August 7, 2003
Page 3
Spilyay Tymoo, Wjim Springs, Oregon
Hatetay news 25 years ff ecce
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The hatchery's role in restoring fish populations
The Confederated Tribes
of Warm Springs realized
long ago the need to restore
the fishery resource, not
only for the benefit of Indi
ans, but for everyone.
The Warm Springs Na
tional Fish Hatchery was
started as a cooperative ef
fort to make more fish
available on the Columbia,
Deschutes, and Warm
Springs rivers. Each year
young chinook salmon are
released into the Warm
Springs River to replenish
and restore fish populations.
. The hatcher)' provides a
safe environment for the de
velopment of eggs, fry and
fingerlings. Controlled con
ditions allow the fish to
grow as large as possible
before release, giving them
a better chance of surviv
Indian education organization meets at
... .. . , :.. KT.-..U rm,Vir.n a nniminKiit rrAn in orftinu im-
The Warm Springs Tribal
Council sponsored a dinner at
Kah-Nee-Ta High Desert Re
sort and Casino to welcome the
National Indian Education As
sociation board before the as
sociation kicked off a three-day
quarterly meeting at the resort.
"We chose this location be
cause it's owned by a tribe," said
Robin Buttcrfield, N1EA presi
v iSSs,,j
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ing the 298-mile journey to the
Pacific Ocean.
Simulating a natural envi
ronment The hatchery simulates the
salmon's natural growing envi
ronment by providing clean,
cold water.
Fresh river water enters the
hatchery and is filtered before
being pumped to the various
tanks and ponds. Large debris,
such as leaves and twigs, is re
moved as water passes through
screen filters. Smaller debris is
removed at sand filters, and
harmful bacteria are removed
as the water passes through ul
traviolet lights.
Salmon return
Salmon rearing begins with
adult spring chinook returning
upstream from April through
dent
The dinner served as an op
portunity for Warm Springs to
discuss local efforts to enhance
Indian education in relation to
the national efforts of the
N1EA.
The NIEA board devoted
much of its meeting time to
making further arrangements
for (heir upcoming annual con
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ABOVE: Fishculturist
Kevin Blueback moves
anaesthetized hatchery
chinook salmon through
a chute in preparation
for inoculations.
LEFT: Hatchery worker
inoculates a chinook
salmon against a
deadly kidney disease.
August. The hatchery barrier
dam requires all fish to climb
the fish ladders into the hatch
ery, where wild and hatchery fish
are separated.
Wild fish are released above
the hatchery barrier, while
hatchery fish, identified by tags,
remain in holding ponds until
they are ready to spawn. Hold
ing ponds are kept at 50 degrees
Fahrenheit because warmer wa
ter causes the fish to spawn too
soon. As river temperatures rise
above 60 degrees in the sum
mer, chillers cool the water be
fore it is pumped into the hold
ing ponds.
Spawning
Spawning begins in August
and continues through Septem
ber. The brood stock, or adult
fish used for spawning, in the
holding ponds are moved to the
vention in North Carolina.
Issues surrounding continued
national legislative activities, ad
vocacy in Washington D.C., and
website development were also
discussed.
The NIEA is planning a
youth leadership development
conference in Spokane, Aug 18
20. The organization has played
By Shannon Keaveoy
Spilyay Tymoo
It wasn't always easy but af
ter 25 years of efforts,
nearly 5,000 more chinook
salmon struggle their way back
upstream to the Warm Springs
National Fish Hatchery each
year.
"Our job is to raise fish. We
know we've been successful
because we're getting more fish
back every year and they are
healthier," said Mavis Shaw,
fish biologist and assistant man
ager at the hatchery.
But several near catastro
phes could have ruined it all.
In 1999 a large gas spill on
Beaver Butte Creek forced the
hatchery to pack up all the
small fry and move them in a
truck to the Round Butte state
hatchery.
The smolts were quickly
released in the river in hopes
they would be far enough
downstream before the gas
reached the hatchery.
All the animals living on the
river near the hatchery left on
their own accord. Bugs were
the main casualties at the
hatchery.
"We'll never know what
would have happened to our
fish, if we hadn't taken the ac
tions we did. But we do know
that lots of fish died directly
where the spill happened," said
Shaw.
During the 1996 flood,
dedicated staff worked around
the clock shoveling mud away
from the machinery to keep
the hatchery running and to
keep the fish alive.
r Sandbags were stacked
against the back door to pre
vent rapidly rising river water
from flooding the hatchery.
Again, due to staff efforts,
not a single fish was lost.
Another year, a wild fire
surrounded the hatchery on all
sides.
Now, as the hatchery nears
its 25,h anniversary celebration,
the facility releases nearly
450,000 juvenile salmon into
the river each year.
spawning area where hatchery
employees remove eggs from
the females and fertilize them
with milt from the males.
To gather enough eggs to re
stock the river at optimum level,
up to 700 adult fish are needed
for spawning When available, 1
percent of the wild salmon com
ing through the facility are added
to the hatchery brood stock to
retain genetic traits.
