Ford Hatchery Washington Department Of Fish And Wildlife Fish Program Hatcheries Division Annual Report 2003 PDF Download

Bonneville Power Administration's participation with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Ford Hatchery, provides the opportunity for enhancing the recreational and subsistence kokanee fisheries in Banks Lake. The artificial production and fisheries evaluation is done cooperatively through the Spokane Hatchery, Sherman Creek Hatchery (WDFW), Banks Lake Volunteer Net Pen Project, and the Lake Roosevelt Fisheries Evaluation Program. Ford Hatchery's production, together with the Sherman Creek and the Spokane Tribal Hatchery, will contribute to an annual goal of one million kokanee yearlings for Lake Roosevelt and 1.4 million kokanee fingerlings and fry for Banks Lake. The purpose of this multi-agency program is to restore and enhance kokanee salmon and rainbow trout populations in Lake Roosevelt and Banks Lake due to Grand Coulee Dam impoundments. The Ford Hatchery will produce 9,533 lbs. (572,000) kokanee annually for release as fingerlings into Banks Lake in October. An additional 2,133 lbs. (128,000) kokanee will be transferred to net pens on Banks Lake at Electric City in October. The net pen raised kokanee will be reared through the fall, winter, and early spring to a total of 8,533 lbs and released in May. While the origin of kokanee comes from Lake Whatcom, current objectives will be to increase the use of native (or, indigenous) stocks for propagation in Banks Lake and the Upper Columbia River. Additional stocks planned for future use in Banks Lake include Lake Roosevelt kokanee and Meadow Creek kokanee. The Ford Hatchery continues to produce resident trout (80,584 lb. per year) to promote the sport fisheries in trout fishing lakes in eastern Washington (WDFW Management, Region 1). Operation and maintenance funding for the increased kokanee program was implemented in FY 2001 and scheduled to continue through FY 2010. Funds from BPA allow for an additional employee at the Ford Hatchery to assist in the operations and maintenance associated with kokanee production. Fish food, materials, and other supplies associated with this program are also funded by BPA. Other funds from BPA will also improve water quality and supply at the Ford Hatchery, enabling the increased fall kokanee fingerling program. Monitoring and evaluation of the Ford stocking programs will include existing WDFW creel and lake survey programs to assess resident trout releases in trout managed waters. BPA is also funding a creel survey to assess the harvest of hatchery kokanee in Banks Lake.