December29th: Folks,

The chinook eggs hatched and the alevins are almost “buttoned up” (used up their orange egg sack) and are ready to go into the troughs and tanks.

On next Saturday January 4 we are going to pond about 70,000 of our chinook.

On Saturday January 11 we are going to pond the remaining of our chinook and all of Nitinat’s total of about 500,000.

In the week between the 4th and the 11th the fry will be in 3 troughs and we are going to use the auto feeders on them. So the morning shift will not only do water temps but will reset the feeders and sprinkle out some food. The afternoon feeders can stay at home and rest.

However after Jan 11th we’ll have all (but 2 for our coho) troughs and tanks full so it will be all hands on deck until the end of May.

See you Saturday at 8:30

Bryan

By the way - Happy New Year=

December 11th: Folks,.

There will be a work party this Saturday 14th to clean/disinfect the tanks and troughs. Early in the new year we’ll be ponding most of our chinook.

See you at 8:30 at the hatchery

Bryan

December 4th: Folks,

There are only 5 or 6 coho trays left to shock.

See you Saturday 7th December at 8:30 am

Bryan

November 27th: Folks,

There are a few more coho trays to shock and …………..the last container is being moved Saturday morning from the old hatchery so ……………..

for those of us with trucks we can then go up to the old hatchery and get covers for the troughs, odoline drum, empty the tool room, derby room and other stuff.

See you at the new hatchery - come at 8:00 and have coffee and we’ll split-up and start at 8:30.

Bryan

November 23rd: Folks,

There are more trays of coho to shock. Monday morning at 8:30 we’ll start.

Bryan

PS Bill told me that our chinook are emerging from their eggs and ponding will not be too far behind. The Nitinat chinook he figures are about a week behind ours so very quickly we can have a full hatchery.

November 17th: Folks,

We have a few trays of coho to shock - see you Wednesday morning (20th). Come at 8:00 and have a coffee - Shocking starts at 8:30.

Bryan

November 12th: Folks,

The eggs from Nitinat will arrive tomorrow at the hatchery Wednesday November 13 around noonish.We need some help to “tuck” there eggs into the trays for their long winter nap.

Bryan

November 8th: Folks,

Community Hall for the Annual General Meeting on Wednesday. Annual membership is $10 due on November 13.

See you there.

Bryan

October 22nd: Folks,

There will be a work party this Saturday October 26 (less then 2 months to Christmas). Meet at the new hatchery at 8:30 (no more waiting at Butler’s gate Hurray!!) or earlier if you want coffee.

See you there

Bryan

October 18th: Folks,

The coho are running so please be at the De Mamiel weir tomorrow Saturday between 8:00 and 8:30 am. After we get a load then we're off to the new hatchery.  

Please do not park at the new hatchery - park at the Charters Creek Interpretive Centre.  The new hatchery parking lot is being gravelled and levelled front and rear.

Good luck

Bryan

October 9th: Folks,

We need to get our Sooke River fence equipment from John Martin’s old place so meet at the new hatchery at 8:30 and we’ll go in convoy. Only those trucks with 4 wheel drive can go down to the river.

See you there.

Bryan

Sept 30th: Folks,

Before we take broodstock on Saturday the equipment needs to be setup and tested so ….we’ll meet at the new hatchery at 8:30 on Thursday October 3 and then go down to John Martin's.

Should take 2 to 3 hours.

Bryan

Sept 28th: Folks,

Next Saturday we’ll take our chinook broodstock (hopefully). We are to meet at Edward Milne parking lot at 8:00 am and for those who are not members you must sign-in for insurance purposes.

This whole seining process will take 4 to 5 hours and we hope to have the Sooke Lions providing hamburgers, hot dogs and drinks.

Here is hoping for fair weather and lots of fish.

See you there.

Bryan Manning, Secretary SSES

Sept 24th: Folks,

There will be a work party this Saturday September 28 to do

• Bring down the seining gear
• Bring down all remaining “stuff” from the old hatchery required at the new one for broodstock/egg take.
• any other work

Meet at Butler’s gate 8:15 to 8:30 am.

See you there, Bryan

Sept 10th: Folks,

Sorry about the late notice.

The drywaller finished today both the washroom and office at the new hatchery and we are anxious to get it painted before the cabinets, etc go in. Paint, brushes and rollers will be provided.

Painting party Wednesday Sept 11 and Thursday Sept 12 at 2895 Sooke River Road @ 8:30am.

Thanks. See you there.

Bryan

Sept 7th: Folks,

The first work party for this season is to install the fence in the Sooke River.We’ll meet at the “old” hatchery to collect our gear at 8:30 and then toddle down to John Martin’s and get to work.

We should be finished around 1:00 in the afternoon.

See you at Butler’s gate 8:15 to 8:30 am next Saturday.

Bryan

August 10th: Folks,

There will be a monthly meeting at 7:00 pm on Wednesday 14th to keep everyone up-to-date as to the happenings at the new and old hatchery.

Bryan

July 27th: Three derby items:

1) Derby committee putting the derby prizes together at Gerry Glaum’s (7251 Bethany Pl) on Tuesday July 30 at 7:00PM

2) Friday August 2 @ 1:00PM at the old hatchery to pick up tent, signs, tables, and other bits and bobs. Members with trucks would be appreciated.

3) Saturday morning August 2 @ 5:30AM meet at the weigh-in station (Phillips Road and Sooke Road) to set everything up. Volunteers are needed during the day since the weigh-in station is open from dawn to 7:00PM on Saturday and from dawn to 1:00PM on Sunday August 3. (We have Monday off to recuperate).

