Its time for a hatchery update folks as its been a while since the last one, November 23 actually and a lot has happened. Firstly we have received a generous donation to help our finances from the hutholders association of the South Rangitata hut holders group. Many thanks to you all for your support.
The trap went in later in January but there seems to be a general lack of returning fish to the hatchery at least in the early part of the year. Consider this however, we were only able to release 4000 fish in 2022 (1 year old at this point) as this release corresponded with one of the poorest returning years 2 years previous. If only 1% of these return to the river mouth, then that’s not many fish returning where they then have to negotiate the seals, predatory fish, seabirds and anglers. In fact my opinion is that we won’t see many hatchery returnees this year. The new (preloved) van is bedding in well and is a joy to ride in compared to what we have had. Father Xmas arrived in it one day in December much to the enjoyment of young Benson, John’s Grandson. We have fin clipped around 6,500 fish in February and these have been released back to the river using the Fish and Game fish transporter. Things are ticking over quietly and we still have a good number of core helpers to keep the show operating day to day. Our biggest cost is fish food and at nearly $7,000 per tonne, we are mindful that this is our limiting factor both in our ability to raise funds and in the number of fish we can release.
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Work has continued at the hatchery over the Spring, there was a good flow in McKinnon's Creek over the Winter and it seems to be holding up into the Spring although we expect it to drop once the irrigators start up. There is a new Leese on the farm from now on, Robin Madison is keeping a close eye on the hatchery and he has been very helpful to us. Please respect his farming operation if you have business at the hatchery. Under strict MPI rules, access to the hatchery is severely limited to those who work there and those who accompany a hatchery worker. Please don't jeopardize our operation by unscheduled visits, always contact someone associated for a visit. The Hatchery van has been replaced and we are extremely grateful to the following sponsors, DAVO'S FISHING AND HUNTING, TIMARU. NEWLANDS AND CO LTD ASHBURTON. PANEL CRAFT, SOUTH ST ASHBURTON NETHERBY GARAGE, ALBERT ST, ASHBURTON HELMACK ENGINEERING, ASHBURTON. Our friends at the Rangitata North Hut holders Association have been very good to us of late with a generous donation to the hatchery. Thank you guys for your commitment to the hatchery and to the future of Salmon fishing on the Rangitata river.
All the incubators that were once filled with hatching eggs have now been emptied into the tanks inside the hatching shed where 85,000 salmon fry are happily swimming around and learning to accept the coffee ground sized food we are offering them. Another great effort by our combined team. We held our final fin clipping day on the 16th July. Another successful event. This makes a total of 81,000 fish fin clipped this year, most of which have been released and the remainder, (14,000), will be let go when the river gets a bit of a fresh. AGM Held. Our group held its AGM at the Fish and Game rooms on 6th July where a number of members turned up. There was the usual reports, election of officers, and discussions followed by an interesting overview from Steve McKnight, CEO of CSI Fish and Game. Our Chairpersons report is attached. The new Committee is as follows: Bill Whipp, Linda Whipp, Dennis Laplanche, Fred Reddicliffe, Graham Parnell, Grant Rooney, John Manning, Ross Edmonstone, Rex Hobbs, Janette Smith, Dave Chambers, Duncan Grant, Barry Gregan, Ray Hill, Chris de Joux, John Clark, Warren Stratford & Paul Centofanti Chairperson, Phil deJoux, Treasurer, Alan Brooks, Secretary, Jackie Manning.
The 2023 spawning season at the hatchery is now officially over.
Approx 30 fish, returnees to the hatchery, and 20 fish from our Land based broodstock were processed to produce a little over 100,000 fertilized eggs. These are now all under incubation. Egg picking (removal of dead eggs) will commence in the next week. Strict protocols have been observed and each batch of eggs have been recorded in terms of their breeding group. This ensures that the only fish used as future broodstock are derived from wild stock. This year we were happy to help the Otago Harbour hatchery get back on its feet by supplying them with approx 50,000 eggs and milt. This transfer was organized by the respective Fish and Game organizations. All adult fish that were not required have been returned to McKinnons Creek. We are still holding 37,000 rising one year old fish that will soon be fin clipped and released back into the River. All in all it has been a very satisfying year and a massive thanks must go out to all those who have helped in any shape or form. From our growing number of volunteers to those who generously donate and also our many supporters. The environment around the hatchery is now looking better than ever with the thousands of native plants that have been planted, and the willows and scrub removed. We have had visits from ECan, DOC, local Iwi, and various other groups who have all been impressed with the hatchery and the environmental improvement. Click on photos to enlarge. We were very sad to loose one of our stalwarts from our team late last month. Tim Wakefield was a volunteer in our group whose contribution to the hatchery will be sorely missed. RIP Tim. The annual breeding program is with us once again. This is a very busy time at the hatchery because it entails stripping eggs from ripe female fish, fertilizing the eggs with milt from selected males, and incubating them in specially designed incubation towers. The whole process is labour intensive and has to be done in a professional manner if good results are to be achieved. Dryness of all receptacles is essential and hygiene is a must. There are strict protocols to be observed and the make up and history of each batch of eggs is recorded. So far this year we have processed 20 fish and have nearly 45,000 eggs under incubation. Our goal this year is the same as last year, 100,000 eggs. While we could do more, this is about the limit our team of volunteers can manage. The hatchery relies solely on donations and grants for its funding and recently put out a call for donations from supporters to help fund a shortfall in our fish food supplies. Our request was well received and we thank all those who contributed. Feeding fish is not a cheap exercise at at around $3500.00 USD per metric ton, it is our most expensive factor of the whole operation. Thank you one and all again.
Recently we had a film crew at the hatchery, making a documentary about the Rangitata river and the communities around it. The hatchery features in the film and should be on TV in the near future. We have had 2 fin clipping days so far this year and have clipped around 53,000 out of our estimated 90,000 rising 1 year old fish. Both days have attracted nearly 40 helpers and despite some inclement weather on the first day, all went well. The fish were released into ponds where they could move into McKinnons at their will. They hung around for a while but had mostly all moved out within a week. Fin clipping of juvenile fish is a recognized way of identifying hatchery reared fish.
Well quite a bit actually!.
Firstly the trap went in January and a steady stream of adult salmon trickled in to be sorted and transferred to the adult pens closer to the hatchery. To date 180 salmon have passed through the trap, some kept for the breeding program and others let through to McKinnon's Creek to do their thing naturally. We have been lucky that a good sized stream from the main river (Rangitata), joined up with the hatchery stream, making it very easy for fish to get into McKinnon's creek, hence the excellent returns this year. The work on clearing broom, gorse and scrub and replanting with native species is progressing well. Offending willows have been removed and more spawning areas have been opened up in the stream. There is no let up for the happy campers who run the hatchery after the winter chills with a sustained period of growth for the new fish approaching.
The rising 3 year olds (brood stock for 2023) are growing well and should be of a good size when it comes around to spawning time in April/May next year. The fish kept back for the following year have been thinned out with a number released back into McKinnons creek. This year group are also growing well. It is a challenge keeping back a few brood stock as a back up for returning fish due lack of space to keep them. We manage however but could certainly do with another tank. Some of the fry that started in the shed, have been transferred to the south raceway outside and the remainder spread around the inside tanks. Soon all of last years fry (around 90,000) will be in the outside raceway. This make their management much easier as the grow to release weight. New fish food has recently been purchased for our growing fish and this has put a sizeable dent in our finances. We have been very lucky in the past with donations from other hatcheries and this has helped. |
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