Quilcene hatchery releases juvenile coho
Published 12:01 am Tuesday, May 22, 2012
QUILCENE — Quilcene National Fish Hatchery’s recent releases of nearly 600,000 juvenile coho salmon into Hood Canal and Puget Sound waters marked the 101st consecutive year the hatchery has continued a program that supports area tribal and sport fish harvests.
“Our coho production program has been under way since 1911, and over all these years has provided very important harvest opportunities for commercial, tribal and sport fishers,” said Dan Magneson, assistant hatchery manager.
On April 25, the hatchery released nearly 400,000 smolts — juvenile coho salmon ready to travel to the ocean — into the Big Quilcene River.
There, they began what will be an 18-month journey, after which they will return to native bays, rivers and streams as adults.
The release follows a March transfer of more than 200,000 “pre-smolts” to net pens that are operated by the Skokomish tribe in Quilcene Bay, where they were held for several months before release.
The hatchery also transfers 450,000 coho eggs every November to the George Adams Fish Hatchery, which supports the Port Gamble S’Klallam tribal net pen program.
Hatchery workers will begin marking and tagging coho salmon beginning June 4.
The public is invited to visit the hatchery to see this process or watch the video by visiting the hatchery’s web page at fws.gov/quilcenenfh/index.cfm.
