Hatchery rearing practices comparison

[ampersat]

I know we have a couple of degreed biologist types around here and I'm hoping you can help educate me and my fellow angler. My question is this: how do hatchery rearing practices match up against wild and native rearing conditions?

The recent thread about how broodstock fish bolt to the hatcheries got me to thinking about why this occurs and what relatively simple, inexpensive steps could be taken to correct this and enhance the angling experience for the inshore sport anglers.

[freespool]

Are the fish bolting because of genetics or environmental reasons? The late fall and winter weather patterns of 20yrs ago are far different from those we see today. In days of old rainy weather started in mid Oct. and stayed wet until late Feb. Each winter saw many small freshets, the water stayed high and fishable most of the winter. Now we see long dry spells, then heavy rain which blows the rivers out for days at a time. The fish all shoot up during high water, then we don't get any rain for a month, and the water drops and fish are scarse.

Maybe ODFW could breed a steelhead with a IQ of one, that way it would become easily confused and linger in the lower river longer. :tongue:


salmon hugger

[Jerry Dove]

ODFW is working on this as we speak. They are building a more natural hatchery in the old Fall Creek hatchery. If all proves well, I, feel that we will see more hatcheries like it. The fish will be raised in the creek, not in ponds. Contact ODFW for more details.

[ampersat]

I suppose one could answer the question by saying that fish are looking for that flat cement stretch of water they were born in, and modifying the hatchery environment itself is a solution to that.

How do releases of fry from the hatchery compare to what happens in the natural environment? I guess what I'm really looking for is a description of the lifecycle of a wild fish from fry to navigation to the ocean compare with the life cycle of hatchery raised fish. I haven't really tried to google anything up on it so if you've got some links you could post, that would be great.