Nutrient Enhancement

Because salmon cannot pass several dams on the Cowlitz River, the hatchery trucks salmon carcasses upriver and place them in tributaries of the Cowlitz. I had the rare opportunity last week to go along.I like this picture because you can see the stream of slime flying through the air after the fish.

Brian and I emptied 5 totes full of coho. In this photo Brian shows off his supreme balance. =P









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Under Water

Photos from the news of Chehalis.








Exit 79. The overpass running horizontally across the picture is Chamber of Commerce Way. The freeway beneath is completely submerged.

Cowlitz Salmon Hatchery

I've been working at the hatchery for a month now and am really enjoying it. Lots of things to keep me busy.

Here are a couple of the guys feeding the young spring chinook.















This is the denitrification tower and the separator where salmon are sorted into ponds.




















Crowding adults into the center channel for spawning. Note, this was taken with my phone so it's not very clear. =P


Here Cody is rounding up any remaining fish while Kristin waits to drop the end-wall.















Looking down into the spawning room. Dan and Dan sort male and female coho for spawning. Again, taken with the phone.





Kristen, Holly, and Jason pick dead eggs from trays. Each tray contains the eggs from one hen.



















Here, Jason dumps his tray into the collection basket. After being picked, eggs are distributed 7000 eggs to a tray.