Washington department of fish and wildlife (wdfw) is required by state law (RCW 77.95.290) to mass mark (adipose FIN clip) all hatchery chinook and coho destined for harvest to maintain the ability to…

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration awarded the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife a $4.476 million Project Grant under the Pacific Coast Salmon Recovery Pacific Salmon Treaty Program (CFDA 11.438). The grant will fund the replacement of manual fish marking trailers with an automated fish marking system to ensure that approximately 100 million hatchery-produced salmon and steelhead produced annually by WDFW are properly adipose fin clipped as required by state law. The automated system will help address staffing challenges with the manual process and allow WDFW to meet its legal obligations to mass mark fish, which is important for maintaining commercial, tribal and recreational salmon fisheries while protecting native salmon runs. The grant period is from July 1, 2022 to September 30, 2023.

Washington department of fish and wildlife (wdfw) is required by state law (RCW 77.95.290) to mass mark (adipose FIN clip) all hatchery chinook and coho destined for harvest to maintain the ability to provide commercial, tribal, and recreational salmon fisheries while protecting native salmonid runs. Funding is required to replace a portion of mass marking manual trailers with a more efficient method to ensure that all fish intended for harvest are mass marked. The department mass marks (adipose FIN clips) approximately 100 million hatchery produced salmon and steelhead annually. Wdfw is finding IT increasingly difficult to staff manual marking trailers. The department has been struggling to get all the fish we are legally obligated to mass mark completed each year. In addition, there is a proposed 20 million additional increase in production to produce more hatchery fish for southern resident orcas which will compound this issue. Utilizing an autofish system to supplement our manu