Showing posts with label Hatchery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hatchery. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
U of Dubuque to visit again
According to the January 5th addition of the Daily Sitka Sentinel officials from the University of Dubuque will be in Sitka the rest of this week and next to perform due diligence. U of Dubuque Vice President John Stewart will be accompanied by two faculty members, an architect and a building director. The condition of the campus buildings will be assed and faculty will be meeting with various Sitka residents who responded to the survey to determine how many academically qualified people might be interested in teaching. They will also be visiting the Sitka Sound Science Center in the Sage Building and will be meeting with the staff and board of that facility
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Hatchery Update
Good morning, everyone!
It's been about a month since I last sent out the news. In my last update, I was asking for volunteers for the 2nd half of our pink and chum spawning program. Well, we had a good day on September 6th!! Lots of folks showed up for the event, and we were able to easily take enough pink and chum eggs to make our goal. There were volunteers of all ages, I can tell you that!!
Quite a few Blatchley Junior High students were there helping, as were Chohla's Mt. Edgecumbe High School students. Thanks go out to Abigail and Samantha, both Blatchley Jr. High students, who have been there for the program all summer!! There was at least one student from Sitka High School as well. Sagan and her brother Liam did a fantastic job, helping me collect adults. Everyone had a good time.
What was particularly impressive was the way these students wanted to get geared up in neoprene waders, and help collect adults. There was lots of splashing water, and excitement galore, and by the end of the day, everyone was tired, and soaking wet, but we all got the job done!! You can see in the photos attached that lots of young people helped make it happen. I want to thank each and every one who made it that Saturday, even tho I don't know all your names. Keith and Jolene showed up just in time to help me by cooking the lunch that Lila had bought and prepared. Thanks also to Cheryl Westover, who came by in the early morning, and brought lots of goodies for everyone, but then had to work for the day. Everyone contributed in their own special way, and once again the volunteer effort at taking eggs worked. This is now the second year that the hatchery is surviving, due to volunteer help.
And now, please allow me to introduce Jack. Jack was coming in to volunteer last February and March, when we were coded-wire tagging cohos and kings. He became very familiar with the program, since he was also here to assist with the releases of coho and chinook smolts in May, and has been a tremendous asset to me and the rest of the volunteers!! Jack Lorrigan has been hired by the Sitka Sound Science Center as a Fish Culturist / Assistant Manager in Training. Jack has been on the job now for a month, and is a great help to me. I am finally beginning to take time off on the weekends, and Jack has been getting totally tuned into the idiosyncrasies of the SJ Hatchery. I am teaching him everything I can about this program, showing him all the details of fish culture and management. I must say that after 5 years of working here, I have become very intimately aware of all the strange complications that can pop up. I want to try to get Jack "up to speed" on the details as soon as possible. And I hope that Jack can become a full-time employee soon.
During this month of September, another tourist season wound down to a close. There were thousands of visitors this summer who stopped in to see us. The guest book in the Wetlab was filled to overflowing!! And, of course, we are extremely grateful for all the donations!! We shared our knowledge of Sitka and the salmon ranching industry to people from all over the world. It was a good summer.
For about one week, beginning on September 8th, Sitka Sound Seafoods purchased extra salmon from our adult raceways, fish that were surplus to our broodstock needs. Over 80,000 pounds of pinks, chums and coho were brailled out of the raceways and packed into iced totes. This cost recover effort was possible due to Sitka Sound Seafoods providing the totes, ice, a forklift, and a flatdeck truck, as well as 3 laborers!! Revenue generated from this will make it that much easier for the SSSC to operate the hatchery this winter. Thanks, Jon, for working with the SSSC to make this possible.
On September 12th and 13th, the coho fry rearing in Ponds 13 and 14 were split into 4 ponds, #1, #2, #5, and #6, to reduce their densities by half. Thanks go out to Chohla and her Science class from Mt. Edgecumbe HS, for helping dipnet fish, and carry buckets on Friday, as well as to Jodie and her daughter, Karimae, for helping that Saturday. We used the new electronic scale for this procedure and it worked flawlessly! The coho are all spread out now, and looking good!
