Hatchery operations: Sustaining salmon runs in British Columbia

Hatchery operations: Sustaining salmon runs in British Columbia

Every year, the Capilano hatchery transports and releases 7,500 adult coho salmon above the Cleveland Dam.

In the 1950s, the dam was constructed to supply Metro Vancouver with clean drinking water.

However, it blocked the coho's access to their natural spawning grounds.

Since that time, a truck and transport program has been in place to mitigate the impact of the dam.

Hatchery staff load the coho that have returned to the hatchery into a transport tank and truck them above the dam to be released.

There, they have over 100 square km of pristine habitat in which they can spawn.

The fry that are hatched live in the streams and tributaries of the upper Capilano river for a year or up to 2 years before heading back out to sea as smolts.

When they return as adults, they become part of Capilano's coho run.

These coho are used as brood to meet next year's hatchery release targets.

Thus ensuring that the brood genetics are diverse and that domestication traits are mitigated as much as possible.

It's a hands-on process that helps sustain a healthy population of coho in the Capilano River for commercial, sport, and First Nation fisheries.