Local News
(2002-06-04)
PORTLAND, OR
(OPB) -
(OPB Radio) - The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife today euthanized 43,000 juvenile sockeye salmon. The year-and-a-half old fish contracted an incurable virus at the Bonneville Hatchery. Officials say the virus is common in the Columbia River system and likely entered the hatchery from a nearby creek.The fish were destined to replenish nearly extinct sockeye salmon in Idaho's Redfish Lake. Kathy Shinn with ODFW says the loss is a disappointment but won't seriously affect efforts to restore sockeye populations in the lake. Shinn says similar fish are being raised at other hatcheries in the region.
Shinn: The dollar amount for the loss of these fish is approximately $78,000. Again, this is one component of the sockeye restoration program and the Captive Brood Program is designed so that not all of the eggs are in one basket, so to speak.
The agency used a chemical in the novocaine family to kill the fish. They were frozen and will be sent to a landfill to contain the spread of the virus.
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