have also cc'd Eric Kinne, Hatchery Division Manager, who has a wealth of knowledge regarding hatchery programs throughout the state.
Jim
· Ron Garner President PSA