2005 January - Hatchery Manager's Report
Once again the holiday season is upon us, and we are into our busiest time of the year. The annual fin clip party Saturday, December 4th, is when we get our most accurate count of fish on hand, to be able to make plans for March plantings. Hopefully the heavy rains will begin soon, opening the sand bars at the creek mouths, and allowing Coho salmon and Steelhead adults to spawn. We expect the large year class of Coho salmon to be returning to the streams from mid-December through February. Plans are to spawn only a few captive Coho broodstock females this season because of the anticipated high return of Coho salmon occurring on Scotts, Waddell, and Gazos Creeks. With a good return of wild Coho, the adults from the captive broodstock will be released into Pescadero and Aptos Creeks at the appropriate time, to spawn in the unutilized habitat. This will begin a two pronged approach for reintroduction of Coho into these streams. Smolts produced from the year’s spawning of Coho salmon will be released next year into these streams, as well as into Scotts, Waddell, and Gazos Creeks, or any other local creeks designated by the Coho Recovery Team.
At the present time we have completed the construction of the new Captive Coho Broodstock Facility and the replacement of the raceway shade cloth and bird netting. We are still in the midst of Hatchery renovations to double the production capability for the Coho salmon, in order to meet the goals established in the Coho Recovery Plan.
We would like to thank the Packard Foundation again, for funding the purchase of the new deep Coho troughs and the new automatic sediment filtration system for the Hatchery. Thanks are also due to the numerous volunteers who have dedicated thousands of hours to our many operations, which include the trapping, spawning, rearing and planting our native salmon and steelhead. We also must thank the researchers and staff of NOAA Fisheries Santa Cruz Lab and the California Department of Fish and Game for their continued support of the cooperative restoration program founded 29 years ago.
We recently had a minor catastrophe at the Hatchery. The 220 electric dryer has just died. With the spawning season rapidly approaching, we are in need of another dryer. During the fish spawning process we generate piles of wet towels that will need to be dried. If you have a good electric dryer you would like to donate, please call the Hatchery at: 831-458-3095. Also needed are the lids from 2-lb.coffee cans. These will be used for the automatic feeders in the Hatchery.
Thank you for all of your continued support.
