In Coho program news, there was a major facilities problem at the NOAA FED laboratory last month, where this year’s spawning class is being incubated and ponded. Flow was lost to two of the incubator stacks that contained a large number of eggs and post-hatch fry, leading to the loss of a big portion of this year’s cohort. This was a huge let down, especially after all the hard work we put into spawning our fish at Warm Springs this season. Our production numbers are much lower than we anticipated after completing spawning.
We’ll be returning fish to our own facilities at Kingfisher Flat (the name of our hatchery) soon. These are the fish that survived the CZU fire and were moved out after the fire. it’ll be a huge accomplishment (and relief) to see these fish released to their home waters of Scott Creek. We’ll also be bringing up the ponded fry (young of year) from the NOAA lab later this summer, but sadly reduced in number due to the aforementioned loss incident at the NOAA facility.
Everybody involved with the Coho program wants to see our hatchery again capable of spawning and incubation, hopefully this winter.
Steelhead conservation program still on hold due to threatened species legal issues way beyond our control.
Our Chinook releases from Monterey & Santa Cruz into Monterey Bay should be mid to late May, same as last year.
Posted on March 31st, 2021