GORST (May 25, 2006) -- Gusty winds and associated rains Tuesday evening are believed to be the cause of a major fish kill at the Gorst Creek salmon rearing facility. An estimated 1.6 million fall Chinook salmon fry were found dead at the Gorst Creek rearing ponds Wednesday morning, said Jay Zischke, Suquamish fisheries manager.
BLYN (Feb. 14, 2003) — In the mid-1990s, fisheries biologists throughout the Pacific Northwest turned their attention on a small hatchery in the lower Dungeness River, where a new approach to restoring a dwindling chinook population was in the works. If successful, it was thought the project could improve hatchery techniques, and most importantly bring back a salmon species from the brink of extinction.
In 2003, attention once again has turned to the Hurd Creek hatchery near Sequim. Not because of the facility’s success with recovering wild salmon, but because the hatchery itself is close to extinction. Gov. Gary Locke’s proposed budget for the next two years calls for three state Department of Fish and Wildlife hatcheries to be closed, including the Hurd Creek facility.