The Prince Rupert Port Authority is floating a $60,000 grant upstream to the Toboggan Creek Hatchery in Smithers to help improve Coho and Chinook salmon productivity.
The funding commitment from the port will go towards the revitalization of the hatchery’s rearing ponds. The project includes replacing the wooden dividers that separate the salmon stock with more durable steel versions, as well as reshaping and lining the rearing ponds with aggregate.
The hatchery is the only Coho indicator in the Skeena watershed and was initially built in 1985 as a five-year pilot project. Over its 35-year lifespan Toboggan Creek Hatchery has been providing uninterrupted Coho salmon information and survival data. The data from the facility’s spring smolt trapping, summer tagging, and fall assessment operations directly help Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s determine the annual commercial retention of ocean-going Coho.
The grant is part of the Skeena River Salmon Enhancement Program, established by the Prince Rupert Port Authority in 2019 with a $1 million endowment from its Community Investment Fund.
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