There has been a good return of coho adults this month, too. In May, 2007, we released 120,000 coho smolts (these were from Broodyear 2005) and these fish have done well. We have been collecting adult cohos this month for our own broodstock needs. The adults are captured (one at a time) in the concrete raceways, and moved into empty circular ponds, where they will ripen for a month or so. Our goal is to hold to maturity 75 to 80 pairs of adults, so that we can be guaranteed to get our 150,000 fertilized eggs for this year. There has been some fungus in the water, but all in all the adults are doing well.
About two weeks ago, Jack and I turned on a small amount of saltwater to each of the coho and chinook rearing ponds, to help combat the Saprolegnia water fungus that is common in our Indian River water supply this time of year. Using the YSI salinity meter, we can make small adjustments and fine tune the salinities to whatever we wish. The coho have been getting around 4 to 5 parts per thousand, and the chinook have been at 5 to 7 ppt. This addition of saltwater is something that I have done here at the SJ Hatchery every fall, as fungus in our watershed is common following the upstream migration of thousands of salmon, reaching portions of Indian River way upstream of our gravity water intake.
In addition, we have been doing formalin treatments to the 2.1 million eggs that are in incubators. We treat the chinook eggs with a 1667 parts per million concentration for 15 minutes, 3 days a week, and we treat the chum and pink eggs with a 250 parts per million concentration for one hour, 3 days a week. We are seeing very high survivals in our eggs, and this makes it easier to sleep at night!! Soon, the August 30th eggtakes of pinks and chums will be eyed up, and we can shock and pick these eggs. Last year, Pacific High School and Mt. Edgecumbe High School students were very involved with the picking and processing of our eggs, and they all had a good experience!! I would once again like to invite the Sitka School District to participate in fish culture activities here at the SJ Hatchery. I'm pretty sure that Jack and I could no doubt do this alone, but this is too good an opportunity to pass up. Chohla already told me she and her class would like to participate in the "next step" in egg processing!! I encourage the Science teachers at Pacific HS and Sitka HS to let their students know that the educational opportunity is here, and waiting for them as well. I am always happy to schedule tours for school groups wanting to see what's going on.
What about the Aquarium?, you might ask. Lynn and Henry continue to come in to volunteer on a daily basis, doing maintenance, and feeding the remaining animals in the tanks. There has not been an effort to collect new animals. We are all awaiting a decision by the Board of the SSSC as to whether or not the Aquarium will remain active this winter.
The number of visitors has dropped dramatically, since the last cruise ship departed. We are beginning to think about winterizing, and putting all the equipment away for the year. The signs, and the colored flags that had been out front all summer, are now stored in the Sawmill. The air temperature has droppped, and the leaves are falling from the alders. Another winter is almost upon us. We will continue to have the gates to the hatchery grounds open 7 days a week. The front doors to the Sage Building may not always be open, tho. If you would like to look inside the Wetlab, you can always make an appointment with us.
Thanks again to everyone who donated their time and personal resources to the Hatchery and Aquarium this past year. I truly hope the program can continue to survive far into the future.
--
Daniel F. Goodness, Manager
Sheldon Jackson Hatchery
834 Lincoln Street
Sitka, Alaska 99835
Work Phone:
Home Phone: 907-747-3824
Email: daniel.goodness@gmail.com
Website: www.sjhatchery.org
It's been about a month since I last sent out the news. In my last update, I was asking for volunteers for the 2nd half of our pink and chum spawning program. Well, we had a good day on September 6th!! Lots of folks showed up for the event, and we were able to easily take enough pink and chum eggs to make our goal. There were volunteers of all ages, I can tell you that!!
Quite a few Blatchley Junior High students were there helping, as were Chohla's Mt. Edgecumbe High School students. Thanks go out to Abigail and Samantha, both Blatchley Jr. High students, who have been there for the program all summer!! There was at least one student from Sitka High School as well. Sagan and her brother Liam did a fantastic job, helping me collect adults. Everyone had a good time.
