Hatchery

Read more about the article Sauk-Suiattle Tribe Tests Remote Site Incubator to Enhance Chum Run

Sauk-Suiattle Tribe Tests Remote Site Incubator to Enhance Chum Run

sauk RSI_1Sauk-Suiattle elders still talk about the old days harvesting chum salmon from Lyle Creek.

With chum runs on the decline since 2007, and no fish in Lyle Creek, the Sauk-Suiattle Tribe is testing a method of enhancing the population using a remote site incubator.

Salmon runs across Puget Sound are in decline because of lost and degraded habitat. Remote site incubators enable fisheries co-managers to supplement natural production where spawning habitat is inadequate. (more…)

Continue ReadingSauk-Suiattle Tribe Tests Remote Site Incubator to Enhance Chum Run

Tulalip Tribes release record number of coho

Hatchery salmon are collected from a holding pond before having their adipose fins clipped in NWIFC’s automatic tagging trailer.

The Tulalip Tribes’ Bernie Kai-Kai Gobin Salmon Hatchery released a record number of coho salmon this year, thanks to rearing improvements that led to a high survival rate.

In June, tribal hatchery staff released 1.3 million coho smolts from brood year 2010. This brings the total number of hatchery salmon released this year to 12 million, including brood year 2011 chinook and chum.

“We have made slight changes to the way we do things as far as fertilizing and handling of eggs,” said Jesse Rude, assistant manager of the hatchery. “Our survival rates have gone from around 80 to 85 percent up to 95 percent.” (more…)

Continue ReadingTulalip Tribes release record number of coho
Read more about the article Stillaguamish Tribe raising captive broodstock to save South Fork chinook

Stillaguamish Tribe raising captive broodstock to save South Fork chinook

The Stillaguamish Tribe’s captive juvenile fall chinook soon will have a new home. The tribe has converted an old trout farm into a hatchery facility at Brenner Creek on the South Fork Stillaguamish River.

The tribe expects the Brenner fish hatchery to be completed by the end of the year. The tribe has been rearing the fall juvenile chinook from brood years 2008, 2009 and 2010 at its Harvey Creek Hatchery.

Fall chinook, which mostly rear and spawn in the South Fork Stillaguamish, are genetically distinct from summer chinook, which primarily use the North Fork. A hatchery program has been in place in the North Fork for more than 20 years, with about 1,500 summer chinook returning each year.

Stillaguamish fall chinook by comparison have declined to fewer than 100 fish — so few that there aren’t enough adult chinook in the South Fork to capture and use for broodstock. (more…)

Continue ReadingStillaguamish Tribe raising captive broodstock to save South Fork chinook

Video: First fish transfer to new Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe hatchery

The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe has started transferring fish from its old hatchery to its new facility this summer. Through dam removal funding, the tribe was able to construct a new state-of-the-art hatchery. It is located closer to the Elwha River, has access to three times more water than at the old location, and allows for healthier rearing conditions. (more…)

Continue ReadingVideo: First fish transfer to new Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe hatchery

Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe transfers first group of fish to new hatchery

After keeping its old hatchery patched together for the past decade, the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe was ecstatic to transfer fish to its new state-of-the-art hatchery recently.

Nearly 160,000 Elwha River steelhead juveniles were successfully transferred with the help of Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife fish transfer trucks.

“We have better rearing conditions for fish at the new facility, including having greater control over water temperatures while salmon eggs are incubated. Plus, there are more raceways and rearing ponds,” said Larry Ward, the tribe’s hatchery manager.
(more…)

Continue ReadingLower Elwha Klallam Tribe transfers first group of fish to new hatchery