‘It’s monstrous’: Man accused of pouring bleach into hatchery tank, killing 18,000 young salmon

DOUGLAS COUNTY, Ore. (KPTV/Gray News) – A 22-year-old man is accused of pouring bleach into a rearing pond at an Oregon hatchery, leading to the death of thousands of young salmon.

The investigation began on Monday at the Gardiner, Reedsport, and Winchester Bay Salmon Trout Enhancement Program hatchery.

In a Facebook post, the hatchery said someone broke in by destroying several door locks and then dumped a gallon of bleach into one of the rearing tanks, killing 18,000 smolt Chinook salmon.

Deborah Yates, the president of the hatchery, is devastated.

“I’ve seen nature do some really horrific things, but I’ve never seen a person do this. We call it murder,” Yates said.

The young salmon, between 3 and 4 inches long, were just about ready to join 60,000 others in June to be fin-clipped and dumped into Winchester Bay. They were supposed to eventually turn up in Alaska, where they would grow to full size.

Yates said fisherman aren’t allowed to catch and keep wild salmon, only the ones that are fin-clipped. So, the loss of the 18,000 fish impacts jobs, tourism dollars, and both recreational and commercial fisherman.

This is a costly loss. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife estimates the value of each fish to be $775. Multiply that by the 18,000 fish that were killed, and it’s a total loss of just less than $14 million.

“The economic driver of these fish is huge,” Yates said. “This is not little. This is being considered the biggest poaching incident in Oregon history, I think. It’s monstrous.”

Volunteers drained the pool and shoveled all the dead fish into bins. The fish were then taken to Oregon State Police, where they were frozen and kept as evidence to build a case against the suspect.

As investigators were looking for a suspect, on Tuesday evening, a deputy with the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office patrolling the area saw a man at the hatchery behind the locked gate and “no trespassing” signs.

The deputy spoke with the man, identified as 22-year-old Joshua Alexander Heckathorn, who admitted to trespassing and handling the bleach the day before, officials said.

Heckathorn was arrested and booked into the Douglas County Jail on Tuesday for second-degree burglary, criminal trespass and criminal mischief.

He faces more charges, including poaching and making a toxic substance available to wildlife. He was released from jail on Wednesday.

Because of the number of smolt Chinook salmon that were killed, the sheriff’s office will be working with the Oregon State Police Fish and Wildlife unit on the case.

Yates said she believes the person responsible is unaware of the gravity of the situation.

“I think he’s going to live to regret what he did,” Yates said. “It just makes no sense.”

The hatchery’s three remaining rearing tanks were unharmed. They hold about 60,000 young Chinook salmon that will be released into Winchester Bay later this spring.

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