What was particularly impressive was the way these students wanted to get geared up in neoprene waders, and help collect adults. There was lots of splashing water, and excitement galore, and by the end of the day, everyone was tired, and soaking wet, but we all got the job done!! You can see in the photos attached that lots of young people helped make it happen. I want to thank each and every one who made it that Saturday, even tho I don't know all your names. Keith and Jolene showed up just in time to help me by cooking the lunch that Lila had bought and prepared. Thanks also to Cheryl Westover, who came by in the early morning, and brought lots of goodies for everyone, but then had to work for the day. Everyone contributed in their own special way, and once again the volunteer effort at taking eggs worked. This is now the second year that the hatchery is surviving, due to volunteer help.
And now, please allow me to introduce Jack. Jack was coming in to volunteer last February and March, when we were coded-wire tagging cohos and kings. He became very familiar with the program, since he was also here to assist with the releases of coho and chinook smolts in May, and has been a tremendous asset to me and the rest of the volunteers!! Jack Lorrigan has been hired by the Sitka Sound Science Center as a Fish Culturist / Assistant Manager in Training. Jack has been on the job now for a month, and is a great help to me. I am finally beginning to take time off on the weekends, and Jack has been getting totally tuned into the idiosyncrasies of the SJ Hatchery. I am teaching him everything I can about this program, showing him all the details of fish culture and management. I must say that after 5 years of working here, I have become very intimately aware of all the strange complications that can pop up. I want to try to get Jack "up to speed" on the details as soon as possible. And I hope that Jack can become a full-time employee soon.
During this month of September, another tourist season wound down to a close. There were thousands of visitors this summer who stopped in to see us. The guest book in the Wetlab was filled to overflowing!! And, of course, we are extremely grateful for all the donations!! We shared our knowledge of Sitka and the salmon ranching industry to people from all over the world. It was a good summer.
For about one week, beginning on September 8th, Sitka Sound Seafoods purchased extra salmon from our adult raceways, fish that were surplus to our broodstock needs. Over 80,000 pounds of pinks, chums and coho were brailled out of the raceways and packed into iced totes. This cost recover effort was possible due to Sitka Sound Seafoods providing the totes, ice, a forklift, and a flatdeck truck, as well as 3 laborers!! Revenue generated from this will make it that much easier for the SSSC to operate the hatchery this winter. Thanks, Jon, for working with the SSSC to make this possible.
On September 12th and 13th, the coho fry rearing in Ponds 13 and 14 were split into 4 ponds, #1, #2, #5, and #6, to reduce their densities by half. Thanks go out to Chohla and her Science class from Mt. Edgecumbe HS, for helping dipnet fish, and carry buckets on Friday, as well as to Jodie and her daughter, Karimae, for helping that Saturday. We used the new electronic scale for this procedure and it worked flawlessly! The coho are all spread out now, and looking good!
There has been a good return of coho adults this month, too. In May, 2007, we released 120,000 coho smolts (these were from Broodyear 2005) and these fish have done well. We have been collecting adult cohos this month for our own broodstock needs. The adults are captured (one at a time) in the concrete raceways, and moved into empty circular ponds, where they will ripen for a month or so. Our goal is to hold to maturity 75 to 80 pairs of adults, so that we can be guaranteed to get our 150,000 fertilized eggs for this year. There has been some fungus in the water, but all in all the adults are doing well.
About two weeks ago, Jack and I turned on a small amount of saltwater to each of the coho and chinook rearing ponds, to help combat the Saprolegnia water fungus that is common in our Indian River water supply this time of year. Using the YSI salinity meter, we can make small adjustments and fine tune the salinities to whatever we wish. The coho have been getting around 4 to 5 parts per thousand, and the chinook have been at 5 to 7 ppt. This addition of saltwater is something that I have done here at the SJ Hatchery every fall, as fungus in our watershed is common following the upstream migration of thousands of salmon, reaching portions of Indian River way upstream of our gravity water intake.
