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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 29, 1960)
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 29. I960 MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE. MEDFORD. ORE. The Rogue River Fisheries Hcstcheiry Supplies Stocks of Fish do Bason Cole lllvers Butte Falls Fish ' Hatchery One of Oldest in State (Editor's note: This i lh. ninth in a series of articles on the Rogue river fishery and its management. To day's article covers the place and use of hatcheries in the Rogue system. The Butte Falls hatchery and its production is described. The need for research and rear ing ponds also is discussed.) By COLE M. RIVERS Fisheries Agent State Game Commission Built in 1916, the Butte Falls hatchery is one of the oldest butcheries operated by the game com mission. Lo cated on the Fish lake road east of Butte Falls, the hatch e r y Is operated to supply stocks of fish for the Rogue river basin. Per iodic expansion and improve ment arc necessary to keep up with modern techniques and to meet the ever-increasing needs in the area. The 1959 production at Butte Falls included 131,000 legal-sized rain bow, 398,700 fingcrling rainbow, and 47, 800 yearling spring chinook. Additional numbers of fish raised at other state hatcheries and brought into the Rogue watershed for release were 35,000 yearling summer stcel licad, 9,100 legal rainbow, 294.800 fingcrilng rain bow, 17,600 fingcrling eastern brook, and 201,600 kokanee salmon fry. The total 1960 releases to the Rogue basin was 1,131,600 fish, weighing 56,166 pounds. Now Not True At one time people were Impressed by published num bers of fish that were hatched and released annually from hatcheries. General public opinion was that fish popula tions and fishing were kept at high levels by the release of large numbers of finger lings and fry. We know now that this was not true. Public opinion was domi nated by this concept of large numbers before fishery meth ods and techniques were able to prove which operation pro duced fish and which ones were useless. Most people wore surprised to learn that trout planted as fry or small fingcrlings in streams pro duced few fish that could be harvested by the angler. Yearling trout were found to produce more fish at less cost to the angler than finger lings. Conversely, it has been found that it is not necessary to plant large trout in most lakes. Doing More Harm ' Studies on the Rogue river showed that the large egg takes of salmon and steelhead were doing more harm to the runs than good. With spring Chinook salmon, the heaviest egg-lakes resulted in a very weak run of adults returning to the egg-taking racks four years inter. All lnrge-scale salmon and steelhead egg -takes on the Rogue were drastically re duced in 1947. The came w of the problems of disease, diet, crowding, and costs will be solved. In the Rogue basin, negoti ations have been completed with the Medford Corporation to develop their woods pond on the Prospect - Butte Falls road into one of these rear ing ponds. This reservoir has 76 surface acres and can be used to raise perhaps 200 thousand steelhead or spring chinook each year. Another site is being studied for the development of a 36-surface-acre reservoir in the same area. We could probably grow several times more sal mon and steelhead success fully with the combined ca pacities of these two ponds as a supplement to existing production at the Butte Falls hatchery. One of Tools Used With the continued increase of fishermen, streams in the Rogue basin cannot supply all of the needs of the anglers. There is not a shortage of miles of streams but the quan tity of wild fish that is pro duced is limited. The hatchery will continue to play an im portant role to supply the dif ference between wild produc tion and the needs of the angling public. Trout fishing in lakes is one of the tools to be used to provide fish and fishing to the ever-increasing num bers of anglers. More angler days and more trout can be produced per surface acre of a lake than many miles of streams. Lakes are preferred by many trout anglers. One reason is that they can be en joyed by the entire family. Most trout lakes in the Rogue basin are in maximum production. Howard Prairie reservoir will support a large part of the increase in angler use that can be expected in the next 10 years. Increased use of the high Cascade lakes between Crater and Fourmile lakes will take care of anoth er large segment of this in crease. There are other anglers who prefer stream fishing and who gain little recreational value lrom lake fishing. In the future, probably more of our streams will be' classified as "key streams" which will be used for stocking legal-sized rainbow in large quantities to satisfy the bulk of stream fishermen. In the immediate future, this program will not necessarily require more fish being raised in the hatchery since other streams will be eliminated from the list of annual stocking to use the trout more efficiently in key streams. It is not good economics 'o plant legal-sized rainbow ,n waters where small numbers of the planted fish are caught. Stocked fish that produce a low percentage return to the creel often cost as much as 32 or more each. When those same fish are placed in streams from which a large percentage is taken, the cost per fish is reduced to as low as 20 cents. Only those waters from which 35 per cent or more of the stock ed fish can be taken by anglers will be considered key streams. AT HATCHERY Salomn and steelhead fry at the Butte Falls fish hatchery, are being fed in a series' of rearing ponds commission decided to search for ways to hatch, raise, and release salmon and steelhead that would successfully pro duce returning adults at reasonable costs. To raise these delicate fish a full year In the hatchery before release, many problems had to be solved. When disease prob lems were corrected and im proved facilities added, the program was possible to start. Different techniques were developed for each species. At Butte Falls. 