Man sentenced for killing thousands of salmon after pouring bleach into Oregon hatchery pond
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – A man who broke into a Reedsport, Ore. fish hatchery in April is facing jail time after pouring bleach into a pond – killing thousands of Chinook salmon.
According to court documents, 20-year-old Joshua Heckathorn broke into the Gardiner Reedsport Winchester Bay STEP Salmon Hatchery around April 21, took a bottle of bleach from a storage shed, and poured it into a hatchery pond.
The bleach poisoning killed nearly 18,000 smolt Chinook salmon, the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife said.
On April 23, a patrol deputy claimed to see Heckathorn walking south along Highway 101 before seeing him again behind a locked gate in the hatchery facility that evening, according to court documents, noting that Heckathorn admitted to the deputy that he was previously at the property and took the bleach.
Heckathorn was arrested by Douglas County Sheriff's Office on several charges including second-degree burglary, criminal trespass and criminal mischief.
On June 7, he pleaded guilty to second-degree burglary, first-degree criminal mischief, prohibitions for toxic substances accessible to wildlife, and three counts of taking, angling, hunting, or trapping in violation of wildlife law or rule.
He was ultimately convicted on June 24 for burglary, criminal mischief, and three counts of taking, angling, hunting, or trapping violation.
Heckathorn was sentenced to 30 days in jail with three years' supervised probation. Additionally, he was ordered to pay $15,000 in restitution and will have his fishing license suspended for three years.
In a statement to KOIN 6 News, ODFW said "There are real consequences for crimes against fish and wildlife as shown by the sentencing and fines this individual must pay. We take poaching seriously here in Oregon – our mission is to protect fish and wildlife for this and future generations."
Deborah Yates, the president of the hatchery program, previously said her team struggled to understand Heckathorn’s actions after they put hundreds of hours raising the fish, which were intended to be released with about 60,000 others in June.
“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,” she said. “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.”
An attorney for Heckathorn could not be reached for comment.