Dale Young says the falls at Baranof Warm Springs provide the perfect amount of energy to support a hatchery. (Photo/KCAW/Katherine Rose)
After strong public opposition and the denial of his permit application, Dale Young is finally speaking out. And he says it may not be the last time he applies for a hatchery permit at Baranof Warm Springs. KCAW’s Katherine Rose reports.
Juneau resident Dale Young put forth the proposal for the private, nonprofit hatchery, the Sustainable Salmon Institute, last November. This is his third permit application in recent years. Young says says he bought the land on the north side of the bay in the 1980s specifically for that purpose.
“One of the unique values of this site for chinook salmon is it has the geothermal hot water,” says Young. “Over three million dollars of energy pouring into the bay unused, essentially, other than some seasonal hot tub use.”
Baranof Warm Springs, also known as Warm Springs Bay, is a small village directly east of Sitka on the opposite side of Baranof Island. And when Young applied for the permit last year, the outpouring of opposition was strong. After a public hearing in February, Alaska Department of Fish & Game Commissioner Sam Cotten denied Young’s permit application, citing the strong public opposition and the opposition from commercial fishing associations.
“I think the primary reasons from the seiners are fear of closures on their fishing at Hidden Falls Hatchery to protect the brood stock from my hatchery. And the second concern which seems to appear in some of the letters recently, was that they fear competition for funds from the fishermen’s revolving loan fund for constructing the hatchery.”
Young, who also owns and operates his own construction company in Juneau, says he’s received offers of private funding that would make seeking out loans to build the hatchery unnecessary. But it’s not just that. Hidden Falls, the Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association’s hatchery 10 nautical miles north of Baranof Warm Springs, is struggling with whale and other large fish predation. Young thinks eliminating net pens could solve that problem.
“They hold their fish in net pens before they release them which is standard practice. The whales have learned to go to the net pens and wait for the release,” Young says. “It may be that we need to keep the fish in tanks on land away from the whales, and then release them more naturally the way they’d come out of a native stream. I would like to try that at Baranof.”
But conservation is also a concern for many. Warm Springs locals have voiced concern about the cutthroat trout population in Baranof Lake. Young doesn’t think a hatchery’s impact on water levels would harm the cutthroat trout.
“When they go over the first barrier falls, they’re on a one-way trip to the ocean. Every time the water level reaches high flow, it exceeds the swimming capacity of a cutthroat trout, and those trout are swept into the ocean, nonstop,” Young says. “They will not die there. They’ll live at the base of the falls or they’ll travel to local streams.”
And if it did impact the population, he’s offered up his own solution to that too.
“If it were shown that it would, I’ve offered to actually rear cutthroat from that stock and release them from the hatchery,” says Young.
And Warm Springs residents are also concerned about bears. Nearby hatcheries like Hidden Falls have become tourist destinations specifically for bear viewing, with cruise lines stopping by regularly so tourists can snap a few pics. Young says he can combat the bear problem though he doesn’t spell out exactly how.
“If we put a fish hatchery in, it would be more fish, that will attract more bears. Part of that problem would be need to be addressed in the way we design the hatchery. I can’t answer for sure right now, but I believe there is probably a reasonable design solution to mitigate the bear problem.”
But perhaps the biggest obstacle for Young? Warm Springs Bay is an escape for people around Southeast, its sulfur hot springs a mecca for Sitkans who sometimes commit to grueling hikes across the island just to get a chance to soak in them, for fishermen sheltering from Chatham Strait gales, and for recreational boaters in everything from kayaks to small cruise ships. Because it’s beloved by many, Young says people have asked him why not just build a hatchery somewhere else.
“Most people that suggest that are unaware that this IS the location,” says Young. “This has geographic values. It has water flow values, it has water quality values. It has geothermal values, it has hydroelectric values. It just has everything you need. It’s the perfect hatchery site. You can move the cabins elsewhere to a beautiful primitive area, but you can’t move the hatchery elsewhere and have the same value that’s existing in Baranof.”
Despite being rejected three times, Young hasn’t given up. He says he’s reevaluating his application. The state requires substantial changes before it will reconsider a hatchery permit for a site it has previously denied. Young has tried to comply but — if the significant opposition to his plans is an indication — he has yet to change anyone’s mind.
