Low steelhead returns to the Marblemount Hatchery have prompted the state to close a portion of the Cascade River to recreational fishing beginning Thursday.

The Cascade will be closed until further notice from the mouth upstream to Rockport-Cascade Road to ensure enough steelhead make it back to the hatchery to meet spawning goals, said Bob Leland, the Department of Fish and Wildlife’s steelhead program manager.

“Both hatchery and wild steelhead returns to the Skagit River basin are down this year,” said Leland. “This closure will help the Marblemount Hatchery meet its broodstock needs, but additional fishing closures in the basin also are likely this spring to protect wild steelhead.”

It’s possible the catch-and-release fisheries in the Skagit and Sauk rivers could close as well.