Klickitat Hatchery Staffing for Harvest Production

The PCSRF funds used for the Klickitat Hatchery staffing project kept a tribal fish culturist employed in the spawning, rearing and release of spring Chinook, Upriver fall bright Chinook, and coho salmon in the Klickitat River Basin. Tasks specific to this culturist were in the holding, treating, sampling and spawning of Klickitat spring Chinook adults, the incubation and associated tasks therein of spring Chinook eggs and ponding of the same as fry; the handling and spawning of fall bright Chinook from Little White Salmon National Fish Hatchery, fertilization of fall eggs and subsequent incubation procedures; the handling, transport and incubation reception protocols for coho eggs for Klickitat Hatchery production. This culturist spent considerable time in the culturing of spring Chinook juveniles/smolts, fall Chinook subyearling smolts, and coho juveniles/smolts, as well as in maintaining the vessels, buildings, vehicles and equipment used in the production of salmonids at the hatchery.

The continuity of employment for this FC III will ensure a stable and knowledgeable work force as the YN continues to manage operations at the KH through a critical period of final Master Plan approval, BPA NEPA review, and the initiation of KH design upgrades to existing facilities. Seasoned employees at the KH make the most of a facility that has (in all reality) exceeded its physical lifetime, ensuring that valuable stocks (spring and fall Chinook, and coho salmon) are hatched, reared and released, healthy, and in a timely manner so as to viably contribute to tribal Zone 6 and Klickitat tributary fisheries.