ROGUE RIVER, Ore. -- The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife concluded that hundreds of thousands of fry were accidentally killed at the Cole Rivers Hatchery.
ODFW concluded an employee accidentally treated fry at the hatchery, which killed them.
“To be clear about it, our release goal is about 220,000 smelts," said Meghan Dugan, public affairs specialist with ODFW. "We have more eggs on hand to cover and meet production goals based on loss in incubation and rearing due to water quality issues.”
ODFW says these kinds of accidents rarely occur but is working on solutions to ensure this doesn't happen again.
“One of the options that we’re looking at is to stop treating the eggs sooner, or putting some type of physical barrier on top of the egg tray stacks to prevent any treatment once those eggs hatch and then we’re going to be brainstorming some other ideas.”
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has concluded an investigation into a fish kill at Cole Rivers Hatchery, which will affect fish levels at fisheries in the Rogue and Coos rivers.
The hatchery is owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers but is run by ODFW. Dugan said than since April of 2021, the hatchery has been powered by generators. This means water heaters can't be used and Dugan said it's impacting the fish.
“That impacts growth rates for some production groups and it affects our ability to meet size and release goals," Dugan said. "That means we want the fish to be a certain size when we’re going to release them into the river. So, it makes it a little more challenging to get a fish up to the size that we want it to get to.”
Dugan said the U.S. Army Corps is working on the issue and hopes to have it fixed by July.
