Hatchery operations: Restoring salmon runs in British Columbia

Hatchery operations: Restoring salmon runs in British Columbia

Most people hear that salmon runs are declining across the province.

On systems where a hatchery is enhancing those salmon runs, you're generally going to see that it stays somewhat consistent, because the hatchery is able to mitigate the losses that you're seeing.

Fish return back to the hatchery where they were raised at and we take those adults, we take the eggs from them and the milt.

We basically produce more fish.

My name is Hamid Seshadri.

I’m the Watershed Enhancement Manager here at Capilano Hatchery.

Once we have those eggs and sperm, we mix them together.

And then when the eggs have hatched into alevin, from the alevin they become fry.

And those fry are taken out into our outdoor ponds.

And then when they're ready to be released, we release them from the hatchery or the different areas that we have planned out for them And then the cycle continues.

Those smolts will spend anywhere from two to three to four years in the ocean, and then they come back and we repeat the cycle all over again.

That being said, there are different facilities, different hatcheries that are designed get the runs and the stocks back up and running and then stop enhancing that system.

That's kind of the way that we're going more forward, but there are places where you need a hatchery all the time, such as the Capilano.

Capilano, the run cannot sustain itself.

Just because the nature of the dam and the way it prevents fish from accessing the spawning grounds.

But we're also producing more than is needed for rebuilding for harvest purposes, there's a First Nation down at the mouth.

They can harvest fish for their needs.

There's the commercial fishermen, the recreational fishermen who could harvest for their needs.

It's very dependent on where the hatchery or the spawning channel is located, what their mandates are.

Most hatcheries are partnered with, the community they're in.

A lot of First Nation partnerships are involved with the hatcheries.

A lot of stewardship organizations are involved with the hatcheries as well.

And then you just have the general public.

So we do tours for the school groups.

We teach them about the salmon enhancement program, we teach about the salmon life cycle.

There’s always an effort to make things better.

Better for the fish, better for the environment, better for the overall ecosystem and the health of this ecosystem.

So hatcheries are just one part of the toolkit.

Sometimes you need support from a hatchery to augment the environment in a positive way.