The Hatchery relies on returning salmon to start the life cycle process each year. Hoy creek contains four types of salmon, Chum,Coho,Spring and Pinks. The Chum salmon generally start returning to Hoy creek in late September and are the larger fish of the two species. The Coho salmon start returning in late October into December of each year.
The Coho, which are the only fish we raise, are caught in a fish trap and transported back to the hatchery. Once back to the hatchery, the fish are monitored until they are ready to spawn. We know they are ready to spawn when the eggs begin to drop from the fish when squeezed. The next step is to harvest the eggs and sperm and combine them to fertilize the eggs. The fertilized eggs are counted and then placed in plastic trays, commonly called heath trays. Each tray is labeled with fish type, counted and dated to help us keep track of each species. Filtered creek water is continuously run over the eggs and the temperature is monitored daily by the volunteers. The eggs hatch when an accumulated temperature reaches a predetermined level. Once hatched the salmon are in what is referred to as the alevin stage, this means that the salmon’s egg sack is still attached. The salmon use this stored energy from the egg sack, to grow. The fish are then counted and removed from the trays and placed in an outside trough, referred to as a "Cap trough" or Capilano trough. This occurrs in late February or March for the Coho.
Creek water is pumped through this trough and the fish are fed a specified amount dependent on their numbers and average weight. The fish are raised in the trough until they are large enough to be placed in our rearing pond or released. This generally occurs in May of each year when the previous year’s stock are ready to be released from the pond into the creek, to go on their journey to the sea.
During the Coho fry release some of the fish are transported to and released into different tributaries and areas of Hoy and Scott creeks. However the majority of the fry are released directly into Hoy creek directly from the rearing pond. This completes the cycle of the hatchery, from returning spawner to egg to alevin to fry to being released to the wild in hopes of returning in three to four years.
