Man poisons 18,000 fish with bleach at Oregon hatchery, officials say. ‘Senseless’
A man broke into an Oregon hatchery and dumped bleach into a Chinook salmon tank, killing nearly 18,000 fish, wildlife officials said.
The incident happened April 22 at the Gardiner, Reedsport, Winchester Bay Salmon Trout Enhancement Program in Reedsport, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post.
Deputies said they found the 20-year-old man walking along U.S. Route 101 the next day at about 6:30 p.m. He was later found behind a locked gate at the hatchery, deputies said.
He told authorities he had gone into a storage area the day before and picked up a bottle of bleach, deputies said.
The man was arrested on suspicion of burglary, criminal trespass and criminal mischief, unlawful taking Chinook salmon and making a toxic substance available to wildlife.
Man could face big fine
He could face other penalties, including “a lifetime angling license suspension and damage suits for unlawful killing of wildlife,” the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife said in an April 25 news release.
Additionally, the maximum penalty for illegally taking one Chinook salmon is $750. If he was fined for every salmon he killed — 17,890 — he could face approximately $13 million in fines, wildlife officials said.
Although it is unlikely to elevate to that level, “the case represents a significant loss to the STEP program,” officials said.
“In my 25 years as a game warden, this is one of the most senseless acts I have seen,” Oregon State Police Fish and Wildlife Sgt. Levi Harris said in the release.
These Chinook salmon would have been released in June into the lower Umpqua River, wildlife officials said.
“When nature does something, it’s crushing. But it’s nature and it happens,” the salmon program’s president, Deborah Yates, said in the release. “But when someone comes in and does something like this, you can’t wrap your head around it.”
Reedsport is about a 90-mile drive southwest from Eugene.
What to know about Chinook salmon
Chinook salmon, also called king salmon, is Oregon’s state fish, according to state wildlife officials.
The fish hatch in freshwater streams or rivers before traveling to the ocean to feed, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Salmon will return to freshwater to spawn and will later die within about two weeks of doing so.
They are the “the largest of the Pacific salmon” and can grow up to 50 pounds, wildlife officials said, though they typically weigh about 10 to 25 pounds.
Chinook salmon are often caught in the Tillamook Bay in Oregon because multiple rivers run into this water.
This story was originally published April 26, 2024 at 11:29 AM with the headline "Man poisons 18,000 fish with bleach at Oregon hatchery, officials say. ‘Senseless’."
