Senate Bill 6241 would create new sections in chapter 77.105 RCW that require the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to implement steelhead wild broodstock conservation programs in every WRIA with a native steelhead population. The bill directs the department to pursue programs patterned after Oregon’s wild broodstock efforts, to require volunteers to deliver live wild broodstock to hatcheries or rearing facilities, and for the department to rear and release those fish. Broodstock must come from the wild population in each WRIA, and programs must set effective population size targets and identify strategies to reduce risks of inbreeding depression, genetic drift, and domestication. The department must conduct rulemaking to develop hatchery management plans and adopt rules addressing fish health requirements; use of wild broodstock; population targets; methods to minimize stress and maximize survival to spawning; policies on disposition of kelts, spawning, incubation, rearing, and release protocols; and predator control. The conservation programs must have clear management objectives, including species conservation, watershed health, and fisheries supply. This bill creates new statutory requirements and a procedural mandate for rulemaking and program implementation; it does not, in the provided text, change criminal penalties or create new crimes. The text references RCW 90.82.020 for the WRIA definition and chapter 77.110 RCW goals but does not include those definitions or goals. The provided extracts do not specify funding, timelines or deadlines for rulemaking or implementation, detailed numerical targets or technical standards, or any enforcement or penalty provisions, so those elements are uncertain from the available material. The bill was read for the first time on 01/20/26.

If enacted, the Department of Fish and Wildlife would have to set up and run wild-broodstock steelhead programs in every watershed with native steelhead, relying on volunteers to bring live wild fish to hatcheries where the state would rear and later release them. Hatcheries and the department would face new responsibilities to meet fish health standards, set and meet genetic population targets, handle kelts to encourage repeat spawning, and adopt predator control and release protocols, all aimed at conserving steelhead, supporting watershed health, and providing fish for fisheries. The people and organizations most affected are WDFW (which must do rulemaking and manage programs), hatchery and rearing facilities (which must accept and rear wild broodstock), and volunteer collectors; wild steelhead populations are the intended beneficiaries. The bill does not provide funding, deadlines, or many technical specifics, so WDFW and hatcheries will likely see increased costs, staffing needs, and regulatory work with uncertain timing, and volunteers’ roles and liabilities are unclear; these gaps could delay or constrain implementation.