[Salmonator]

Seen this info on web site on a hatchery on Babine lake.


A pair of spawning sockeye will lay about 30,000 eggs. Under natural stream conditions, only about 10% of those eggs will survive to emerge as fry. Of those 300 fry, 40% will survive to become smolts. Of those 120 smolts, less then 5% will survive to return to the Skeena as adults. And of those six adults, up to four fish may be caught leaving only two adults to continue the cycle.

Not very encouraging.

 

[sage2106lb]

With those calculations there should be the same amount of sockeye if not a little more returning back than the previous cycle. This is a figure DFO uses in a perfect scenario in which we never have...

The Fraser river early sockeye prediction is for two million to return back to the system...I hope there are right because in the past they seem to only get quarter back on the forcast... That means 500,000 sockeye back to the Fraser...YIKES...Maybe it is time to get the hatchery at Corbolt creek up and running again... Big numbers in the past...

The forcast for Chinook is not great on the entire coast also... Big changes coming in the wind in both fresh and salt water...

 

[steely_crazy]

YIKES...Maybe it is time to get the hatchery at Corbolt creek up and running again... Big numbers in the past...

I agree, and think its time to re-invest in the hatchery program to get any idled hatcheries working again. And not only for the socks.

 

[kingpin]

they won't be able to come up with a solution before its too late. close the river....the most effective move they can make

 

[sage2106lb]

they won't be able to come up with a solution before its too late. close the river....the most effective move they can make

They may close the salt chuck as well. Don't wish for it. This may happen :cheers: sage

 

[kingpin]

It's a bitter reality. Eventually sooner or later it will happen...and if thats the best thing for the stocks...then so be it.

 

[Steely]

This was an observation made on one of our B.C. rivers.

The male and female will repeat the spawning ritual until all the eggs are deposited. On average 800 to 1,000 eggs are deposited per redd, and the female will deposit eggs in 6 to 7 redds over a few days. Large female steelhead may have as many as 15,000 eggs. Survival of steelhead eggs is low - if just 1 in 1,000 eggs deposited survive to adulthood the spawning pair will have successfully completed its mission.

If we continue to fish commerical nets, and natives are putting theirs, we are only digging a bigger grave for these great fish. Every last one counts.

 

[professori]

To maintain any given population, of any species, before they pass on a mating pair must produce 2 offspring that will reach sexual maturity. This has always been the case. In the days before human predation became a problem, populations of salmon, buffalo, and carrier pigeons were at relatively stable numbers over a period of time. This was accomplished by having only 2 offspring reaching maturity, regardless of the species. To increase the a population, therefore requires that 3 or more offspring from each mating pair, reach maturity. This is more difficult to accomplish as it is outside the norms that nature operates by.

 

[Wookie]

A pair of spawning sockeye will lay about 30,000 eggs. Under natural stream conditions, only about 10% of those eggs will survive to emerge as fry. Of those 300 fry...

umm, hate to be a wanker, but isn't 10% of 30,000 = 3,000 and not 300?.wouldn't that lead to 60 or so fish returning?..I get the point though....

 

[King Fisher]

umm, hate to be a wanker, but isn't 10% of 30,000 = 3,000 and not 300?.wouldn't that lead to 60 or so fish returning?

you are correct but.... based on my knowledge much less than 60 fish return. Salmonator is most likely right about the 6 adults returning to spawn.

 

[goinfishin]

YIKES...Maybe it is time to get the hatchery at Corbolt creek up and running again... Big numbers in the past...

I agree, and think its time to re-invest in the hatchery program to get any idled hatcheries working again. And not only for the socks.

Was the lack of funding the cause of the closure of the hatchery?

 

[Steely]

A pair of spawning sockeye will lay about 30,000 eggs. Under natural stream conditions, only about 10% of those eggs will survive to emerge as fry. Of those 300 fry...

umm, hate to be a wanker, but isn't 10% of 30,000 = 3,000 and not 300?.wouldn't that lead to 60 or so fish returning?..I get the point though....

At least some fishermen didnt skip math class, to going fishing. :thumbup:

 

[sage2106lb]

YIKES...Maybe it is time to get the hatchery at Corbolt creek up and running again... Big numbers in the past...

I agree, and think its time to re-invest in the hatchery program to get any idled hatcheries working again. And not only for the socks.

Was the lack of funding the cause of the closure of the hatchery?

As DFO put it, the sockeye run should be able to sustain it self now. In other words lack of funding. :wallbash:

 

[hotrod]

When they say sustain itself they mean that 6 fish should produce enough smolts to have six fish return again. I think that they should bump up the numbers just a little.


Hotrod

 

[spring king]

I don`t think hatcheries are the solution to the problems. I think improvements to the survival of the salmon would be a more important solution. The fish requires food, decent river conditions to live and spawn in order to survive. The hatchery fish compete with the wild fish for for in the wild and can displace wild fish if there is insufficient food. Protecting the streams, rivers and wetlands would have a great affect on the survival of the fish. Closing down the salmon fisheries would not have a great as affect if the commercial fisheries on herring is kept open. I read in the newspaper about a month ago that hatchery fish have a harder time spawning upon their return as well.

I`m not against hatcheries, I just think that improving survival conditions would have a greater affect.

 

[pgBilly]

In regards to the Babine "hatchery" enhancement, to my knowledge there is not what I would classify as a hatchery there. The enhancment of the stocks is achieved through a series of spawning channels that are groomed and manicured to provide optimum spawning success. When I think of a hatchery I tend to picture a process through which the stock is raised within a facility. I would be very interested to find out what the cost to maintain the enhancement of the Babine lake sockeye is?

 

[professori]

I am not sure what the actual figures are, but I am certain that it is lower than many would expect. I lived for many years at Topley Landing, which is about 2km from the hatchery channels. The hatchery employees 3 full-time people throughout the year and another 1 or 2 during spawning season. There is monitored flow through the channels from Fulton lake during the spawning run. For a breif time before spawning (probably mid to late August if I remember) the water flow is diverted past the channels and gravel is trucked into the channels and is mechanically groomed prior to letting the sockeye into them. There is no hatchery system as such however, with controlled hatching and rearing of fry and smolts, hence non of that labour intensive brood stock collection, milking and clipping that takes up budget in that kind of operation. I believe the same situation exists in the other enhancement programs in that area, such as Nadina.

 

[kingpin]

Lets just Dam the fraser and completely ruin the fishery : Could sockeye hatcheries be the solution?

 

[goinfishin]

YIKES...Maybe it is time to get the hatchery at Corbolt creek up and running again... Big numbers in the past...

I agree, and think its time to re-invest in the hatchery program to get any idled hatcheries working again. And not only for the socks.

Was the lack of funding the cause of the closure of the hatchery?

As DFO put it, the sockeye run should be able to sustain it self now. In other words lack of funding. :wallbash:

Considering how much we pay for the licenses, I'm just surprised there aint more hatcheries around.

 

[dspot]

^I think license prices are very reasonable.