This year's annual fish planting was completed during March and April. Coho Salmon were planted into Scotts, Waddell, Pescadero and Aptos Creeks, totaling 25,917 Coho Salmon. Scotts Creek Steelhead totaling 6,568 fish were put into Scotts Creek, and San Lorenzo River Steelhead totaling 7,774 were put back into the San Lorenzo River. This year’s spawning has been completed. Coho Salmon from the Captive Brood Stock Project with NOAA Fishery were spawned for the first time in this, the extinct year class, for Coho Salmon on the Central Coast. From 16 females only 5,006 eyed eggs were produced. About 2,000 are now fry in the trough, with a couple more fish remaining in the incubators to swim up.

A total of 3 Scotts Creek female Steelhead were spawned producing 9,527 eyed eggs, 5,800 have been put into tanks for rearing in the Hatchery and 3,458 have been planted out by NOAA fisheries.
A total of 11 San Lorenzo River female Steelhead were spawned, producing 52,758 eyed eggs. So far 43,000 are out in troughs, with 2 females still in incubation.

I will be working at the Lower Harbor during this year’s Big Fish Derby. If any of you have questions about the Hatchery, or would like to volunteer for one of the many projects we are working on, please feel free to come by and talk.

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Seasonal Newbies

By Mary Hermansky, Volunteer Coordinator

Thank God for coffee!! 8:30 a.m. isn’t exactly angler-time but for those of us on tea time, 8:30 a.m. requires coffee! The mist was still hanging in the trees as our new trainees began their introduction into the nuances of feeding & burping fry and trough cleaning. Al and Dave led the willing through the daily routine. I attended for an update on procedures and to become acquainted with the new faces. Believe it or not, after 3 years, I just met Dan Flanagan! He’s one of the many important people!

After making the morning rounds, we took a walk on the wild side to inspect the water intake upstream. Numerous banana slugs, rough-skinned newts and a garter snake reminded us to watch our step. Water was still gushing over the levee due to the prolonged spring rain, swelling Big Creek enough to earn respect for its pouring current. The seasonal stream feed of Berry Creek formed cataracts as we followed it up the mountainside to check another intake. We shared bits of our interests, experiences, discoveries and, not to be forgotten: fish stories – BIG STORIES…some people call them lies, some call them “partial truths,” others concede that “you just had to be there to see ‘IT’ for yourself”. In fact, the following ditty came to mind: “Early to Bed, Early to Rise, Fish all Day, Make up Lies!” Well, enough of the “fibbing” theme before any more “erroneous” character statements are made! (By the way, Dave’s flask-filling lessons will be announced soon…especially handy during wintertime!)

So let’s welcome Don McVay, Neil Hulse, Jerry Granger, and Heather Swanson, with a few more to follow as we work them into THE ROUTINE and the chasing of newts. They bring specialties, skills and hobbies that contribute to the entire operation, keeping it up & running and in tip-top shape. In fact, more than a few names figure BIG TIME (you know who you are…Dan & George…) into enhancing the facilities and should be mentioned – like YOU, SETH. Expect a call to share your story! Brad & Angela simply can’t compete with our own “shed talk!”

This time of year is labor intensive. As the fry emerge from their “buttoning-up” phase (drum-roll for fish-lingo puleez!), and enter the troughs, the number of working volunteers doubles. The hatchery is filled to capacity and requires twice-a-day cleaning to prevent waste bacteria from spreading rapidly amongst the fry. By mid-summer, the “fingerlings” are transferred to the raceway, and the labor demands slacken.

For our next newsletter, (the one announcing the Albacore Feed), a few more of you will have the chance to relate YOUR STORY, YOUR CONTRIBUTION, YOUR SLICE OF DRAMA. Remember! Without YOU we can’t do it without ANYONE! Let’s see…double negative…yes, that’s right: POOF! Read on for a few of our first contributors and their thoughts (no bear stories or 10-foot craw daddies yet!).

AND: For the pleasure of humor of the intellectual kind, please submit your own “fish poem,” limerick, 8-stanza count of “Beowulf Goes Fishing,” or simply: “Early to Bed & Lie All The Way” ditty. We’ll feature these morsels of wisdom & wit next time around. Use the newsletter address and mark it: “Fish Folly,” or Attn: Larry Wolf. Good Luck!

An ALERT: PLASTIC COFFEE CAN LIDS from the 2 lb. size are urgently needed. They are used in dispensing the fish food. The plastic lids wear-out, the cans don’t. Please send them to the Project’s address.

