WA SB6241

Department of Fish and Wildlife must implement steelhead wild broodstock conservation programs in every Water Resource Inventory Area (WRIA) containing native steelhead populations

Volunteers deliver live wild broodstock to hatcheries or rearing facilities, where the department rears the fish for release at appropriate times

Broodstock must be derived from wild populations in each WRIA, with programs required to establish effective population size targets and strategies to reduce inbreeding depression, genetic drift, and domestication

Department must conduct rulemaking to develop hatchery management plans addressing fish health requirements, stress minimization, spawning/incubation/rearing/release protocols, and predator control

Program objectives include species conservation, watershed health, and fisheries supply, modeled after Oregon's wild broodstock programs credited with stabilizing steelhead fisheries