It has been an exciting week
for our Chinook salmon hatchery fish. On Monday, I was sent to the Tofino
Fish Hatchery, to help five people employed by the Department of Fisheries and
Oceans (DFO). We clipped off the adipose fin, which identifies the fish
as hatchery when in the wild and then they were tagged. The tags are no
more than a millimeter long with a number inscribed on all four sides which are
inserted into cartilage in the fish’s snout. The number determines
the river in which the fish was released; this was a requirement, by DFO, due
to the fact that the Bedwell River is classified as an indicator river.
The fish are anesthetized before they are handled to help reduce to
possibility of stress and injury. It took us from 8:30am until 4:30pm
to clip and tag 24000 fish.
Once the fish reach a weight
of approximately 5 grams they are ready to be released into the Bedwell
River. Tuesday, Doug Palfry and his crew, from the Tofino Fish Hatchery,
released 12000 fish into the river. He plans on releasing the remainder
fish once they are closer to the ideal weight of 5 grams; within the next two
weeks. Please check out the pictures added to the photo album titled
“Bedwell Fish Hatchery” and click on the following link to view a video clip of
the salmon being released. Download P6050001 Download P6050003
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