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[chris gadsden]

The Chilliwack River Hatchery  Brood Capture program resumed today after taking a break for a couple of weeks. The hatchery boys were busy today picking up some nice wild steelhead from the volunteer anglers. When hatchery staff picked up the wild buck from me around 11 AM it was the 6th one of the day. I am please to have tubed 4 this year for the hatchery.

 The crew informed me they now have all the does they need and will be taking a few more bucks. Usually around 70 fish is the number needed to provide hatchery steelhead for the future and for you, That is if you like the odd one to take home for the table.

[chris gadsden]

Brood capture wrapped up today as staff picked up the last 3 bucks (total 35) needed for the 2012 program. Thanks to all volunteers who carried tubes and others that contributed fish to the volunteers, that will insure we have hatchery steelhead in the future for those that like to keep fish for the table.

[frozensalmon]

35? so maybe we are expecting like how many fish in 2016 or 2017?

[chris gadsden]

35? so maybe we are expecting like how many fish in 2016 or 2017?

A total of 70 steelhead (35 does, 35 bucks) are taken for brood. What the returns will be is hard to say as of course a number of factors come into play during each cycle. We of course never know what will happens in the ocean before they return to the Chilliwack Vedder River system.
Lets hope it keeps pace with the last 2years.

[BentRodsGuiding]

If they would keep trout fishing to catch and release until september 1st I know that would see the PRESUMED Ocean survival climb substantially.
I have seen far too many bags full of hatchery and wild smolts wiggling their way back to peoples cars in july and august, crying shame really.

[Dave]

Rod, the problem is these hatchery parr are released to small; not all will smolt and migrate.  The solution is to ensure the hatchery releases fish of sufficient size; they need to be reared on warmer water and fed more. That means it costs DFO more money to raise fish over which they have no jurisdiction. 

[lovetofish]

Are these wild steelhead that are used for broodstock released back into the river, or are they killed during the egg and milt recovery process?
 I only recall seeing the chum worked on at the Chehalis, but salmon die at spawning anyway. I am just curious.
Thanks

[BentRodsGuiding]

Dave I am not sure what the size of the smolts are at release time would have to do with the mass killing of both wild and hatchery smolts during july and August. Every year while i am angling for Chinooks I see guys indiscrminately killing wild and hatchery smolts way past any limits. I am suggesting that keeping the river catch and release during this time might keep these anglers at the stocked lakes instead.

[BentRodsGuiding]

The Chehalis Steelhead that we captured for Fraser Valley trout hatchery were live spawned then released in the Fraser, that was about 5 years ago.

Vedder River is a different program so not sure how they do it, member Buck would have those answers for sure.

[chris gadsden]

Are these wild steelhead that are used for broodstock released back into the river, or are they killed during the egg and milt recovery process?
 I only recall seeing the chum worked on at the Chehalis, but salmon die at spawning anyway. I am just curious.
Thanks

They have air spawned them in the past.

[Dave]

Dave I am not sure what the size of the smolts are at release time would have to do with the mass killing of both wild and hatchery smolts during July and August. Every year while i am angling for Chinooks I see guys indiscrminately killing wild and hatchery smolts way past any limits. I am suggesting that keeping the river catch and release during this time might keep these anglers at the stocked lakes instead.

Rod, larger sized smolt releases invariably leads to increased adult returns. If the juvenile steelhead parr released from the hatchery migrated from the system, as smolts do, this would not be an issue. Problem is the fish released by the hatchery are not smolting, so they residualize and are caught by anglers, gulls, mergansers, herons ...
I do agree wild juveniles should not be harvested but C&R on rbt while chinooks are open would be impossible to enforce - really, FO's are on the Fraser at this time and CO's are busy with bears.

Chilliwack hatchery steelhead are air spawned and that's another rant for another time

[silver ghost]

Rod, larger sized smolt releases invariably leads to increased adult returns. If the juvenile steelhead parr released from the hatchery migrated from the system, as smolts do, this would not be an issue. Problem is the fish released by the hatchery are not smolting, so they residualize and are caught by anglers, gulls, mergansers, herons ...
I do agree wild juveniles should not be harvested but C&R on rbt while chinooks are open would be impossible to enforce - really, FO's are on the Fraser at this time and CO's are busy with bears.

Chilliwack hatchery steelhead are air spawned and that's another rant for another time

Yeah, the enforcement issue is definitely a valid point during said time period. But at least the guys who actually follow the rules might choose to fish during said stocked lakes during this time when they hear through the grapevine or at a tackle shop [assuming they dont read regs] there is no retention of hatchery 'trout'.

Based on what I have gathered from different hatchery staff, the bucks do very well, and almost always swim away happily and relatively healthily. Most females which are air-spawned do not usually do very well afterwords...if they survive to the point where the staff put them back in the river, I have high doubts that they will survive for very long after [how would they ever get mechanically injected air out of their bodies? well they wouldn't...]. All else being equal, that's the price we pay for a [pretty decent] hatchery steelhead program.

[Fish Assassin]

What is "air spawned"?

[firebird]

Dave I am not sure what the size of the smolts are at release time would have to do with the mass killing of both wild and hatchery smolts during july and August. Every year while i am angling for Chinooks I see guys indiscrminately killing wild and hatchery smolts way past any limits. I am suggesting that keeping the river catch and release during this time might keep these anglers at the stocked lakes instead.

I'm curious as to the reasoning behind this hatchery rainbow trout opening. Does anyone know why it is there? I'm guessing that the number of smolts released is larger than necessary to produce the desired number of returning adults so as to allow a summer hatchery trout fishery. Am I correct?

I totally agree about the concern for killing of wild smolts. This needs to be addressed.

[chris gadsden]

What is "air spawned"?

You will find it here.
http://www.ustfa.org/Trout%20production/Disease%20Prevention%20on%20Fish%20Farms%20%20%20MO%20dept%20of%20cons.pdf