In addition, we have been doing formalin treatments to the 2.1 million eggs that are in incubators. We treat the chinook eggs with a 1667 parts per million concentration for 15 minutes, 3 days a week, and we treat the chum and pink eggs with a 250 parts per million concentration for one hour, 3 days a week. We are seeing very high survivals in our eggs, and this makes it easier to sleep at night!! Soon, the August 30th eggtakes of pinks and chums will be eyed up, and we can shock and pick these eggs. Last year, Pacific High School and Mt. Edgecumbe High School students were very involved with the picking and processing of our eggs, and they all had a good experience!! I would once again like to invite the Sitka School District to participate in fish culture activities here at the SJ Hatchery. I'm pretty sure that Jack and I could no doubt do this alone, but this is too good an opportunity to pass up. Chohla already told me she and her class would like to participate in the "next step" in egg processing!! I encourage the Science teachers at Pacific HS and Sitka HS to let their students know that the educational opportunity is here, and waiting for them as well. I am always happy to schedule tours for school groups wanting to see what's going on.
What about the Aquarium?, you might ask. Lynn and Henry continue to come in to volunteer on a daily basis, doing maintenance, and feeding the remaining animals in the tanks. There has not been an effort to collect new animals. We are all awaiting a decision by the Board of the SSSC as to whether or not the Aquarium will remain active this winter.
The number of visitors has dropped dramatically, since the last cruise ship departed. We are beginning to think about winterizing, and putting all the equipment away for the year. The signs, and the colored flags that had been out front all summer, are now stored in the Sawmill. The air temperature has droppped, and the leaves are falling from the alders. Another winter is almost upon us. We will continue to have the gates to the hatchery grounds open 7 days a week. The front doors to the Sage Building may not always be open, tho. If you would like to look inside the Wetlab, you can always make an appointment with us.
Thanks again to everyone who donated their time and personal resources to the Hatchery and Aquarium this past year. I truly hope the program can continue to survive far into the future.
--
Daniel F. Goodness, Manager
Sheldon Jackson Hatchery
834 Lincoln Street
Sitka, Alaska 99835
Work Phone:
Home Phone: 907-747-3824
Email: daniel.goodness@gmail.com
Website: www.sjhatchery.org
Monday, June 16, 2008
Good News from the SJ Hatchery
Below is a newsletter from Dan Goodness the SJ Hatchery Manager. If any of you reading this want to be added to Dan’s growing list of recipients to his e-newsletter please send him an e-mail. You will see his e-mail address listed at the end of his letter.
Thanks!
Good morning, everyone!
There's been lots of activity here since my last newsletter went out. Friday, May 23rd was indeed a special day. We began releasing the cohos from Pond 13 at around 2:00 PM, and KIFW was there broadcasting the event! Devin Reiter was lots of fun to work with, and we sincerely appreciate the efforts that Erin Long made to set this up. We also appreciate the contributions from local businesses to make this airtime possible. Over $1000 was raised to help in the effort. Lots of my Friends showed up for the event, and helped let these coho go. The next day was Saturday, the first day of the Sitka Salmon Derby. In the afternoon, we released the cohos in Pond 14, and at that point, all the Broodyear 2006 smolts were gone.
On June 1st, I was given an addendum to my contract, and so I'm once again employed this month! $15,000 had been transferred from the Friends of the Hatchery account to the SSSC near the first of May. Sufficient funds remained for operation in June, so the contract continues! In the meantime, the donation account continues to grow. Today, there is almost $3,000 in the Friends of the Hatchery account, available to the SSSC for operation in July.
On May 28th and 29th, the chinook fry that had been rearing in the Nursery Troughs were transferred outside, into Ponds #13 and #14. I want to thank Judy Lehmann and Jack Lorrigan for their help with this! These transfers made it possible for us to pond the coho fry into these same troughs. We now have around 150,000 coho fry, and they are around 0.4 grams. There are belt feeders set up, so they get to eat all day long. They are growing quickly, and looking great!
