Carson Fish Hatchery

Wednesday Randa and I drove over the dam and east of Stevenson.  14 miles up the Wind River is the Carson National Fish Hatchery.  Some hatcheries are state-run.  This one is operated by the US Fish and Wildlife Dept.  Wednesday was the last day of the annual Chinook Salmon "harvest".  After being out in the ocean for 3-5 years, the salmon respond to the urge to return to the stream that they traveled down as fingerlings and spawn.  Scientists believe they can accomplish this remarkable feat using their acute sense of smell.  They can follow a scent to their original stream.
     This year 725 Spring Chinook Salmon returned to Tyee Creek, just off the Wind River to do just that.  They made their way up the fish ladder at the Carson Hatchery and milled around in the holding tanks waiting to spawn.  In the wild the female would make a nest (redd) and lay her eggs in it. The male would swim over it and release is sperm ( milt) to drift down and mix with the eggs to fertilize them.  The hatchery way is a bit more industrial.
     The holding tank is made smaller, the salmon are taken out, one at a time, euthanized and the females emptied of their eggs and the males milked of their milt.  One male, one female.  Milt and eggs and mix, fertilization occurs. eggs are stored in trays under close supervision, running water, correct temperatures and safe habitat.  18 months later the 5 inch fingerlings are released into Tyee Creek to travel down Wind River , the Columbia River, to the Pacific Ocean to do it all over again.

A female Chinook Salmon gives up her eggs, 4000 to 5000

   

  

After fertilization the milt and any blood is poured off.The fertilized eggs are poured into trays and labeled as to what fish and what date they were harvested

The Eggs are stored in the stacks of trays in this safe room where the salmon can become tiny fish.

   
 It's an amazing process, both the natural way and the hatchery way.  The natural way is, well, more natural, but the hatchery way is 10 times more successful.  Without hatcheries, Salmon would rapidly become extremely rare or probably, extinct.   Extinction is forever !