what do hatcherys do?

[Jooky]

So we have all these thousands of "wild" springers comming back home. well they go up the same rivers and get caught in the same fish traps or fish ladders as the hatchery fish....

What happens when they swim their way into a hatchery???

Do the hatcheries toss them above the fish trap or do they just mix them up with the rest of the fish (clipped fins)? or do they seperate the wild ones and make smolts from these?

Im guessing they sort them out and breed them with other "wild" fish.

The only way to get true wild fish are to let them choose who they mate with and spawn in the wild.

Does anyone know for sure what they do with the wild fish?

[ampersat]

in the past, they would simply let the native fish proceed upriver. now with the broodstock programs, they might hang on to a few for breeding and let them go once they're done spawning. i know they get some of their broodstock from fisherman but they may also be using fish from the traps.

[stlhdh2o]

I have watched the fish sorter at work on the Cowlitz...

They have like six buttons that they can push, each corresponds to a type of fish...the fish from the holding tank are run through a sorting chute that diverts them according to type and sex, each fish then goes in to a holding tank, hatchery fish are taken down river to run the corky gauntlet again, unclipped fish are released on the upper river...

I am sure this same or similar equiptment is used elsewhere in the hatchery business....

[ChinookSlayer]

The method of choice for the Fall Creek hatchery on the Alsea system was very simple and cost effective. No buttons, minimal personel, no worry of mis-handling the fish. A true dream system.... Just placed a couple of high current electrodes in the water and shocked the crap out of the fish.

It is a proven fact that when a fish turns up and floats, it is a lot easier to handle. Hey, who really cares if a few nate chinook also were included, they grind up just as well as hatchery fish.

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