An interim Tsilhqot’in led salmon conservation hatchery near Hanceville is up and running.
Tsilhqot’in National Government Vice Chair, Chief Otis Guichon said it began full operation back in September with their first batch of Chilko Chinook Salmon eggs and explained how it got started.
“Looking at all the salmon that started to decline, especially with the Chinook, we wanted the DFO to put in a hatchery somewhere on the Chilko but they weren’t listening. So we had to take it upon ourselves to start one up with our great team we have at the TNG Fisheries Department, and they got things going, so now we are where we are now with the small start of a hatchery.”
Guichon said this is all about conservation, to help bring back the numbers of Chinook and Salmon up to where it should be at, even with the Steelhead, they are a big decline up and down the river.
“It’s time that we start taking control of that and start to bring that back up. The first batch they got this past summer came from one male and one female adult Chinook salmon. The second batch came from one female and two male Chinook salmon that all came from the Chilko Lake system,” Guichon said.
The eggs are still in their yolk sac and once it is fully absorbed they will become fry.
The salmon conservation hatchery will then pond the fry in early February and release them into the Chilko system near Henry’s Crossing in mid April.
The TNG says this is a key milestone in their staged approach to developing long-term hatchery capacity in the Tsilhqot’in Territory.
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