On March 6, in bright sunshine, a large group of visitors and volunteers helped Chapman Creek Hatchery manager, Bill Krause, with releasing this year’s first cohort of pink salmon raised in the hatchery this fall and winter.
Sunday’s pink cohort of fry/smolt release totaled 25,559 individual fish, each averaging 0.23 grams. These fish were bred from the successful pink salmon run on Chapman Creek last fall with the help of numerous volunteers. They are now in the wild, one week after their first feeding, and 18 months before the remaining fish will return to the creek to once again breed.
The event demonstrated the resilience of the volunteers and staff in the face of COVID and the massive impact of the atmospheric rivers of last fall. Hopefully, the hard work put in to raise these lovely pink salmon will help in the hatchery’s mission to sustain and develop the salmon presence in our ecosystem.
The crowd included 25 children and more than 60 adults who helped carry the salmon from their tank to freedom in Chapman Creek. The hatchery thanks every one who participated. In the coming weeks, volunteers will release more pink salmon, as well as coho and chinook smolts. Watch for more news on some events where you can come and enjoy the hatchery and help sustain our coastal salmon stocks.
