Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 21, 1978)
Fish ferment in Weyerhaeuser pools By NANCY MARSHALL Of the Emerald A forest products company, well-known for growing fir trees, has hatched another natural re source renewal project — that of raising salmon. In May of 1977 Weyerhaeuser Company began construction of a salmon hatchery just outside of Springfield, southeast of the Hayden Bridge on Marcola road. It was completed in January of this year. A tall fence encloses the large gray square swimming pool-like tanks which make up the hatch ery. A few are filled with water now. An office building set near the tanks stands nearly com pleted. Weyerhaeuser personnel hope this in time will become the nation’s largest privately owned salmon hatchery. In 1975 they bought out Oregon Aqua Foods, which had been rais ing and selling pan-sized fish. Aqua Foods, now fully maintained as a subsidiary of Weyerhaeuser, operates the project, at a cost of $10 million. Six million dollars of the total was used to construct the hatch ery, $2 million went to a facility in Newport and $2 million went to a facility in Coos Bay. JOURNALISM MAJORS There’s still time to gain reporting and photography experience at the Emerald before you graduate this spring. Pay is low, but ambition and dependability will guarantee you a place to develop and apply journalisitc skills. Come up to 300 EMU for an application and interview. H ((111 KOOBDOOGA BOOKSTORE ANNIVERSARY SALE Feb. 20th - Feb. 25th 15% Off all books in stock Save $2.00 off each of these bestsellers: John Fowles, DANIEL MARTIN; Carlos Casteneda, SECOND RING OF POWER; J.R.R. Tolkien, SILMARILUON; James Fixx, COMPLETE BOOK OF RUNNING; Anais Nin, DELTA OF VENUS; Michael Herr, DISPATCHES; John McPhee, COMING INTO THE THE COUNTRY. *51 s. 15th 10-10 Sally ll-OS«M*ay Page 12 Eggs to become salmon steaks Photo by Qrag QawtowaM These newly constructed fish tanks just outside Springfield will soon be spawning small salmon, as a result of a new Weyerhauser profit venture. After reaching fingerling size in the tanks, the salmon will be given a short vacation in the sea, called back home and eaten. “The company hopes to release 80 million salmon in the next 10 years—mostly coho and Chinook, and a smaller number of chum,” says Jim Bradbury, public affairs manager for Weyerhaeuser. The company purchases the tiny salmon eggs for the hatchery. A few trays filled with the BB-sized fish eggs are incubating in the tanks now. Here they will grow until they’re smelt size—about six inches. These tiny eggs will reach their smelt-like length in six months instead of the 18 it nor mally takes. The fish grow in purified water. Before fish are put in the tanks, water from the nearby paper mill, and the McKenzie are mixed, creating a cool water environ ment. The release-recapture site is something like a large swimming pool, enclosing the fish for two or three weeks and imprinting in them a memory to return from the ocean when they’ve matured. Then they are set free to cruise in the ocean for two to four years. This water-mix will be an ideal environment for the fish — better than any natural spot, according to Bradbury. When the fish reach about six inches in length, they take a trip to the beach by truck. A release recapture site is now located at Newport and another site will be constructed sometime this spring at Coos Bay. Once they grow to maturity the fish will, in a sense, smell their way back to the swimming pool. Aqua Foods will net the salmon in the tank and sell them to commercial markets. Eventually, eggs from the spawning salmon will be taken and brought back to the hatchery to make the cycle complete. During their cruising period in the ocean, the salmon become fair game to anyone — fishermen will hook a portion and many will become a part of the food chain. This spring Weyerhaeuser hopes to release five million coho salmon from Newport and in a few years recover about two percent of those. March 1 marks the official dedi cation day for the new salmon hatchery. Among those observing will be Gov. Bob Straub. Senior issues discussed on television health series By KEVIN HARDEN Of the Emerald Lane County senior citizens health problems will be the focus of a new year-long television series beginning the last week in February. According to Jim Davis, execu tive director of the Lane County Gray Panthers, the new television series will attempt to present vari ous health issues facing area senior citizens and will provide in formation on the types of services available for those who need health care. The series will consist of 11 30-minute programs that cover top ics ranging from general health problems to denture care, Davis says. The series, which is sponsored in part by the Eugene Commission on Aging, the county’s Gray Panthers and the Oregon State Council on Senior Advocacy, will be aired by KOZY-TV the last Sunday of each month at 1 p.m. Bill Dwyer of the television station, says. The first program will be shown Saturday. The series is the first of its kind to focus specifically on senior citi zens’ health problems, Davis ex plains. Although other radio and TV series have covered senior problems, none have attempted to answer some of the questions the new program will answer, he says. Davis and the Gray Panthers organization have sponsored a ELECTRONIC CALCULATORS HAYWARD i DAVIS CLARY BUSINESS MACHINES 1070 W. 6th Avenue EUGENE 344-4181 similar radio-TV show, Senior Perspectives, which has dealt with broader issues than just health care, Davis says. "Senior Perspectives has been quite suc cessful. There are a lot of people watching, but there is so much to cover in the health area, that we just couldn’t do it on one show." Davis and the Gray Panthers received nearly six hours of air time for the rest of the year from KOZY-TV as part of the station's public service broadcasting re quirement, Dwyer says. The time is worth $60 in air time costs, he says. The shows, which will cover top ics from general health care to longevity, will consist of a question-and-answer format with local physicians, nurses and nu tritionists. The first program will focus on general health topics, Davis says. The questions that will be asked during the program will include whether professional health care personnel look far enough into the everyday health problems of seniors and whether problems such as economic insecurity and isolation affect a senior’s health. Other shows, which will con tinue through December, will focus on Community Health services and the help they offer, Medicare problems, physical fitness, senior dental care and nutrition for seniors. Taping for the first program will begin later this week, Davis says. Tuesday, February 21, 1978