Thanks! Mary

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Volunteers' Corner

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A Busy Time for STEP
(Salmon and Trout Education Program)

By H. Miller and B. Fitch

As the song says…“We’re on the road again!”

It’s been a busy time for our STEP activities. During the past three weeks, a great team of volunteer members have been bagging and distributing eggs to STEP classes. By actual count, we have 108 approved California State Fish and Game permits for the distribution of 30 Steelhead Trout eggs per class, which means, 108 “certified” STEP classes in six counties are approved to receive eggs. Thus far, we have delivered to 80 of the approved classes with one more major distribution to be made. As you can appreciate, the STEP kids, in each class, have been really excited when seeing the arrival of “their” eggs.

Our Project owes a debt of gratitude to the many volunteers who have helped with this distribution activity. For most support members it has meant getting to the Hatchery early in the morning, doing the bagging, and then, traveling many miles to deliver to the assigned classes. To those great people, we say a very sincere…“Thanks!” (See listing, below).

As we can expect, in a few weeks, each of the certified classes will witness the incubation of their eggs and the hatching of fry…followed by the release of the fry in the San Lorenzo Watershed. Many of the classes will conduct a field-trip as part of their release activities. And, as always, we expect, later, to see many of the student letters expressing their appreciation.

We must not forget to tell you too that last February we had a great STEP Workshop in partnership with the staff at the National Marine Fisheries Laboratory in Santa Cruz. Each year, we usually conduct a two-day STEP Workshop to train and “certify” new STEP teachers at some location. One half-day, as part of the Workshop, is an on-stream study. This year, our Workshop was at the National Marine Fisheries Lab with the half-day on stream activity at Big Creek and the Project (Restoration) Hatchery.

It was a wonderful experience working with the members at the NMF Lab. This we say, both from our own experience as well as that witnessed from the 27 new teachers who attended. The Lab staff brought a great professional, energetic team support to this program. They participated, as trainers, in many of the training activities. And, of course, the location (of the Lab) completed a wonderful experience for everyone attending.

And, too, at the Workshop, we had the presence and return of our strong, strong team of trainers. It was good to see them back. (Names listed, below).

To support the appreciation for the Workshop, here’s a note from one of the attending Workshop teachers:

Hello,

I just wanted to thank you for a fantastic weekend of learning and fun! It was a fabulous workshop and I feel like I now have a lot of new ideas to integrate into my classroom. Everyone did a wonderful job and I will be recommending this program to my colleagues!

Kind Regards, Keely Nelson

What’s next on the STEP agenda? In a few weeks we will support the many release fieldtrips to the San Lorenzo Watershed. If you are interested in helping with this…or any other…STEP activity, please get in touch with us…Hugh Miller (HMiller334@aol.com) or Becky Fitch (rebeccafitch@yahoo.com)
See you on the stream or in a STEP classroom!

Thanks to all our STEP Support Members:

Egg Bagging and Distribution:

Bruce Keniston, Kristen Kittleson, Dan Mendez, Sandy Derby, Terry Umstead, Becky Fitch, Dave Turner, Vicky Knecht, Bruce Newhall, Tom Newhall, Mike Brinkley, Barry Burt, Mary Jane Rogers, May Miller, Barney Levy. (And, yes, our Hatchery Manager, Dave Streig).

Chiller and Aquarium Distribution:

Shiz and Judy Nakawatase, Keith Nelson, Bernie Genetti
Chiller Repair and STEP Equipment Storage
Pat Vance, Tom Ruiz, Bernie Genetti

STEP Workshop Team:

Barry Burt, Matt McCaslin, Mary Ann Clare, Carter Milhous, Char Biddle, Lynda Waller, Sandy Derby, Becky Fitch, Don Chesarek, Rick Berg, Bona Garrison, Sean Hayes, Erick Sturm, Bruce MacFarlane.

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Needed: Trailer for Trapping Fish at Felton Diversion Dam

?When trapping fish in the winter months, volunteers must be at the site. The trap is run mainly at night and the weather has not been friendly.We need to protect volunteers from cold and rain, otherwise few people will volunteer. MBSTP gets all of their brood stock for the San Lorenzo River at the Felton Fish Trap. Last, all the research being done on winter run migrating Steelhead are done at the trap. This research is vital to identify important aspects and scientific information useful to improving our local Steelhead populations. These people and their equipment need protection from the weather at night.