Volunteers at the Sept. 29 Depoe Bay meeting reported that a single-celled parasite affected juvenile hatchery fish in a floating net pen and estimated several thousand fish died.

Meeting members said pathologists advised two possible approaches were available: a chemical treatment that requires placing fish in a closed container, and salinity treatment when fish migrate to saltwater. The group said pathologists recommended allowing fish to progress to the ocean so salinity would eliminate the parasite rather than trying the chemical option on open floating pens.

The issue matters because the group receives a set allocation of fish eggs from the Trask River Hatchery as defined in that hatchery’s management plan. Members said their usual allocation is 20,000 eggs but that this season about 13,000 fish were stocked; they estimated losses attributable to the parasite at roughly 3,000–4,000 fish. One volunteer said earlier losses on egg transfer and pin clipping typically account for additional missing fish.

Volunteers discussed two operational constraints that limit immediate responses. First, the chemical treatment used by pathologists requires a closed container; floating net pens cannot be treated with that method. Second, net-pen density and local oxygenation are limiting factors: members said the pen may already be near the maximum stocking density the net supports and that crowded conditions can increase disease susceptibility. One member suggested sanitizing hatch boxes before eggs are placed and acknowledged that would likely require extra trips to the hatchery.

On increasing egg allocations, members said any change would require revisions to the Trask River Hatchery’s hatchery management plan and approvals by state wildlife authorities. The group described that hatchery management plans are not revisited annually and estimated review cycles on the order of years; they advised pursuing a formal request through the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) process and the appropriate commission, but said that process is “convoluted” and may also involve political steps.

There were no formal votes or ordinance actions on treatments or egg requests at the meeting. Members said they will document the losses, track any recurring outbreaks, and prepare to coordinate with pathologists and the hatchery if the parasite recurs.

Meeting participants also noted recent net repairs and a pressure-washing inspection that found no holes in the pen; they flagged bolt ends near dock railings as a past source of net punctures and said those had been covered with epoxy to reduce wear.

No timetable was set for requests to the hatchery; members said they would research sanitizing procedures and possible procedural steps to request a larger allocation from Trask River Hatchery through ODFW approvals.