Before long, the chinook will be split into Ponds 9, 10, 11, and 12, giving them room to become smolts next spring.
A wonderful development here this summer is Americorps! I want to thank Faith Lee and Karen Martinsen, from the Southeast Alaska Career Center, for making this possible. These student volunteers will learn fish culture, and assist with the duties of the hatchery during the summer months. They are learning to be tour guides, answering most of the commonly-asked questions that our visitors have. Charity and Jessie are actually taking my course, entitled FISH 100, Hatchery Applications and Experiences, for 1 credit. I am so glad to be teaching students again, and having student help!!
The numbers of cruise ship visitors is incredible! I want to thank everyone who has stopped by the Sage Building, to see the hatchery, and I am ever so grateful for the donations all of our visitors have left for us! The donation account continues to grow!
In addition, we received our Fish Resource Permit from Fish and Game, and so the Wetlab and Aquarium is now open to visitors! The Touch Tables are a real favorite. It's amazing to watch the barnacles feeding. There are lots of little creatures to see and enjoy, including a small octopus. The two large brown king crabs that Lila and I purchased last March are now in the 800 gallon tank, and they're doing just fine! Visitors are amazed at the size of these creatures.
On May 12th, there was a rupturing of the penstock, under Lincoln Street. I had to turn off the water to the adult raceways for these past several weeks. During the past 48 hours, the break was repaired, and the water is back on! I am adjusting the flows down the fish ladder, getting it just right, because we are expecting the first of the chinook to return soon. During this next week, I will once again string the corkline across the mouth of the fish ladder, designating a Broodstock Protection Zone. No sport fishing will be allowed on the freshwater side of this boundary.
By the middle of July, we should be seeing the return of the pinks and chums. It's going to be time to get the incubators set up, and prepare the spawning shed. There will soon be cost recovery harvesting of the early surplus. It's a busy and exciting time of the year, and Broodyear 2008 is upon us!
Once again, I want to thank all the volunteers who have helped me with the details of the hatchery, and I especially want to thank all the folks who have been instrumental in bringing the Wetlab and Aquarium to life again! Without the help of Steve Warren, Lynn Wilbur, Henry Larsen, Bob Reid, and many others, I don't think it could have happened. The whole community is getting involved, and assisting in many ways. Your donation dollars have kept the program running into June.
The City Assembly voted to award $10,000 to the Sitka Sound Science Center from the Salmon Enhancement portion of the Fish Box Tax. Thank you, Assembly, for acknowledging the contribution that the hatchery represents! It might be a small production facility, but it's a big training facility. I sincerely appreciate how you recognize this important fact.
The $250,000 from the State of Alaska should be available to the SSSC during August or September. With these funds, the SSSC can begin to operate the hatchery on something other than a "shoestring" budget. We will continue to collect donations throughout the summer, and I will always encourage everyone to come by and help in this effort to Save The Hatchery. This has become a great place to visit, and it's good for children. Education never stopped here, and I hope it never does.
Until next time,
Daniel F. Goodness, Manager
Sheldon Jackson Hatchery
834 Lincoln Street
Sitka, Alaska 99835
Office Phone: 907-747-3824
Home Phone: 907-747-3824
Email: daniel.goodness@gmail.com
Website: www.sjhatchery.org
"Education never stopped at the SJ Hatchery"
Thanks!
Good morning, everyone!
There's been lots of activity here since my last newsletter went out. Friday, May 23rd was indeed a special day. We began releasing the cohos from Pond 13 at around 2:00 PM, and KIFW was there broadcasting the event! Devin Reiter was lots of fun to work with, and we sincerely appreciate the efforts that Erin Long made to set this up. We also appreciate the contributions from local businesses to make this airtime possible. Over $1000 was raised to help in the effort. Lots of my Friends showed up for the event, and helped let these coho go. The next day was Saturday, the first day of the Sitka Salmon Derby. In the afternoon, we released the cohos in Pond 14, and at that point, all the Broodyear 2006 smolts were gone.
