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Please Visit One of the Companies Helping to Bring You the Resource Center!
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| The enhancement
project is based on a tributary to the upper Sol Duc named Snider Creek. This project has
become an important part of the rebuilding and continued maintenance of the early-run
native steelhead stocks on the Sol Duc River.
Run by the Olympic Peninsula Guides'
Association, we hope to expand this program into other area rivers in
the next few years. |
A success story from the program ... notice that the
fish only has one ventral fin. |
| You can help us by
letting the Washington Department of Fish and Game know that you might
support such an idea! Many of the area's guides and
businesses, as well as many of our customers have played a very important role in making
the program a success. |
| A little different than a standard
hatchery program, this project uses wild steelhead rather than
returning hatchery fish for the parent stock of the young. |
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| Somewhere between
50,000 and 100,000 smolts are planted into
the Sol Duc river each year as part of this program ... providing more opportunity for all
Sol Duc anglers. |
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A simple overview of
the program: 1) Wild
steelhead are caught via hook and
line by local residents, guides, and their customers.
2) These steelhead are tethered alive
to the boat and transported downstream to an area where a transport truck can retrieve the
live fish.
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Snider Creek as it enters the Sol Duc
River |
| 3) The steelhead are transported to
the hatchery facility where they are held until they are ripe enough to spawn. |
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4) Eggs are taken from the females and
fertilized from hand-stripped males.
5) The State of Washington Sol Duc
Salmon Hatchery incubates the eggs until they hatch.
6) Steelhead parr are transported back
to the Snider Creek facility to be reared until release age.
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One tethered up and ready for
transport! |
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7) Steelhead smolt are released into
the Sol Duc River
8) Smolt migrate to the sea to feed for a few years.
9) Adult steelhead return to the Sol Duc River to spawn in / near the Snider
Creek area!! Some others return to a trap facility on Snider Creek and these fish are also
artificially spawned.
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| Although technically hatchery fish
(they are marked by a clipped ventral fin), we look at these fish as natives and release
all that we can back into the river in hopes that they will spawn naturally in
the Snider
Creek region ... many pairs have been doing so over the last few years. |
Raceway at the Snider Creek Facility |
Our Opinion: Please help us by letting
Snider Creek fish go after they are caught ... each fish released helps preserve our
future angling opportunities!!
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If you would be interested in making a donation to
this program to help pay for food costs for the smolt, maintenance of
transport truck, salary of caretaker of the facility, and upkeep of the
facility, please
contact us, we can make arrangements for a donation.
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The Rearing Pond at the Snider Creek
Hatchery. |
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