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<br />MATERIALS AND METHODS <br /> <br />In January 1989 a questionnaire was sent to the managers of <br />the 34 fish hatcheries and 9 rearing ponds administered by ODFW. <br />The questionnaire requested information on bird predators, fish <br />losses, and the measures used to control predation. Additional <br />questions were asked about funding and potential projects to <br />control bird predation. A copy of the questionnaire is reprinted <br />in Appendix A. Figure 1 shows the locations of ODFW fish rearing <br />facilities on a map of Oregon. <br /> <br />Responses to the questionnaire provided a database that <br />catalogued control measures, species of bird predators, and <br />numbers of fish lost. The database also included responses to a <br />question about future plans to add control measures, and a <br />question about suggestions for measures that could be taken if <br />unlimited resources to control predation were available. <br /> <br />A second questionnaire, sent out in May 1989, went to <br />managers of all fish rearing facilities, liberation coordinators, <br />and others who have first hand knowledge of predation at the <br />hatchery and at release. This questionnaire, reproduced in <br />Appendix B, requested estimates of costs to free ODFW fish <br />rearing facilities from predators, past and present release <br />strategies that avoid or reduce predation at release and after <br />release, and rearing strategies that reduce vulnerability of fish <br />to predation. <br /> <br />The original database was rewritten to accommodate the new <br />data obtained from the second questionnaire. A preliminary <br />analysis of these data was provided for Harry Wagner, then chief <br />of the Fish Division, in a briefing paper that described the <br />predation problem at hatcheries and the ways to minimize the <br />problem. An additional paper has been submitted to the 1991 <br />Oregon legislature to fulfill the requirements for HB 2735. <br /> <br />RESULTS AND DISCUSSION <br /> <br />Predators <br /> <br />The seventeen avian predators reported from Oregon fish <br />rearing facilities are shown in Table 2. The most common avian <br />predator observed was the heron, which was observed at 35 of the <br />43 facilities questioned. The great blue heron and the green <br />heron combined probably account for most of the losses statewide. <br />Belted kingfishers were observed at 30 stations, but their small <br />size keeps them from preying on the largest fish. <br /> <br />2 <br />