Today i was fishing the upper skagit when i saw two boats netting.So i thought to my self why are the indians netting the kings up here they are no good for nothing but eggs? But after fishing i decided to take a trip over to the hatchery,there i saw the same two boats that were netting in the river they were unloading all the fish "NATIVE KING SALMON" into the hatchery pens to spawn them.. so i decided to ask my friend steve who works at the hatchery why these biologists are netting the salmon if the hatchery already had there quota two months ago..he told me that they have a ninty percent better survival rate. but i said didnt GOD intend for those fish to spawn up there,if they had made it that far i am sure they can spawn on there own. to me this is an outrage those fish dont need to be gillnetted and brought into the hatchery they can spawn on there own.. let me know what you think......

I belong to a enhancement group and we do the same thing, we take native stock from that system, spawn them and then raise them in incubators and release them when they are ready to go. What this does is build the stock that is native to that river back up and once it is at a self sustainable level we will no longer have to do this because they will be able to accomplish this on there own. These native brood stock programs have been very successful and I would encourage it to continue and for more people to get involved, it works.
Peace Superfly

Okie,

What you observed is part of a long term investigation intended to improve Skagit chinook runs. Wild chinook runs on the Skagit have been in a depressed stock status for quite a few years - last year's good escapement was unusual in the last decade or more. Hatchery chinook have never performed well in the Skagit. That is, for the number reared, the smolt to adult survival rate has been consistently poor.

While it is certainly true that those chinook that make it to the upper river are quite capable of spawning on their own without any human assistance or interference, this research project is the only way to discern the cause, or causes, of low returns for both wild and hatchery kings. Although many self-styled experts in the Skagit vicinity claim to know the causes and cures for the chinook salmon's problems, the facts don't support the various allegations. Absent factual information about what is causing poor chinook survival, it would take a stroke of luck against long odds to reverse the trend, since many less-informed attempts to improve chinook runs have been attempted without success.

The eggs from those wild chinook are incubated at the hatchery, the young fish tagged, and then reared briefly at a site near the river. They are released in the upper river to migrate with the wild fish, and sampled at the Burlington trap and in the estuary and eventually the many marine fisheries that they are caught in. This is presently the best available approach to solving the Skagit chinook productivity problems. Hope this helps and tempers your outrage.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.

please educate me, when hatchery fish spawn they come back to the hatchery every year, so if you take native fish spawn them in the hatchery build the wild stock were are the wild fish going to spawn after the wild run is strong and no longer managed by the hatchery, i see were salmo g states the are briefly reared at a site along the river then released does that mean the salmon that do make it back are going to spawn in the same place? not trying to be sarcastic

salmo g,
is there a way to selectively fertilize the eggs? I was just wondering if wild fish are selective in picking mates when they spawn, Large male with large females etc. If the eggs and milt of many fish are just mixed togehter won't we end up with just a lot of wild fish that are basicly the same size?

DK & LT,

The kings taken to the Skagit hatchery get their final rearing and release offsite in the upper Skagit so that they will most likely return and spawn naturally among the other native kings in the river. For purposes of the program, and the improvement of the wild run, the state and tribes don’t want a “domesticated” hatchery strain of summer chinook. This is why you’ll see them taking wild broodstock each year as long as this program continues.

Yes, selective fertilizing of eggs was long the common method of fish culture. That is also considered a major contributor to creating some of the poorer characteristics of our hatchery populations. In the wild, the largest males would seem to take their pick of the lot. However, they cannot be everywhere at the same time, so smaller males, and even jacks, manage to shoot their wad into creating the next generation of fish. Not exactly random, but it seems to make for a fairly complete mix of successful genotypes to perpetuate the run. Nowadays most hatcheries, as a matter of policy, utilize random mate selection technique for egg fertilization. The hatchery salmon of today are already somewhat different than their homogenous “white bread” predecessors.

The main way to avoid chinook that are all alike in this program is that wild broodstock are taken each year, so the compounding effects of multiple generations of hatchery fish culture are avoided.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.