On June 1st, I was given an addendum to my contract, and so I'm once again employed this month! $15,000 had been transferred from the Friends of the Hatchery account to the SSSC near the first of May. Sufficient funds remained for operation in June, so the contract continues! In the meantime, the donation account continues to grow. Today, there is almost $3,000 in the Friends of the Hatchery account, available to the SSSC for operation in July.
On May 28th and 29th, the chinook fry that had been rearing in the Nursery Troughs were transferred outside, into Ponds #13 and #14. I want to thank Judy Lehmann and Jack Lorrigan for their help with this! These transfers made it possible for us to pond the coho fry into these same troughs. We now have around 150,000 coho fry, and they are around 0.4 grams. There are belt feeders set up, so they get to eat all day long. They are growing quickly, and looking great!
Before long, the chinook will be split into Ponds 9, 10, 11, and 12, giving them room to become smolts next spring.
A wonderful development here this summer is Americorps! I want to thank Faith Lee and Karen Martinsen, from the Southeast Alaska Career Center, for making this possible. These student volunteers will learn fish culture, and assist with the duties of the hatchery during the summer months. They are learning to be tour guides, answering most of the commonly-asked questions that our visitors have. Charity and Jessie are actually taking my course, entitled FISH 100, Hatchery Applications and Experiences, for 1 credit. I am so glad to be teaching students again, and having student help!!
The numbers of cruise ship visitors is incredible! I want to thank everyone who has stopped by the Sage Building, to see the hatchery, and I am ever so grateful for the donations all of our visitors have left for us! The donation account continues to grow!
In addition, we received our Fish Resource Permit from Fish and Game, and so the Wetlab and Aquarium is now open to visitors! The Touch Tables are a real favorite. It's amazing to watch the barnacles feeding. There are lots of little creatures to see and enjoy, including a small octopus. The two large brown king crabs that Lila and I purchased last March are now in the 800 gallon tank, and they're doing just fine! Visitors are amazed at the size of these creatures.
On May 12th, there was a rupturing of the penstock, under Lincoln Street. I had to turn off the water to the adult raceways for these past several weeks. During the past 48 hours, the break was repaired, and the water is back on! I am adjusting the flows down the fish ladder, getting it just right, because we are expecting the first of the chinook to return soon. During this next week, I will once again string the corkline across the mouth of the fish ladder, designating a Broodstock Protection Zone. No sport fishing will be allowed on the freshwater side of this boundary.
By the middle of July, we should be seeing the return of the pinks and chums. It's going to be time to get the incubators set up, and prepare the spawning shed. There will soon be cost recovery harvesting of the early surplus. It's a busy and exciting time of the year, and Broodyear 2008 is upon us!
Once again, I want to thank all the volunteers who have helped me with the details of the hatchery, and I especially want to thank all the folks who have been instrumental in bringing the Wetlab and Aquarium to life again! Without the help of Steve Warren, Lynn Wilbur, Henry Larsen, Bob Reid, and many others, I don't think it could have happened. The whole community is getting involved, and assisting in many ways. Your donation dollars have kept the program running into June.
The City Assembly voted to award $10,000 to the Sitka Sound Science Center from the Salmon Enhancement portion of the Fish Box Tax. Thank you, Assembly, for acknowledging the contribution that the hatchery represents! It might be a small production facility, but it's a big training facility. I sincerely appreciate how you recognize this important fact.
The $250,000 from the State of Alaska should be available to the SSSC during August or September. With these funds, the SSSC can begin to operate the hatchery on something other than a "shoestring" budget. We will continue to collect donations throughout the summer, and I will always encourage everyone to come by and help in this effort to Save The Hatchery. This has become a great place to visit, and it's good for children. Education never stopped here, and I hope it never does.
