Table 24.— Anadromous fish rearing facilities— California, 19B0-76. 









Species reared 



Anadromous 









General 





during 



releases 



Year anadromous 





Facility 



location 



Operating agency 1 



year span 2 



in 1976 



operation began 



Funding agency 1 



Hatcheries 















Coleman 



Anderson 



USFWS 



fc, sh (co) 



Yes 



1942 



USFWS 



Crystal Lake 



Burney 



CDFG 



sh (co) 



Yes 



1948 



CDFG 



Darrah Springs 



Paynes Creek 



CDFG 



co (fc) 



Yes 



1954 



CDFG 



Feather River 



Oroville 



CDFG 



fc, sc, sh 



Yes 



1967 



CDWR 



Iron Gate 



Hornbrook 



CDFG 



fc, sc, co, sh 



Yes 



1966 



CDFG, PP&L 



Mad River 



Blue Lake 



CDFG 



fc, co, sh 



Yes 



1971 



CDFG, NMFS 



Merced rearing facility 



Snelling 



CDFG 



fc, CO 



Yes 



1973 



CDFG 



Mokelumne 



Clements 



CDFG 



fcsh 



Yes 



1964 



EBMUD 



Nimbus 



Rancho Cordova 



CDFG 



fcsh 



Yes 



1955 



BR 



Prairie Creek 



Crick 



Humbolt County 



fc, co, sh, src 



Yes 



1928 



Humbolt County 



Trinity 



Lewiston 



CDFG 



fc, sc, co, sh 



Yes 



1963 



BR 



Ponds 















Cochran Creek 



Eureka 



Fish Action Council 

 Humbolt County 



fc, co 



Yes 



1968 



CDFG 



Pacific Lumber Co. 



Scotia 



Pacific Lumber Co., 

 CDFG 



sh 



No 



1972 



Pacific Lumber Co. 



Talmadge 



Talmadge 



Sports Club, CDFG 



sh 



Yes 



1972 



Mendocino County 



'USFWS = U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, CDFG = California Department of Fish and Game, CDWR = California Department of Water Resources, 

 PP&L = Pacific Power and Light, NMFS = National Marine Fisheries Service (Anadromous Fish Act), EBMUD = East Bay Municipal Utility Dis- 

 trict, BR = Bureau of Reclamation. 



2 fc = fall chinook salmon, sc = spring chinook salmon, co = coho salmon, sh = steelhead trout, src = sea-run cutthroat trout. 



As water-use projects continued to block access to 

 anadromous salmonid spawning and rearing areas, it was 

 necessary to build hatcheries to compensate for the 

 resulting loss of fish. Some of these hatcheries include 

 Trinity River and Iron Gate in California, Chelan PUD 

 and the two Cowlitz hatcheries in Washington, and 

 Round Butte in Oregon. 



The 1960's saw the re-entry of Alaska and British 

 Columbia into the salmonid propagation field. Again, 

 this was necessitated by decline in fish stocks and the de- 

 creases in catches in those two areas. Idaho was also 

 forced into the hatchery salmon and steelhead trout pro- 

 gram because of the adverse effects of dams on the 

 Columbia and Snake Rivers. 



In 1960 there were 72 hatcheries, pens, and saltwater 

 net pens producing salmon and steelhead trout on the 

 coast (Fig. 12). This was approximately the same 

 number as in 1929. The number increased to a maxi- 

 mum of 154 in 1976, over a twofold gain. In all, 192 facil- 

 ities reared anadromous fish for at least 1 yr on the Pa- 

 cific coast during the 17-yr span ending in 1976. 



Species Reared 



One of the major trends in hatchery production of sal- 

 monids has been the shift in emphasis placed on rearing 

 different species of salmon and anadromous trout. Prior 

 to 1929, of the over 12 billion fry and 1 billion fingerlings 

 and yearlings released, almost half were sockeye salm- 

 on. In 1910 alone there were almost 400 million sockeye 

 salmon fry released (Cobb 1931). 



With the closing of large Alaska and British Columbia 

 sockeye salmon stations in the 1920's and 1930's species 

 emphasis changed. For the 17 yr since 1960, the major 

 species reared have been chinook salmon, coho salmon, 



and steelhead trout (Fig. 13). The sockeye salmon re- 

 leases had declined to only 3 million in 1960 with most of 

 these coming from Leavenworth NFH on the upper 

 Columbia River in Washington. Since 1967, when 

 Leavenworth terminated its sockeye salmon program, 

 only two releases of this species have been made totaling 

 27,000 fish. 



Rearing Trends 



One of the major changes in hatchery operations has 

 been the switch from releasing unfed fry to releasing 

 salmon and steelhead trout after a period of rearing. In 

 the late 1800's and early 1900's, the standard hatchery 

 practice was to release fish soon after the eggs hatched, 

 when the yolk sac had been absorbed. The small number 

 that were retained and fed were kept as curiosities. 

 Although no difficulty was experienced raising these fish, 

 the added expense of fish food as well as the inadequate 

 rearing space at the hatcheries precluded general adop- 

 tion of rearing programs. 



As previously stated, a few fish culturists, including R. 

 D. Hume from Oregon, disagreed with the practice of re- 

 leasing unfed fry. It was their belief that unfed fry were 

 ill equipped to survive competition with wild fish and 

 predators and the increased survival and contribution 

 obtained from releasing larger fish would outweigh the 

 additional expense of rearing. Over the years this has 

 proven to be true and today almost all anadromous fish 

 are fed for a period of time before they are released. 



The early efforts of rearing fish depended on diet based 

 on ground meat and fish products. Liver, spleen, and 

 salmon carcasses were common ingredients, supple- 

 mented with various grains and meals. These diets were 

 not very efficient and were messy and time consuming to 



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