Officials with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife have euthanized 23,600 spring chinook salmon that were scheduled to be released in the Lostine River in the next two weeks.

LA GRANDE, Ore. — Officials with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife have euthanized 23,600 spring chinook salmon that were scheduled to be released in the Lostine River in the next two weeks.

They said today that fish in one raceway at Lookingglass Hatchery suffered from two deadly diseases, Infectious Hematopoietic Necrosis Virus and Bacterial Kidney Disease (BKD) and were not responding to treatment.

"We were faced with the choice of euthanizing these fish, or releasing them and potentially exposing the natural environment to two deadly fish diseases," said ODFW Acting Northeast Region Manager Bruce Eddy.

"It simply was not worth the risk."

He said the 1,800 pounds of fish will not seriously impact the Lostine River program. More than 160,000 salmon will be planted in the Lostine this year.

The diseases occur naturally and usually are treated with antibiotics.

Eddy said unseasonably warm weather this spring was likely why the fish did not respond to treatment.

Originally published March 7, 2005 at 12:00 AM