U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Skamania, is encouraging the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to bring the Skamania Hatchery back into operation after its abrupt and unpopular closure at the end of last year, according to a news release.
In a letter to Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Director Kelly Susewind, Gluesenkamp Perez argues that the state is failing to put to use federal funds that she helped secure for hatcheries such as the Skamania Hatchery.
As a member of the Appropriations Committee, the congresswoman helped secure Mitchell Act funding to help with operations and maintenance of Columbia Basin hatcheries, according to the news release.
“I strongly urge your support in reopening the hatchery and ensuring its continued operation alongside the North Toutle Hatchery,” wrote Gluesenkamp Perez. “In Southwest Washington, hatcheries are foundational to our cultural heritage and economic prosperity. The decision to shutter the Skamania Hatchery has reduced steelhead and cutthroat trout production in the Columbia River and nearby tributaries and lakes, disrupting recreational fishing in the area and costing the region a key source of economic and cultural vitality.”
Located in Washougal, the hatchery produces summer and winter steelhead that are released into southwest Washington rivers for recreational fishing, according to previous reporting by The Washington State Standard.
The hatchery produces 331,000 steelhead per year, according to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Operations at Skamania Hatchery will begin to slow over the next year, as the state Department of Fish and Wildlife begins the three-year process of closing the facility, according to The Standard’s reporting in October 2025.
The Washougal and Beaver Creek hatcheries will take over some steelhead production.
The Department of Fish and Wildlife estimates that closure of the Skamania Hatchery will reduce the total production of steelhead in Washington by 161,000 per year after factoring in the increased fish from the other facilities.
The hatchery’s closure will most strongly affect southwest Washington recreational steelhead anglers, according to the Department of Fish and Wildlife.
The Department of Fish and Wildlife announced its decision to close Skamania Hatchery in June after not receiving its full two-year budget request from the state Legislature.
