Syracuse.com - DEC says it's on schedule to satisfy salmon egg collection goals at the state hatchery on the Salmon River

[HuntingNY-News]

It appears the peak of the spawn occurred earlier than usual.

Despite low water levels, the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s fish hatchery on the Salmon River in Altmar appears on track to meet its goals for its annual salmon egg collection.

Last fall, the Altmar hatchery’s annual chinook and coho egg take goals were met, but subsequent problems possibly involving thiamine deficiencies in the eggs and fry resulted in lost of nearly 95 percent of the coho eggs.

The state-run facility raises salmon fry from the eggs it collects and stocks them in Lake Ontario and a number of its tributaries.

Staff at the hatchery began collecting eggs Oct. 9. The goal for chinook salmon is 3.5 million eggs, which is 200,000 higher than the hatchery’s typical target. The goal for coho eggs is 1.6 million. As of Tuesday, the hatchery had collected 3.3 million chinook eggs and 1.7 million coho eggs.

The process is taking a little longer than usual because the number of chinooks, particularly the females, making it up to the hatchery is lower than usual. It’s possible that the lower river has caused some fish to spawn in the river or Beaverdam Brook, rather than continuing to the hatchery.

It appears the peak of the spawn occurred earlier than usual. However, officials said, the start of the egg collection process is based on the water temperature dropping to a specific level. “From experience, we know that taking eggs when the water is warmer results in poor egg and fry survival,” according to a written statement from the DEC.

“As a result, we could not begin taking eggs any earlier, even if a lot of chinook salmon had been in the hatchery,” the statement said. “To get our goal, we ended up using one of our backup plans and conducted egg taking operations on the Black River at the Dexter fish ladder. Furthermore, the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources collected extra eggs for our use if we need them.

“However, at this point, it is unlikely we will need to utilize the eggs Ontario collected for us.”

And what about the poor survival rate of the coho eggs and fry last year?

“We are conducting experiments in collaboration with a U.S. Geological Survey fish nutritionist from Tunison Laboratory (Cortland) on revised methods for treating salmon eggs with vitamin B, and are optimistic that we will experience improved egg survival this year,” the DEC said.

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog