Brett Boyd
Before I get started I would like to introduce myself. My name is Brett Boyd and I am the manager of ODFW’s South Santiam Fish Hatchery.
A few years ago the previous manager, Bill Nyara, was writing articles for the new era that gave hatchery updates and explained some of our hatchery practices.
When I became the manager after Bill retired, Scott Swanson asked me to continue writing the articles. I told him I would like a chance to get settled in and become familiar with my new responsibilities before I could get started.
Well, I have been here two years now and would like to say that I feel very privileged to work in a community that shows such a large amount of interest and support for our facility and its programs. My hope is that these articles will either enhance what you already know about South Santiam Hatchery or maybe even teach you something new.
Since this is the time of year we take our summer steelhead eggs I thought a quick overview of that program would be a good place to start. In the late 1960’s ODFW started releasing summer steelhead into the South Santiam River after the construction of Green Peter and Foster Dams.
The stock of summer steelhead that was introduced is still used today. It originated from the Skamania River in Washington State. This stock of fish was chosen in order to develop expanded fishing opportunities that the native stock of winter steelhead in the river lacked due to run timing and poor water conditions during the winter months.
Summer steelhead are an anadromous fish, which means they hatch in fresh water, swim to the ocean when they reach the smolt stage, then return to fresh water as adults to spawn. Each spring we release 144,000 summer steelhead smolts directly from the hatchery into the South Santiam River. After a one- to three-year stay in the ocean these fish return to the South Santiam as 6- to 18-pound adult fish.
We collect an average of 4,300 adult summer steelhead each year from early March through November at our trapping facility at Foster Dam. At this point the hatchery staff sort through them and either truck them to the hatchery for brood stock, recycle them back into the fishery, or donate them to local food banks.
In the future I’ll write in more detail about our recycling and food bank programs.
We will collect 900 pairs of summer steelhead adults for brood stock from May through September. They are held in our adult pond at the hatchery for as long as eight months until they are ready to spawn. While they are in our care, we inject each fish with antibiotics twice and treat the pond weekly with a strong hydrogen peroxide solution to keep them as disease free as possible.
Spawning starts the last week of December and continues into February until approximately 1.7 million eggs are taken. Carcasses from spawned fish are scattered in the upper reaches of Wiley Creek to act as natural fertilizer to enrich the river system.
Samples are also taken from the spawned fish to determine if they carry a deadly virus that affects fish called IHN. Once the eggs develop we remove any IHN-positive eggs. This usually leaves us with approximately 1.3 million IHN-negative eggs that are shipped to Bonneville and Oak Springs hatcheries.
The eggs are transferred to these facilities because they have an abundance of well or spring water, which is warmer and cleaner than our water supply during the winter months.
By hatching these fish in this warmer water, Oak Springs and Bonneville hatcheries are able to accelerate their growth rate before they are shipped to other ODFW facilities with colder water. This is done to ensure they will grow large enough to become a smolt before they are released the following spring.
Eggs taken at South Santiam Hatchery supply all of the summer steelhead smolts for the Clackamas, Sandy, North Santiam, South Santiam, McKenzie, Willamette, and Hood Rivers.
We receive our 144,000 fingerlings, plus an additional 40,000 that we rear for release in the North Santiam, from Oak Springs Hatchery in July when the fish are around 3 inches in length. We give the fingerlings an adipose-fin clip in August to identify them as hatchery fish and then feed them around 40,000 pounds of fish food until they are released in April, thus starting a new cycle of life.
So, as you can see there is a little more than meets the eye when it comes to our summer steelhead program.
They are truly an amazing animal that provide almost year-round recreational fishing and viewing opportunities for outdoor enthusiasts of all ages.
We are currently almost half way through spawning our summer steelhead adults this year. We also have juvenile summer steelhead and spring chinook in our raceways, as well as trout and sturgeon in our show tanks.
South Santiam Hatchery is open from dawn until dusk seven days a week with staff available to answer questions from 7:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. The public is always welcome. To confirm remaining spawning dates or schedule a formal tour, call the hatchery at (541) 367 – 3437. Hope to see you soon.
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The Willamette and Deschutes National Forests are reminding forest users of the recent publication of a new Winter Recreation Map for the Santiam Pass area. The new map is printed on waterproof paper and provides updated information on ski, snowmobile and snow-shoeing trails, as well as other winter sports opportunities.
Copies are available at local Forest Service offices for $7 each.
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The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation’s board of directors has selected David Allen of Billings, Mont., as the Elk Foundation’s new president and chief executive officer.
A lifelong conservationist with a deep passion for elk and hunting, Allen says he will rededicate the Elk Foundation to its core mission of ensuring the future of elk, other wildlife and their habitat.
Born and raised in Deadwood, S.D., Allen studied journalism at the University of Wyoming and now makes his home with his wife and two sons in Billings, Mont.