Since 1871, the National Fish Hatchery System has been instrumental in bolstering recreational fishing and revitalizing declining aquatic species. This network of hatcheries collaborates with states and tribes to conserve, restore, and enhance America's fish and aquatic resources for future generations. One such facility is the Quinault National Fish Hatchery, co-managed by the Quinault Indian Nation, with a primary mission to fulfill the United States treaty obligations. Another is the Keta Creek Fish Hatchery, established by the Muckleshoot Tribe.
Quinault National Fish Hatchery: A Model of Co-Management
Located in the shadow of Olympic National Park, the Quinault National Fish Hatchery plays a vital role in the region's aquatic ecosystem. This facility annually raises and releases approximately three million fish, including Coho and Chum Salmon, as well as Winter-run Steelhead Trout.
Collaborative Management for Treaty Obligations
The Quinault National Fish Hatchery operates under a co-management agreement between the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the Quinault Indian Nation. This collaboration aims to restore and enhance the depleted salmon and steelhead runs on the Quinault Indian Reservation and adjacent lands. The species and quantities reared, along with release times, are subject to change based on hatchery evaluation findings, fisheries research, environmental conditions, and consensus between the USFWS managers and the Quinault Indian Nation.
Species Reared at Quinault National Fish Hatchery
The Quinault National Fish Hatchery focuses on rearing and releasing three primary species:
Chum Salmon (O. keta): The majority of these fish return to the hatchery during the first two weeks of November. Female and male adults ready to spawn once they reach the hatchery. Approximately 650 females are needed to collect enough eggs for a fry release of 2.15 million. Once the fry are liberated from the incubation trays, they are fed for about 40 days and then released into Cook Creek. Returning adult Chum salmon range in ages from 3 to 5 years.
Read also: Sockeye and Keta Salmon: Key Differences Explained.
Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch): The hatchery also raises and releases around 650,000 coho salmon per year. The number of 2 to 3 year-old adults who return to the hatchery each year varies, ranging from a few hundred to over 10,000. Baby coho salmon, or "fry", emerge from incubators in February and remain in our care until late spring, when we release them into the upper Tsoo-Yess River. These fry will spend an additional year in the river before migrating out to the ocean. Adults begin their migration back to the hatchery as early as September of each year.
Winter-run Steelhead (O. mykiss): The Quinault NFH also raises and releases 200,000 winter-run steelhead for the Quinault Indian Nation. These fish provide important commercial and subsistence fisheries to tribal members and offer quality tribal-guided sport fishing opportunities available to the general public. Yearlings (smolts) are released directly from the rearing ponds into Cook Creek.
The Hatchery Process
The Quinault National Fish Hatchery releases approximately three million young chum salmon, coho salmon and winter steelhead annually. The process of spawning adults, incubating eggs, rearing fry, marking and tagging fry, and releasing millions of fish each year requires dedicated year-round work from our hatchery staff, hatchery evaluation team, and fish health veterinarians.
Keta Creek Fish Hatchery: A Success Story of Tribal Investment
The Muckleshoot Tribe established Keta Creek hatchery and the Chum program in the late 1970s. Then in 2018, they expanded the program significantly, adding circular rearing tanks to accommodate increased production levels. Keta Creek Fish Production Specialist Ed Hamilton sees the record production and returns of Muckleshoot’s Chum Salmon Program as a point of pride. Under sheltering rain clouds and high water last month, 1.5 million Chum Salmon fry took a twisting, turning waterslide out of rearing tanks at Muckleshoot's Keta Creek hatchery and splashed out to freedom in Crisp Creek and the Green River.
Releasing Fry into the Wild
They were the first big release of about 5.3 million Chum fry raised at Keta Creek this year. The little fish will travel more than 27 river miles to the mouth of the Duwamish River in less than 30 hours. Those that escape the Trout, Herons, Cormorants, and other predators along the way are now feeding and growing in the briny waters of Puget Sound.
Read also: Keta Salmon: A Comprehensive Guide
Hatchery managers look for dark skies and cloudy water on release days to provide cover for the fry on their perilous journey to the salt water. The strategy has paid off with returns so strong, Tribal fisherman reported catches that literally sunk their nets last fall.
Benefits of the Keta Creek Program
Keta Creek Fish Production Specialist Ed Hamilton said releasing so many healthy fish after caring for them since they were in egg trays was not only an important milestone but also a relief. At one of the seven stock-tank sized rearing tanks emptied on the morning’s first release, more than 200,000 fish swam against a gentle circular current that helped condition them for the trip to the saltwater. Hamilton compared them to little body builders working out on a high-protein diet.
Hamilton said that the success translates into more Tribal members expressing their heritage and exercising their Treaty Rights.
A Measure of Success
Hatchery staff Ed Hamilton, David Drescher, and Tim Dunbar open the hatch to a Chum rearing tank and release about 200,000 fry into the creek below. The shimmering silver slivers turned downstream and took off.
After spending time and growing in Puget Sound they will head up as far as the Gulf of Alaska before returning to their natal waters in three, four, or for about five percent of the fish, even five years.
Read also: Healthy Keta Salmon Dishes
Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe’s “House of Salmon” Hatchery
The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe’s “House of Salmon” Hatchery was constructed and tasked with supporting the Elwha River Fisheries and Ecosystem Restoration Act (EREFRA)- Public Law 102-495, passed by Congress in 1992. House of Salmon construction was a cooperative effort funded through a Congressional allocation in support of the EREFRA and began operations in 2011.
The Importance of National Fish Hatcheries
Across the country, the network of National Fish Hatcheries work with states and tribes to conserve, restore and enhance the fish and aquatic resources of America for future generations. Since 1871 the National Fish Hatchery System has worked to restore aquatic species that are important to the health of our aquatic systems. Fish release from this hatchery also benefit the local sport and commercial fisheries as well.
tags: #keta #creek #fish #hatchery #information