Incubation
The fertilized eggs are poured
into incubation trays. Clean,
cold, oxygen-rich water is
pumped through the tray suck,
which holds 6,250 eggs per tray.
Optimum water temperature
for proper growth at this stage
is 50 degrees.
Winter river temperatures
drop to freezing, so boilers heat
the water before being pumped
a prominent role in getting im
portant legislative bills passed
for Native Americans.
A recent success of the or
ganization is the Civics Educa
tion Bill, an effort to help pro
mote improvements in how
teachers convey American his
tory in the classroom.
Also, a native language rcvi
talization bill recently passed.
The Warm Springs National
Fish Hatchery opened its doors
Aug. 26, 1978, and began to
stock reservation waters with
salmon and trout.
It is located on the Warm
Springs River, a tributary of
the Deschutes River, which
flows into the Columbia.
The Warm Springs River
system boasts the only healthy
wild salmon run on the reser
vation. Some 1,200 wild salmon
pass through the hatchery each
year.
The wild salmon are sepa
rated from the hatchery fish
and allowed to pass upstream.
A small percentage is kept
for genetic stock at the hatch
ery. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service operates the hatchery,
but the tribes have sole man
agement responsibility for
fishery resources on the res
ervation. Shaw says ocean conditions
have been ideal the last five
years, assisting in the high rates
of salmon return.
Also, she believes, overall
water quality of the rivers has
improved.
The general population has
become more aware of major
river polluters, like agricultural
pesticides, and large spills are
less likely.
"Fish are a major indicator
of your water supply," she
says.
Commercial fishing regula
tions banning large mesh nets
in favor of tangle nets, mini
mizing damage to the fish,
have aided, salmon in their
jeurnejt tome- J.U
But close observation of
whar the salmon respond to in
the hatchery is equally respon
sible for rising numbers of
salmon in the rivers.
Fish are inoculated two
times each summer to prevent
spread of disease.
Shade covers were erected
over spawning pools, after
staff observed the hot sun was
burning the backs of fish.
Many of the presently un-
through the trays.
By late October the eyes of
the developing embryos can be
seen through the eggshells. By
late December and January eggs
hatch into sac fry.
Nursery tanks
In December and January fry
are transferred to nursery tanks
and fed frozen fish protein. The
hatchery water is warmed to
increase feeding activity and
speed up the growth process.
Outdoor runways
By March, fry develop into
fingerlings and are put into the
outdoor raceways after being
acclimated to cooler outside tem
peratures. In April and May, hatchery
fingerlings are tagged with a
coded wire tag in the snout and
an adipose fin clip to distinguish
Kah - Nee
The Organization is in the
The organization is in the
process of revising President
Bush's executive order on In
dian education.
NIEA is working on the re
authorization of national
1 Icadstart, higher education, and
special education programs for
Native Americans.
The NIEA was founded in
1969 to give American Indians
painted cement pools will
eventually be painted camou
flage to match the color of
river stones, helping create an
environment similar to the
river.
Staff believes this will cre
ate an environment more con
ducive to spawning.
Populations in the 30
spawning pools have been low
ered to 25,000 juveniles per
pool, down from 60,000 juve
niles that was once common.
Lower density populations
have resulted in better salmon
return rates.
An experiment with three
pools will help the hatchery
find the ideal population den
sity for each pool.
Over time, the hatchery will
record the rate of return for
each pool in hopes of discov
ering the ideal density.
After trial and error, the
hatchery has found that moist
fish food, primarily consisting
of herring, keeps the fish
healthier.
Staff, though, is careful to
not overfeed the fish. They
use measurements and weights
from wild fish to gauge the
ideal size for hatchery fish.
"There was a time early on
when we were raising hogs.
But we realized big fish were
not necessarily ideal," said
Shaw.
"We're just always keeping
our eyes open to see how we
can make improvements," ex
plained Shaw.
Hatchery visitor hours are
daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Full-size salmon models
and exhibits are displayed in
the visitor center, and a self
guided walking tour provides
a view of the hatchery and its
operations. Guided tours are
available upon request,
Throughout the year, visi
tors can observe different
stages of salmon rearing.
The 25,h anniversary cel
ebration of the hatchery is
scheduled for Aug. 26 at the
hatchery grounds.
For more information call
(541) 553-1692.
them from wild fish.
Most young salmon stay
in die raceways to develop
until the following spring,
although some early devel
opers are ready to migrate
in the fall.
Smolt release
At about 16 months, the
fingerlings have developed
into smolts and are ready
for migration.
Each year approxi
mately 750,00 smolts are
released into the Warm
Springs River and join wild
smolts on their journey to
the Pacific Ocean, where
they will feed and grow for
one to four years before
making their return to the
Warm Springs River to
spawn, continuing the
salmon's life cycle.
- Ta
anil Alnsll
and Alaskan Natives a national
voice in their struggle to im
prove access to educational op
portunities. It is the largest and oldest
Indian education organization
and strives to keep Indian edu
cation moving towards equal
ity. For more information, log
on to www.nica.org.