Report might affect plans to expand Cedar River sockeye hatchery

Seattle Public Utilities is seeking direction on whether to replace and expand the capacity of a sockeye hatchery on the Cedar River as planned, given release of a report that raises new questions about the hatchery.

"My expectation is we will go on pause," said Judith Noble, a strategic adviser at Seattle Public Utilities, which is reviewing bids and selecting a contractor to construct a replacement hatchery with doubled capacity on the Cedar River at Landsburg. Construction is to start this spring or early summer and be complete by late summer of 2011, with operation starting up with the first returning fish that fall.

But that was before release of a report Friday, commissioned from independent scientists by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. The report examined sockeye in the Lake Washington and Cedar River system, and posited at least one reason for poor adult returns might be too many fry competing for too little food in the south end of the lake, near the mouth of the Cedar River.

Fisheries scientists with the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe attacked the report in a meeting at the department Tuesday, questioning the validity of its data and findings.

Agency scientists cautioned that the department has reached no conclusions as to what, if any, policy direction it might take in response to the report.

The report has not yet been through peer review, and its findings might well change or even be retracted; that's all a normal part of scientific debate and review. But it makes things sticky for the utility, charged with managing a construction schedule and legal obligation to build the hatchery, as part of a settlement agreement with the tribe.

Sockeye are not native to the Cedar River system, and they are not listed under the Endangered Species Act for protection. But they are beloved by sport fishermen and valued by the tribes.

Sockeye fever last gripped Seattle in 2006 after a run of more than 470,000 boomed into the watershed. But there has been no season since, as runs dwindled, and the blockbuster runs of the 1960s and 1970s seem distant dreams.

The utility Wednesday requested a meeting with representatives from the oversight committee guiding the hatchery project, made up of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife; National Marine Fisheries Service; and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service with consultation from the tribe.

"The question is what the report really says about the hatchery," Noble said. "We don't know. Those are the discussions we need to have." She, too, cautioned against reading anything into a report that has yet to survive peer review.

Pat Pattillo, assistant to the Fish and Wildlife director, said the department won't have any advice as to how to proceed until it meets with the tribe, its co-manager of the fishery.

"Let's let the science play out here, and it will probably play out for a bit," Pattillo said. "We are going to be aggressive about pursuing whether these data are informative and useful. We've taken the first step, now let's keep it going. This won't be put back on the shelf."

Lynda V. Mapes: 206-464-2736 or lmapes@seattletimes.com