Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation Releases 25,000 Juvenile Chinook into Smith River

This is a press release from the Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation:

The Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation’s Fisheries Division and staff at Rowdy Creek Fish Hatchery released approximately 25,000 juvenile Chinook Salmon into the lower Smith River on Friday, May 15. The release was the culmination of an annual fish enhancement program that started with the seining and spawning of adult Chinook in late fall.

The hatchery aims to release a total of 60,000 Chinook salmon this spring to support subsistence harvest for tribal members and maintain local recreational fishing opportunities for the public.

The process began last October when staff from the Nation’s Natural Resource and Public Works and Facilities departments, with help from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, collected adult Chinook Salmon from the mainstem Smith River using a beach seine. The salmon were transported in a holding tank by trailer to the hatchery.

At the hatchery, eggs were collected from females and fertilized using milt (sperm) from males. The eggs were incubated until they hatched. In February, Fisheries Division and hatchery staff began transferring Chinook salmon fry (young salmon whose yolk sac is almost fully absorbed) to outdoor ponds for their next stage of growth, where they learn to feed. During the ponding process, staff weigh and count small batches of fry to estimate the number of fish that have been ponded. On May 15, the first of two batches of juvenile salmon were transported in the holding tank to the Fred Haight Boat Ramp on the Smith River.

All of the juvenile Chinook salmon are adipose-clipped and given a coded wire tag prior to release. This helps distinguish them from wild populations and to track their survival, migration and catch rates. The data collected helps the hatchery staff and other wildlife agencies manage fisheries while protecting vulnerable wild fish.