The collapse of the Chinook Salmon (a.k.a.: King or Spring) run this year in California's Sacramento River has led to a declaration of failure in West Coast salmon fishery. Only 60,000 chinooks are expected to return to the river to spawn and the resulting next generation will be a depleted population that will return from the oceans 4 to 6 years from now. Remedial measures being done involve seeding hatchery-bred Chinook Smolts (juveniles) straight into the ocean waters where they will essentially live in a wild environment. This fish culture practice is called "sea ranching".
Right here in the Greater Vancouver Region, British Columbia, there are government funded efforts to support a sustainable salmon population. For instance, the Capilano River Hatchery produces chinook and coho frys from returning wild stocks.
It usually takes a full year from the time the eggs are hatched to the time the new fish reach the smolt stage (approximately six inches body length) before they are released into the Capilano River. The fish swim downstream into the Burrard Inlet that leads them to the Straight of Georgia and eventually into the deep, wild and pristine waters of the west pacific ocean where they will feed on their natural foods. Other predatory fishes will reduce the hatchery-bred population and the survivors will return to their river of birth in the next 3 to 5 years. The next offsprings will once again be cultivated with closely supervised feeds and feeding programs.
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