Wild fish may reign on Metolius River

Many expected a long, protracted argument between two sides of an ancient debate, hatchery fish versus wild fish on the Metolius River, but it didn't happen at the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife meeting held March 14 at the Camp Sherman Community Hall.

The subject under discussion was the Upper Deschutes Basin Plan, which outlines future management goals for all local waters. This has been under development for close to six years.

It recently received heavy criticism through the Metolius Wild and Scenic River planning process.

The basin plan and wild and scenic plan are supposed to dovetail, but many felt the slow-moving basin plan was never going to arrive.

In response, the basin plan was suddenly placed on extraordinarily accelerated time line. In late February it was split into three sub-basin plans for Crooked River, the Metolius and the upper Deschutes. The Crooked and Metolius portions, which were first presented to the public at the beginning of March, will be finalized when they are reviewed by Fish Commission on April 24.

The Upper Deschutes portion, which is still being written, is expected to be finalized some time in July.

At the Camp Sherman meeting, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife was trying to provide information about the Metolius and Crooked River portions of the plan and at the same time take public comment.

A majority of the meeting was spent simply explaining the details of the massive document that covers a huge area of land, from the summit of the Cascades to the top of the Ochoco divided far to the east of Prineville.

Of primary interest to most people at the meeting was the Metolius section of the plan. It presents three options for future management.

1. Manage for naturally spawned fish only with a primary emphasis on native species.

2. Manage with naturally spawned and hatchery fish while still maintaining a primary emphasis on native fish. This option would require the development of a new stock of hatchery fish specifically for the Metolius that is more compatible with native fishes.

3. Identical to option 1 except that it calls for development of an off stream pond for "kid fishing." The pond would be heavily stocked, with the goal of attracting new anglers to the sport. According to Chip Dale, Assistant Regional Fisheries Supervisor, the pond could provide a more "family" oriented fishing opportunity.

Of the options available, number one is favored by the public advisory committee selected by the ODF&W to aid in the development of the basin plan. Department staff tend to favor either option 1 or 3 as being most practical.

Questioners at the meeting asked why the hatchery option was not desirable.

Dale responded that recent research on the Metolius has shown that interaction between native and stocked trout is causing damage to native genes. The pure-strain native fish are considered to be extraordinarily valuable. It is the state's policy that damage to these fish will not be tolerated. Under any management option the native genes must be protected.

This means that if stocking where to continue it would have to be done with a stock of fish either from the Metolius or from the Deschutes river system.

According to Dale, maintaining such brood stocks is extremely expensive. "Wild fish simply do not do well in captivity," he said.

Regional Biologist Ted Fies added, "The Metolius stocking program is not highly successful." Both return to the creel (a measure of how many fish are stocked and how many are caught) and individual catch rates are low. "We think we can get more bang for the buck elsewhere," Fies said.

Other water bodies that generated some interest included Blue and Suttle lakes, which will both be managed largely as they have been in the past; Lake Billy Chinook, where Bull Trout will be managed as a featured species, allowing for continued trophy fishing; and the Chimney Rock section of the Crooked River immediately below Bowman Dam, which will be managed for wild fish.

This wild fish option would allow for future special regulations such as catch and release. A debate about that subject would be conducted separately through the angling regulation process.

Written comments to the basin plan will be accepted by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife until April 24. Commission hearings on the plan will be conducted at the Fish and Wildlife main office in Portland.