Until next time,
Daniel F. Goodness, Manager
Sheldon Jackson Hatchery
834 Lincoln Street
Sitka, Alaska 99835
Office Phone: 907-747-3824
Home Phone: 907-747-3824
Email: daniel.goodness@gmail.com
Website: www.sjhatchery.org
"Education never stopped at the SJ Hatchery"
Friday, March 21, 2008
SJ Hatchery Update
There is some good news from the SJ Hatchery. Below is a letter from Dan Goodness. I think we would all have to agree that Dan has gone above and beyond the call of duty to save the hatchery. He is to be commended for his hard work to save the hatchery. I think we would also all agree that the Hatchery is an important thing for this community. If you see Dan please be sure to thank him and Lila for all they have done.
It's been an exciting week for me here at the Sage Building this week. Several College students spent the week of Spring Break volunteering at the SJ Hatchery, and boy did we get lots done! I especially want to thank Jennie Smith and her daughter Kat for all their help (Jennie flew up from Oregon to be a part of the team). Thanks also to Victoria and Paul, two more students attending UAS in Juneau, for their assistance in coded wire tagging of chinook, and other projects. Polly, Jack, Lila, Jan and Kathy also did their part in making the week special. Lila fixed a big lunch for everyone on the tagging team on Wednesday. My very sincere thanks to everyone who helped. We have clipped and tagged over 22,000 chinook, and so the tagging of Broodyear 2006 coho and chinook is complete.
Also this week, the Broodyear 2006 coho and chinook in circular ponds began getting a small amount of saltwater mixed in with the fresh. This helps prepare them for life at sea. These fish will be released during May this spring. Ther coho were sampled during the week, and a plan is now in place to spread them out amongst the available ponds to give them more room for the next two months.
A very special gift this week came from Mim McConnell, who is a very talented graphic arts designer, web designer and photographer. She had heard about the "plight" of the SJ Hatchery Program, and offered to create a website for us. She asked me to write the text, and provide photos for this project. I want to thank James Shewmake and Sitka Tribe of Alaska for their movie clips which have been incorporated on this site, and Don Shawler for the use of one of his photos. I have collected digital photos for several years now, primarily of my students, but also of my volunteers, working and learning in the hatchery. Mim, your work is exceptional, and I cannot thank you enough for this generous donation of time! The new website is up and running now, and can be viewed at http://www.sjhatchery.org/. You can see Mim McConnell's works, and business contact information by going to http://www.sheltercovepublishing.com/.
In addition, 650,000 pink salmon have been ponded and transferred into a 20' X 40' netpen, and are being fed daily. The water has been cold (around 3.0 degrees C.) so the chums are developing slowly. But they will be ponded soon, as will the rest of the pinks. The coho eggs have been picked and seeded, and will hatch soon.
In my last newsletter I referred to a meeting to take place in Sitka near the first of April, 2008. This meeting will include people from the University of Alaska Southeast, NOAA Fisheries, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, representatives of PNP hatcheries in Southeast Alaska (this includes me) as well as the Sitka Sound Science Center, and possibly representatives of other educational entities. I don't have an agenda quite yet, but the meeting is planned to go for a day and a half, and I hope to give everyone an extensive tour of the Sage Building, Wetlab, classrooms, and hatchery. We are preparing for everyone's arrival, getting the building and hatchery grounds "shipshape" for this special event. In my next newsletter, I hope to give everyone a summary of this get together. But for now, let me say that I sincerely believe everyone present will come to realize the enormous value of this educational hatchery and aquarium, housed in a historic building, located in a very special spot in Sitka. More news to come.
Our donation account, the "Friends of the Hatchery", at Wells Fargo Bank, in Sitka, Alaska, has raised over $10,000! The donation containers Lila and I placed around town have produced many hundreds of dollars. I don't know everyone who has donated. I wish I could thank each and every one of these folks for their gifts. But the containers and their contents show me that the entire City of Sitka is behind us in our struggle to keep the hatchery alive!!
If you have questions or comments about the hatchery, feel free to email me. Have a great day.
