Tribal Mass Marking - Operating

Mass mark, by means of an adipose fin clip, juvenile Chinook, steelhead and coho salmon at tribal hatchery facilities in Puget Sound. Mass marking these fish provides for the protection of ESA listed salmon populations through selective harvest of hatchery fish, protection of natural-origin and ESA listed fish, broodstock management of integrated and segregated hatchery production and increased accuracy of natural-origin stock assessments, status and trends. This project focused on mass marking Puget Sound Tribal Production. The project utilized Auto-Fish systems and/or manual marking trailers with contracted labor to mass mark approximately 8.8 million juvenile Chinook, coho, and steelhead at tribal hatchery facilities in Puget Sound.

The goal of the project is to reduce sources of wild salmon mortality related to hatchery production. The objective of the project is to reduce salmon mortality as a result of fisheries conducted on mixed strong and weak stocks.