50,000 spring chinook were raised to year ling size each year. Individual groups were marked with fin clips and released at various times of the yC.r at different locations in the basin. When these fish came back to the river as adults, they were checked for the marks to de termine when and where they had been released. The best pattern of rearing and releasing was indicated and practices which pro duced poor returns were noted. Study Continues The study is continuing to determine the degree of in fluence of temperature silt loads, high waters, and disease losses before and after re lease. Some of the patterns of rearing and releasing show encouraging results, and they indicate that under certain conditions, an expanded pro gram may be economically feasible. To expand this program, re search on a new concept of salmon ind steelhead rnan-1 agenu hrough lhe( use of rearing jnds or reservoirs was initialed. For a number of years now fishery biologists throughout the state have been seeking out, surveying, appraising suitable sites for rearing pond development. This new approach offers an additional technique to in crease the numbers of fish going to sea. Trout in lakes or reservoirs often grow fast er in natural habitat than they can be grown in hatchery ponds on force-fed diets. Normally they are hardier fish and more disease resis tant. If salmon and steelhead can be grown in wild environ ment as successfully, many Gov. Hatfield in Effort To Retain Tongue Point Base Salem-IUPII-Gov. Mark Hal-I At present Tongue Point field said Wednesday he has supports a portion of the asked the Defense Depart ment for a prcivously classi fied Inventory on the Tongue Point Naval Station at As toria and wants the depart ment to "review" plans for cutting back the facility. If this produces no results, Hatfield said he will recom mend that the Navy expand Tongue Point for possible use as a training site for missile, submarines or Coast Guard personnel. He said he plans to invite Oregon's congressional delega tion into the effort and also will notify the House Military Affairs Committee. Hatfield met for nearly two hours here Wednesday with four Portland men from Co lumbia River marine indus tries, representing about 25 corporations. The group has protested the shutdown at Tongue Point. Closure Said Due W. J. Troudt, chairman, said the Navy begon curtail ing operations at Tongue Point two years ago and plans to close it completely by Dec. 31, 1901. Those accompanying him were Lew Russell Jr., Arthur Fai r and Walter Lursen. Navy's reserve mothbnll fleet. Troudt displayed a letter writ ten Dec. 23 to Rep. Edith Green, (D-Ore.), by Rep. Carl Vinson, (D-Ga.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, in which Vinson confirmed shifting of moth balled vessels away from Tongue Point. Vinson told Mrs. Green that the action is part of an "over all reduction" in the total number of ships in the Navy reserve fleet. He concluded that this is being done throughout the nation, and the Tongue Point case "does not appear to be discrimina tory." 'Fourth Rate' Base Troudt disagreed. He said California has 26 naval facili ties and Washington state eight, "All first class," while Oregon has "one . . . little fourth rate establishment Tongue Point, and now they want to lake Hint away." Larscn said Tongue Point seems small by comparison but it is "very important" to Oregon's economy. Troudt said for every $17 the federal government takes from Oregon in tax money it returns $2. In California the Retired Columbia River Pilot Dies Portland 4UPI1 Capt. Wilbur W. Babbidge, retired Colum bia river pilot who worked on the river for 62 years, died Tuesday a the age of 90. He was a member of the Columbia River Pilots Asso ciation for 32 years until his retirement in 1949, During his towboat days at Astoria, Captain Babbidge was present at the rescue of the crew of the sailing ship Petor Iredale which stranded on Clatsop Beach in 1906. Funeral services are sched uled for Saturday. WHY CHANGE? Swainswlck, Eng.-IUPII- Mrs. Harriette Fletcher angrily went ahead with birthday plans today although a check of records showed she was born Dec. 28. "I've always celebrated on the 29th and 1 see no reason to change now," she said. Mrs. Fletcher is 100. ratio is $17 with a $34 re turn, he said. ' All four criticized Oregon's congressional delegation for not cooperating in the fight for Tongue Point. Hatfield said he was "dis appointed that our delegation has not been more effective" in getting defense money for Oregon and he pledged "full cooperation" in working for til is. KEY STREAM SECTION The North Fork Rogue river key-stream section of the Rogue basin for trout manage near Union Creek, shown above, is being used as a typical mcnt. AND- 1961 m'"f US (UR w i v TTsr am Gordon T-p- Ralph I f I - , ! I (Ba I , i Potatoes We Expectiriij (OUR WIVES ARE, THAT IS) Schell Plankenhorn DeVos Matlack bies) HAPPY NEW YEAR Yes-we're expecting a lot of new arrivals out here . . . right away . . . and, while we're so happy we're offering you these really fine food bargains starting with Gerber's Strained Baby Food 11 , 51100 We'll Be OPEN SUNDAY Yellow Onions Grapefruit Texas Pink Grapes Juicy Emperors APPLE SALE 4 29 Hams Hormel's Ready-To-Eat SHANK HALF Bull Half ... 63c lb. Sliced Bacon Swift's Premium T-Bone Steaks . ,b.59 Swift's Premium Chuck and' Cross Cut Newtowns, Spitzenberg, Golden Delicious 10 for 79' 2 b, 25 - v i Center Cut lb69 lb. 69; End Cut lb. T if Uni mnl BRAUNSCHWEIGER. COOKED Q nOrMiei SALAMI, BOLOGNA-M-oz. Chubs ea. 47 Boneless Beef Roast Pork Chops Pork Chops TURKEYS Valcrest fresh frozen Toms. Take one home for the Freezer. lb. 39 BAYER ASPIRIN 15c size .... 11c 25c size 19c 39c size .... 29c 69c size .... 49c $1.59 size $1.09 You May Need It Sunday Morning Hunt Jello Assorted Flavors Cider Vinegar H Coffee Folgers-Drip and Reg. Oysters Finer Food-8-oi. Tiny Tuna Concord V4 Size Chunk We're Also Expecting a New Store Soon! 4 for 29 gallon 59 ib. 65' 3 for 1.00 4 for 1.00 Cider Golden Valley Spinach Sur.fine 303 Clam Chowder 303 Saltesea 4 for 1.00 gallon 7 for 1.00 20 Ball Point Pens for:... Ceramic Cigaret Lighters TQ CO - Giant Ceramic Ash Trays twn fevi Wing Cook Screws French Type VvJl IvJJ Pinking Shears Binoculars YOUR CHOICE . Sale Prices Good Thru Sunday Night SUPER MARKET West Main at Ross Lane NO SALES TO DEALERS