Daniel F. Goodness, Manager
Sheldon Jackson College Hatchery
801 Lincoln Street
Sitka, Alaska 99835
Office Phone: 907-747-3824
Home Phone: 907-747-3824
Email: daniel.goodness@gmail.com
Be sure to check out the new website for the hatchery at this link: http://www.sjhatchery.org/
Dan's Letter:
Good morning, everyone!It's been an exciting week for me here at the Sage Building this week. Several College students spent the week of Spring Break volunteering at the SJ Hatchery, and boy did we get lots done! I especially want to thank Jennie Smith and her daughter Kat for all their help (Jennie flew up from Oregon to be a part of the team). Thanks also to Victoria and Paul, two more students attending UAS in Juneau, for their assistance in coded wire tagging of chinook, and other projects. Polly, Jack, Lila, Jan and Kathy also did their part in making the week special. Lila fixed a big lunch for everyone on the tagging team on Wednesday. My very sincere thanks to everyone who helped. We have clipped and tagged over 22,000 chinook, and so the tagging of Broodyear 2006 coho and chinook is complete.
Also this week, the Broodyear 2006 coho and chinook in circular ponds began getting a small amount of saltwater mixed in with the fresh. This helps prepare them for life at sea. These fish will be released during May this spring. Ther coho were sampled during the week, and a plan is now in place to spread them out amongst the available ponds to give them more room for the next two months.
A very special gift this week came from Mim McConnell, who is a very talented graphic arts designer, web designer and photographer. She had heard about the "plight" of the SJ Hatchery Program, and offered to create a website for us. She asked me to write the text, and provide photos for this project. I want to thank James Shewmake and Sitka Tribe of Alaska for their movie clips which have been incorporated on this site, and Don Shawler for the use of one of his photos. I have collected digital photos for several years now, primarily of my students, but also of my volunteers, working and learning in the hatchery. Mim, your work is exceptional, and I cannot thank you enough for this generous donation of time! The new website is up and running now, and can be viewed at http://www.sjhatchery.org/. You can see Mim McConnell's works, and business contact information by going to http://www.sheltercovepublishing.com/.
In addition, 650,000 pink salmon have been ponded and transferred into a 20' X 40' netpen, and are being fed daily. The water has been cold (around 3.0 degrees C.) so the chums are developing slowly. But they will be ponded soon, as will the rest of the pinks. The coho eggs have been picked and seeded, and will hatch soon.
In my last newsletter I referred to a meeting to take place in Sitka near the first of April, 2008. This meeting will include people from the University of Alaska Southeast, NOAA Fisheries, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, representatives of PNP hatcheries in Southeast Alaska (this includes me) as well as the Sitka Sound Science Center, and possibly representatives of other educational entities. I don't have an agenda quite yet, but the meeting is planned to go for a day and a half, and I hope to give everyone an extensive tour of the Sage Building, Wetlab, classrooms, and hatchery. We are preparing for everyone's arrival, getting the building and hatchery grounds "shipshape" for this special event. In my next newsletter, I hope to give everyone a summary of this get together. But for now, let me say that I sincerely believe everyone present will come to realize the enormous value of this educational hatchery and aquarium, housed in a historic building, located in a very special spot in Sitka. More news to come.
Our donation account, the "Friends of the Hatchery", at Wells Fargo Bank, in Sitka, Alaska, has raised over $10,000! The donation containers Lila and I placed around town have produced many hundreds of dollars. I don't know everyone who has donated. I wish I could thank each and every one of these folks for their gifts. But the containers and their contents show me that the entire City of Sitka is behind us in our struggle to keep the hatchery alive!!
If you have questions or comments about the hatchery, feel free to email me. Have a great day.
Daniel F. Goodness, Manager
Sheldon Jackson College Hatchery
801 Lincoln Street
Sitka, Alaska 99835
Office Phone: 907-747-3824
Home Phone: 907-747-3824
Email: daniel.goodness@gmail.com
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