THE CHEMAWA AMERICAN
H. E. WADSWORTH, Superintendent
VOLUME 17 ARRIL, 1915 NUMBER 7
OREGON FISH HATCHERY
THE GREATEST OF ITS KIND IN THE WORLD
NE of the most interesting and instructive articles that
has come to our notice in a long time appeared in the
Oregon Journal of March 14, 1915, and was written
by Fred Lochley. It is well worth reprinting and is
as follows:
The fish hatchery at Bonneville is the largest of its
kind in the world.
Leaving Portland from the Union depot at 7:50 a. m. on the Pendle
ton local you , arrive at Bonneville, 39 miles east of Portland, at 9:25
o'clock.
You can put in six hours both pleasantly and profitably at Bonneville,
returning to Portland on the local train that passes through there at
3:50 p. m. and arrives at Portland at half-past five o'clock.
The Columbia Highway passes within a hundred yards of the hatch
ery and the run to Bonneville makes an ideal motor trip.
At present there are 17,000,000 fish at the Bonneville hatchery. Sup
erintendent T. H. Wilson took me over the grounds if a score or more
of ponds, lakes and streams can be called grounds.
"It will soon be supper time for the fish," said Mr. Wilson, "so we
will go to where their food is being prepared. We put up about 60 tons
of smelt each year for this station as feed. ,
"We keep it in cold storage in Portland. We feed from a ton to a ton
and a half of smelt a week, the amount depending on the weather.
"The water has been pretty cold lately, being about 41 degrees. The
fish will not eat much when the water is cold. When the water ranges
in temperature from 45 to 54 degrees the fish thrive best. At that
temperature they will eat from three to four times as much as when
the water ranges from 37 to 41 degrees and as a consequence they grow
rapidly."
We went through the fishes restaurant. Great trays of smelt were
being cooked and big kettles of middlings were being made into mush.