Testing salmon for viruses - Grovers Creek Salmon Hatchery, Indianola, WA

Harvesting salmon eggs - Grovers Creek Salmon Hatchery, Indianola, WA

Salmon are sorted by male and female. Females are sorted by green (eggs not yet mature) and those with mature eggs.

Fish are tested for viruses and disease.

The eggs are harvested from the females and sperm is harvested from the males.

Fish are then scanned to see if they "beep", have a chip, indicating they are a hatchery fish. These fish have their heads removed and are later identified and aged for tracking purposes.

Many of the visiting school children were helping with the process.

Students helping scan Salmon

After watching this process repeat several times one of the school groups moved into the hatchery building and I followed.

We learned the recipe for making more salmon:

Ingrediets:
1 large bucket of freshly harvested salmon eggs
2 small containers of sperm for each smaller bucket used
Iodine
Baking Soda
Water

Take one large bucket of salmon eggs
Add some iodine to kill bacteria
Divide the large bucket into several smaller buckets
Add water with baking soda to create a PH appropriate environment
To each small bucket of egg solution add two small containers of sperm
Swoosh gently by hand one or two times
STOP - too much swooshing, noise or movement can ruin the whole batch at this point

Starting a batch of baby salmon - Grover Creek Salmon Hatchery, Indianola, WA

This is as far as we went today.

The fertilized eggs must now be treated very carefully and once hatched will grow up in the hatchery until it is time to release them.

Surely another story for later.

So what happens to all the fish?

Nothing is wasted. Eggs not used to create more salmon are sold. Salmon is used for food and is sold to the public for $1 per fish. Any fish not used or sold will given to an organic farmer for composting. It's the cycle of life repeating itself.

Swoosh gently - Grovers Creek Salmon Hatchery, Indianola, WA

To buy your fish for a $1 each go the Grovers Creek Salmon Hatchery on Monday, Wednesday or Friday for the next several weeks - into early December. Chinook are running now and later there will be Chum.