Thursday 26 April 2018

feeding the fish


 I took a turn feeding the chinook smolts, and took some photos on this sunny day.  The weather has turned from cool and stormy when we put the fish in , to hot now.  There has been algae growing on the net ,  restricting the water flow, and lowering the available oxygen level .  So the fish were released today , about a week ahead of the preferred schedule.
 These are young chinooks being helped along by the hatchery system to spend the rest of their lives as wild fish. Hatcheries are not to be confused with salmon farms.  (See blog post April 11 )
 Bon Voyage little fish .  Come back big and strong.







Tuesday 24 April 2018

A little fishing on the way


 Shamra and I did a little fishing on the way , on a trip to see HM out in the islands , to talk about a carpentry project, really.  What a lovely day. 













The bald eagle's head is just showing above this nest.  She is probably sitting on an egg or two.  


Wednesday 11 April 2018

pipe line delivery of chinook salmon




We helped deliver the chinook smolts today , as we do every spring . These are young chinook salmon from the Quinsam Hatchery, a tributary of the Campbell River .  Instead of swimming downstream in the river to the sea, they've had a ride in a tank truck and then pumped through a pipe into this pen in the marina. These little ones will spend a few weeks in this pen , being fed twice a day , while they get accustomed to the ocean water .  Then they will be released to find their way up the coast with their wild relatives in their far northern migration . We'll anticipate their return in three , four, or five years with some of them over thirty pounds , the famous Campbell River Tyees.  

 Several of us from the Campbell River Guides Association volunteer to help the Quinsam Hatchery  crew . This date was scheduled in advance and as luck would have it, it blew a real storm with harsh rain and cold wind. These are all outdoorsy guys, dressed in foul weather gear, and cheerful throughout.  There is some muscle power needed to drag the hose sections down the dock and then to drag them back and roll them up onto the trailer. There are two other pens in marinas along the waterfront . 

 In other years the weather has been fair and bright for nicer photos. As in the past I have marvelled , and noted in this blog, how fascinating it is to see the shapes of these fish facing into the current as they are flowing downstream in the translucent pipe.  Then, when the water leaves the pipe in a little waterfall, they turn themselves with great agility and dive in headfirst !  

 Stay well little salmon, and come back big and strong .  


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