Oregon man charged for breaking into hatchery, killing 18,000 salmon smolts with bleach
This story was updated at 3 p.m. Thursday
A Gardiner man was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly breaking into a fish hatchery and killing 18,000 salmon smolts with a bottle of bleach, according to the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.
Joshua Alexander Heckathorn, 22, was charged with second degree burglary, criminal trespass and criminal mischief. He will also be charged with various wildlife and poaching charges that could cost up to $13 million in fines.
"The killing of these fish is a real blow," Oregon State Police fish and wildlife sergeant Levi Harris said. "In my 25 years as a game warden, this is one of the most senseless acts I have seen."
The investigation began Monday when police were looking into a break-in at the Gardiner, Reedsport, and Winchester Bay Salmon Trout Enhancement Program hatchery.
“Someone had forcibly made entry into the hatchery building,” police said. “Once inside, the suspect had poured a chemical substance into one of the rearing ponds causing the death of 18,000 smolt chinook salmon. Deputies processed the scene and began conducting a follow up investigation.”
On Tuesday, a deputy patrolling the area observed a man walking south along U.S. Highway 101 near milepost 210. A short time later, the deputy who had walked into the hatchery, observed that same man behind the locked gate and no trespassing signs, a news release said.
The man, identified as Heckathorn, was contacted and interviewed by the deputy, and admitted to trespassing on the property and entering a storage location and handling the chemical bottle on Monday, the news release said.
The News-Review reported Heckathorn was shaking, sweating and at one point threw up during the interview, according to a probable cause statement.
"Heckathorn reported having trouble remembering details of the day due to being high on marijuana at the time of the crime," the newspaper reported.
"Heckathorn told me he remembered removing the jug of bleach from the shed and setting it on the concrete support of the rearing pond, but did not remember if he dumped bleach into the pond," court records show, the News Review reported.
Additional charges against Heckathorn will include unlawful take of chinook salmon, which raises charges to a Class C felony. In addition, Heckathorn faces charges of making a toxic substance available to wildlife, which is a Class A misdemeanor; and first degree criminal mischief. Additional penalties could include a lifetime angling license suspension and damage suits for unlawful killing of wildlife.
The maximum civil penalty in Oregon for illegal take of a single chinook salmon is $750. Courts have the authority to multiply that amount by the number of fish taken, with a judgement in this case potentially raising the amount to over $13 million, according to Harris, although it is unlikely to elevate to that level.
The estimated 18,000 fish lost contribute to the lower Umpqua River fall chinook fishery and would have joined approximately 60,000 other fall chinook pre-smolts that will be fin clipped and released in June.
Deborah Yates, president of the hatchery program, said volunteers put thousands of hours into raising the fish.
"You get attached to those fish," Yates said in a news release. "When nature does something, it's crushing. But it's nature and it happens. But when someone comes in and does something like this, you can't wrap your head around it. We have so many hours wrapped up in those fish, to have someone come in so cavalier, and kill them, it doesn't make sense."
Zach Urness has been an outdoors reporter in Oregon for 15 years and is host of the Explore Oregon Podcast. He can be reached at zurness@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6801. Find him on X at @ZachsORoutdoors.
This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Oregon man charged for breaking into hatchery, killing 18,000 fish
