A federal judge in Spokane, Wash., has ruled that only wild fish can be counted in determining which species are endangered.
The ruling by Judge John C. Coughenour nullified a Bush administration policy that allowed hatchery fish to be included in determining which fish should be protected under the Endangered Species Act, The New York Times said Thursday.
The newspaper said a 2004 decision by the National Marine Fisheries Service was condemned by environmental groups as a distortion of the endangered-species law.
Coughenour said mixing the numbers of hatchery and wild populations when deciding on protections "is, in fact, contrary to the best available scientific evidence."
"A healthy hatchery population is not necessarily an indication of a healthy natural population," he said.
Copyright 2007 by United Press International
Related stories:
US biologists: 3 common pesticides harm salmon
(AP) -- Farms and orchards that continue to use three pesticides that harm salmon will have to greatly expand buffer zones around their fields so the chemicals don't reach streams, federal biologists ruled Tuesday.
Hatchery fish outnumber wild chinook salmon in troubled fall run
A recent study indicates that wild salmon may account for just 10 percent of California's fall-run chinook salmon population, while the vast majority of the fish come from hatcheries. The findings are especially troubling in light of the disastrous decline in the population this year, which will probably force the closure of the 2008 season for commercial and recreational salmon fishing.
Researchers hope radio-tagged salmon provide clues to migratory habits
A swarm of 6,000 bionic salmon has become the latest tool in an ongoing struggle to protect declining fish species in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta of California.
Salmon smolt survival similar in Columbia and Fraser rivers
A new study by researchers in Oregon and British Columbia has found that survival of juvenile salmon and steelhead during their migration to the sea through two large Northwest rivers – the Columbia and the Fraser – is remarkably similar despite one major difference.
Signals from the Atlantic salmon highway
For years scientists have struggled to understand the decline and slow recovery of Atlantic salmon, a once abundant and highly prized game and food fish native to New England rivers. Biologists agree that poor marine survival is affecting salmon in the U.S. and Canada, but specific causes are difficult to determine in the ocean. Small acoustic tags and associated technology may provide some answers.
Federal polar bear research critically flawed, says new study
Research done by the U.S. Department of the Interior to determine if global warming threatens the polar bear population is so flawed that it cannot be used to justify listing the polar bear as an endangered species, according to a study being published later this year in Interfaces, a journal of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS®).
New fish has a face even Dale Chihuly could love
A fish that would rather crawl into crevices than swim, and that may be able to see in the same way that humans do, could represent an entirely unknown family of fishes, says a University of Washington fish expert.
Salmonid hatcheries cause 'stunning' loss of reproduction
The rearing of steelhead trout in hatcheries causes a dramatic and unexpectedly fast drop in their ability to reproduce in the wild, a new Oregon State University study shows, and raises serious questions about the wisdom of historic hatchery practices.