Mysterious Malfunction leads to DEATHS of 1 Million Salmon at Major Hatchery

REPORT: More than 1 million young Chinook salmon died following a major mechanical failure at a hatchery. The incident happened at the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s
Samish Hatchery.

According to the WDFW flooding from the nearby Samish River caused clogging to a water intake screen at the facility. As a result freshwater was continually depleted for several hours overnight, leading to the deaths of a million salmon fry in one of the facility’s holding
ponds.