23,000 Chum Fry Ponded at Hoy Creek Hatchery

Kim and Tyler check for morts witin the freshly ponded chum fry on on Feb. 27.

After a four-year lull and only the second time raising chum since the mid-90s, Hoy Creek Hatchery is holding 23,000 chum fry.

The final 19,000 were moved from the incubation stack and were ponded in the Capilano trough this last Saturday. The salmon are 3 – 4 months old.

The chum fry will be fed and released within three weeks of ponding; this will occur in two releases with the Feb. 18 fry (~4,800) being released first.

The hatchery had released several weeks ago, 1,500 unfed chum fry that had matured well in advance of the remaining heath trays. The last time the society released chum was in 2017.

In addition to the chum, we have ~10,500 healthy coho alevin in the hatchery incubator and ~2,800 soon-to-be smolts in our rearing pond that will be released in May.

In the video above, hatchery manager, Tyler Storgaard ponds the last of the chum salmon from the incubator which was funded by the Pacific Salmon Foundation.

See more photos on our Facebook page.

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Chum salmon return to Hoy Creek

Video freeze frame to see a chum salmon making the jump. Often it takes several attempts.

The first chum salmon of the season were spotted in Hoy Creek over the long weekend on Oct. 10 as former hatchery manager, Rodney Lee led a spawner salmon survey in the afternoon and saw five within the hour. On Sunday, Oct 11 another member of the society spotted two salmon jumping the lip below the bridge beside Hoy Creek Hatchery.

After the rains off and on throughout the week, Saturday, Oct. 17 there was a steady show of chum salmon to the delight of volunteers, and those out walking their dogs or enjoying the colourful dry fall day.

Chum salmon are usually seen from early October to mid-November. They are easiest to spot. Coho usually return in late October into December and are harder to spot as they are better at hiding.

Rodney holds up a chum salmon at a previous Salmon Come Home event. No festival will be held this year due to the pandemic, however residents are encouraged to come out and witness the return.

Society volunteers will next work on getting chum broodstock and they’ll be raised from the egg to fry stage before being released back into Hoy Creek. The Society’s chum salmon program was reintroduced at the hatchery in 2016, thanks to a grant from the Pacific Salmon Foundation in 2015.

Learn more about the salmon we raise HERE.

Check out other photos and video on our Facebook page.

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Salmon spotting on Oct. 17

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Two chum salmon in Hoy Creek on Oct. 17

Aquatic Invertebrate Survey Conducted at Hoy Creek

On Saturday, September 23, approximately 8 volunteers from of Hoy-Scott Watershed Society took part in an invertebrate survey, of which details were provided to the Pacific Streamkeepers Federation 'Streamkeepers Database.' Numerous curious members of the public, who happened to be walking by the area also participated. 

To start, two 30x30 cm samples were taken from Hoy Creek immediately upstream of the Hoy Creek hatchery using a D frame net designed for invertebrate surveys.

Water containing the invertebrates from the creek (the samples) was divided into several wash basin sized samples. Kids and adults then patiently inspected each sample, capturing all the aquatic invertebrates using a spoon or pipette, placing them into an ice cube square according to the type of invertebrate.

Nearly 400 invertebrates from the two 30x30 cm samples were counted and sorted into 12 different groups (taxa).  That works out to a density of over 2000 aquatic invertebrates per square metre of creek bed!

The observations were then used to conduct basic water quality and diversity assessments of the creek using several different indices (e.g. Pollution Tolerant Index, EPT Index, Predominant Taxon Ratio).

Our sample achieved a 'good' rating (the highest rating) across all four indices.

The most abundant aquatic invertebrates in the samples were caddisflies. Their cases (houses they build themselves and attach to rocks) could be seen all over the rocks where the samples were taken.

There were also mayflies, scuds, aquatic works, leeches, water mites and stoneflies captured.

The prize catch of the day were two giant stoneflies, which measured nearly 5 cm in length.

A great find! Two large stoneflies. 

Data was uploaded to the Pacific Streamkeepers Federation website and is available HERE.

HSWS featured in Tri-City News 'Saving our Salmon' (SOS) series

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Thank you for your support, Tri-City News!

The Hoy-Scott Watershed Society was quoted in the The Tri-City News on November 16th, 2016, along with other stewardship groups, on how we can all do our part in protecting wild salmon.

"Get to know your watershed. Salmon and their habitat can’t protect themselves - we need to care and advocate for both. Visit a stream, talk to your local stewardship group, and view the fish and habitat. Understand the issues. Monitor and report suspicious activity." - HSWS

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Part 1

We were also featured on November 19th through a site visit by reporter Sarah Payne. Both HSWS president, Robbin Whachell, and vice president and hatchery manager, Rodney Lee were interviewed for the article.

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Chum salmon program now underway at Hoy Creek Hatchery

Department of Fisheries reps led by Scott Ducharme (right) lead HSWS members through a chum egg take on October 26th at Hoy Creek Hatchery. 

Hoy-Scott Watershed Society began incubating chum eggs in October and November.  The Society had only been raising coho salmon for the past twenty-years or so.  The addition of chum was made possible through the generous support of the Pacific Salmon Foundation enabling us to purchase and install a new incubation stack and piping for our Capilano trough room. Thanks also to the DFO and City of Coquitlam.

The hatchery has not raised chum since the mid 1990s and applied to do so again in 2015.

"Most of the chum eggs are now eyed and doing great. We had a poor survival rate in 2 of the trays, but the remainder looked good," said hatchery manager Rodney Lee. Coho egg-takes are our next focus and are now underway.

The new chum egg incubation stack is now incubating over 36,000 eggs.  Thanks to the Pacific Salmon Foundation, DFO and the City of Coquitlam for contributions to complete the project.

In the videos below, eggs from 4 chum salmon are fertilized by hand at Hoy Creek Hatchery in Coquitlam. Guided by Scott Ducharme of the DFO.  See MORE PHOTOS on our Facebook page.