HATCHERY NEWSLETTER
SJ Hatchery / Manager's Report – A Summary of January, 2010
1) BY 2008 Chinook Salmon- 
At present, all BY 2008 chinook are being fed Clark 's Fry, 2.0 mm, at a 1.00 % feed rate. Freshwater temperatures during January have averaged around 4 degrees C. At the time of writing of this report, BY 2008 chinook have an average size of 12 grams per fish. Total population of BY 2008 chinook at present is around 100,000 fry. These fry are rearing in 4 circular ponds, Ponds 9, 11, 12, and 13.
The Hatchery Manager's plan for spring, 2010, is to begin introducing saltwater into chinook circular ponds by April, increasing flows gradually, to facilitate smolting, and preparation for releases into the estuary in mid-May.
Coded wire tagging of chinook ended on January 22 nd . A total of 23,277 chinook were adipose fin clipped and coded wire tagged, using Tag Code 04 17 64
2) BY 2008 Coho Salmon-
At present, all BY 2008 coho are being fed Clark 's Fry 2.0 mm, at a 1.00 % feed rate. Freshwater temperatures during December have averaged around 4 degrees C. At the time of writing of this report, BY 2008 coho have reached an average size of 9 grams per fish. Total population of BY 2008 coho at present is around 136,000 fry. These fry are rearing in 8 circular ponds, Ponds 1 through 8.
Coded wire tagging of cohos began on January 25 th . A total of 20,000 cohos will be marked, using Tag Code 04 20 67
The Hatchery Manager's plan for spring, 2010, is to begin introducing saltwater into coho circular ponds by April, increasing flows gradually, to facilitate smolting, and preparation for releases into the estuary in mid-May.
3) BY 2009 Pink Salmon-
Pink salmon eggs were fertilized during two days this fall, August 22 nd and August 25 th . These eggs were incubating in R-30s 6, 7, and 8. Total number of females spawned was 669. At a fecundity of 1800 eggs per female, this amounted to a possible 1.2 million fertilized eggs. Following picking, seeding and counting, the fecundity was found to be around 1550 for the two days of eggtakes. Total number of pink eggs taken was 1,040,100. The number surviving to the eyed stage was 1,009,936, for an initial survival of 97.1 %.
Following thermal marking, using a 4,1 H marking plan, eyed pink eggs were seeded into Zenger boxes, stacks 1 and 2, at a loading of 150,000 eyed eggs per box.
At the time of writing of this report, the pink alevins are using up their yolk. Initial YSP (yolk sac pellet) % determinations will begin in February. Feed has been ordered from EWOS. The goal will be to get 1 million pink fry to a 2.0 gram release size by late May.
4) BY 2009 Chum Salmon-
Chum salmon eggs were fertilized during 4 days this fall, August 22 nd , August 29 th , September 5 th , and September 19 th . These eggs were incubating in R-30s 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, and 10.Total number of females spawned was 1093. At an estimated fecundity of 2200 eggs per female, this amounted to a possible 2.4 million fertilized eggs. Following picking and counting, the fecundity was found to be closer to 2150.
All of the R-30 #1 and #2 chum eggs, as well as 378,050 eggs from R-30 #3 were thermally marked, using a 4 H code, and then seeded into Zenger stacks 3 and 4. All the rest of the eyed chum eggs were transported to Medvejie Hatchery, to become part of the Deep Inlet production in the spring of 2010. Total number of chum eggs transported to Medvejie Hatchery was 1,123,000.
At the time of writing of this report, the chum alevins are using up their yolk. Initial YSP (yolk sac pellet) % determinations will begin in February. Feed has been ordered from EWOS. The goal will be to get 1 million chum fry to a 2.0 gram release size by late May.
5) BY 2009 Chinook Salmon-
Water to the adult raceways and the fish ladder was turned on during June. A total of 15 adult Chinook returned to the hatchery via the fish ladder, and were transported to, and placed into Pond 7. The majority of these fish were males. Two females reached maturity, and were spawned on August 14 th and August 27 th . One male broodstock Chinook was used to fertilize the eggs from each female. The August 14 th and 27 th eggtakes have been shocked, picked, and the eggs counted and seeded into individual Heath trays. The August 14 th and 27 th eggs have both hatched.
On August 30 th , Dan and two volunteers went to the Medvejie Hatchery, and spawned 31 pairs of Chinook, in classic "remote eggtake fashion". The gametes were brought back to the SJ Hatchery, fertilized and placed into Heath trays for eyeing. In addition, kidney tissue samples were taken for the purpose of screening for BKD.
BKD screening resulted in no positive adults- all females spawned were "BKD negative". Chinook eggs from Medvejie were picked on October 27 th and 28 th , and then counted. 110,000 eggs were then seeded into Heath trays, and have hatched.
All chinook alevins are slowly using up their yolk. Ponding is expected to begin in early March. A donation / price quote has been requested from Skretting, for feed to get all BY 2009 chinook to a 20 gram release size.
6) BY 2009 Coho Salmon-
Coho adults were spawned on Nov. 4 th , 10 th , and 17 th , for a total of 38 families so far. These eggs are incubating in divided Heath trays. BKD tissue samples were taken from female coho, and were sent to ADF&G. 23 of these families were spawned by students taking the UAS class, "Alaska Fish Culture Techniques", on November 10th.
Assuming a fecundity of 2,600 eggs per female, this amounts to a possible 98,800 eggs. 2 females remained in Pond 14, and were spawned on December 1st.
BKD results for coho were emailed on December 31 st . All kidney tissue samples were found to be negative for BKD.
The November 4 th eggs have reached 297 TUs, and can be shocked and picked anytime now. A donation / price quote has been requested from Skretting, for feed to get all BY 2009 coho to a 20 gram release size.
7) The hatchery will be open to visitors through the winter, and the Hatchery Manager will invite school groups to participate in fish culture activities as the season progresses.
8) Katherine Smith's last day of work at the SJ Hatchery was January 24 th . Alan Butler has been hired, and is expected to begin working as the new Hatchery Technician at the SJ Hatchery on February 8 th . I want to thank Katherine for all her hard work and dedication to this program.
Dan Goodness