The Nation's Fisheries Division and staff at Rowdy Creek Fish Hatchery have been busy collecting steelhead broodstock and rearing juvenile Chinook salmon that spawned in the fall and winter of 2025.
Last November, staff from the Nation's Natural Resource and Public Works and Facilities departments, with help from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, collected adult Chinook salmon from the mainstem Smith River using a beach seine and transported them to the hatchery.
Eggs were collected from females and fertilized using milt (sperm) from males. The eggs were incubated until hatched. In February, Fisheries Division and hatchery staff began transferring Chinook salmon fry (young salmon whose yolk sac is almost fully absorbed) to outdoor ponds for their next stage of growth, where they learn to feed. During the ponding process, staff weigh and count small batches of fry to estimate the number of fish that have been ponded. In late spring/early summer the juvenile Chinook salmon will be released into the river at the lower Smith River Fred Haight Boat Ramp.
Learn more about the hatchery at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100078002991440
Photo: Tribal Resource Specialist Jesse Nolan and Fisheries Division Manager Jennifer Jacobs.