See you there.

Bryan

July 7th:: Folks,

There will be a monthly meeting at 7:00 pm on Wednesday to keep everyone up-to-date as to the new and old hatchery.

Bryan

June 17th: Folks,

This Saturday our derby tickets go on sale at the site of the weigh-in station (Phillips Rd and Sooke Rd) from 10:00am to 2:00pm. We need volunteers to help out for a few hours.

This is the start of our derby ticket sales and if you can drop by for an hour or so thanks-a-lot.

See you Saturday

Bryan

June 13th: Folks,

There will be a work party on Tuesday at the old hatchery to remove the 4 - 8 foot tanks.

Plan “A” is to have the tanks ready for removal on Tuesday. The concrete bust-up and crane does not require a large work party on Saturday and Monday.

If all does not go well then it is plan “B” of which we do not yet have a plan “B”.

Bryan

June 6th: Folks,

On Saturday June 8 there will be our annual grass cutting, trimming, etc at Bradford dam since there is no work needed at the old hatchery until next week. Bring weed-whackers, mowers, etc. We’ll supply the pop & water. Should take 2 to 3 hours.

Meet at the old hatchery at 8:30 and we’ll leave from there.

Bryan

June 1st: Folks,

We still need to remove the tanks for the new hatchery - the roof is off the lower hatchery but the beams and posts have to be removed as well as the tanks need to be “loosened” from their concrete base. So bring work gloves, hammer, etc.

See you there 8:15 to 8:30 at Butler’s gate.

Bryan

May 31st: Folks,

We still need to remove the tanks for the new hatchery. So there will be a work party on Saturday - bring work gloves, hammer, drill etc.

See you there 8:15 to 8:30 at Butler’s gate.

Bryan

May 29th: Folks,

Bill would like the new site given a general clean-up - pieces of lumber, nails, etc. If 2 or 3 could bring a wheel barrow ( for the smaller things ), there will be a load or two to go to the dump. Moving lumber around into piles.

See you there at 8:30am

Bryan

May 19th: Folks,

Since we have released all our fry from the hatchery and the smolts from the sea pen we can now concentrate in dismantling the hatchery specifically the lower one in order to remove the tanks for the new hatchery.

So there will be a work party on Saturday - bring work gloves, hammer, drill etc.

See you there 8:15 to 8:30 at Butler’s gate.

Bryan

May 15th: Folks,

Tomorrow May 16 the hatchery will be empty of fish (volunteers needed) - however this spring and summer there will be work parties for the dismantling of the old hatchery to move to our new one.

On Saturday May 18 @ 8:30 am we’ll take all the 40,000+ chinook fry from Charters to the Sooke River (volunteers needed).

and also on Saturday May 18 in the evening at 7:00 pm we’ll release the 77,000 smolts from the seapen.

The end of another successful year - thank you one and all!!!

Bryan

May 9th Folks,

We need to unload the Hatchery since the oxygen levels are low and the water level has dropped. See you at the Butler’s gate 8:15 to 8:30 am on Saturday.

Bryan

PS Work Parties scheduled for next week: Monday May 13; Wednesday May 15; Friday May 17 and Saturday May 18. I’ll send out a reminder email.

May 5th: Folks,

The Rocky Creek is getting low and we need to unload the Hatchery. Just a heads-up: these work parties will happen during the week until the fry are all gone.

See you at the Butler’s gate 8:15 to 8:30 am on Wednesday.

Bryan

April 30th: Folks,

The chinook fry are still growing but the water in Rocky Creek is dwindling so this coming Saturday (May 4th) we have to move some out into the big, wide and wet world.

See you at the Butler’s gate 8:15 to 8:30 am on Saturday.

Bryan

April 20th : The smolts from Nitinat arrive on Thursday April 25 around 11:00 am to 12:00 so….

on Wednesday April 24 we’ll meet at the hatchery at 8:30 and gather up the nets, floats, etc and then head to the Government Dock and set up.

On Thursday April 25 we’ll meet at the government dock at 10:00 am and set up the net and any last minute things and await the fish from Nitinat.

See you there

Bryan

April 14th: Folks,

And yes I know it is Easter weekend but the fish won’t wait. The chinook fry are growing and thus have to be thinned so this coming Saturday is the start of hauling the little ones to the Sooke River.

See you at the Butler’s gate 8:15 to 8:30 am on Saturday.

Bryan

March 27th: Folks

On Saturday March 30th Bill wants to:

- take 2 loads of chinook to Charters Creek (we will weigh these fry weekly same as the hatchery and compare weights - Charter’s Creek water is a few degrees warmer so we expect quicker growth)

- pond more of our chinook

- move fry around in the hatchery

8:15 to 8:30 at Butler’s gate. See you there.

Bryan

March 12th: Folks,

Next Saturday the 16th Bill wants to:

- clean tanks 12 & 13

- move fry into these tanks

- pond more of our chinook

- move fry around in the hatchery

8:15 to 8:30 at Butler’s gate. See you there.

Bryan

Feb 19th: Folks,

The afternoon feedings are to start this Thursday February 21 and morning feeders are to increase feeding from once an hour to every half hour. This Saturday February 23 we’ll clean the 4 lower tanks and move fry from 5A & B and 6A & B into those four tanks. We’ll possibly be doing some ponding as well. If there is snow at the hatchery on Saturday be careful parking down below.

See you there 8:15 to 8:30 at Butler gate (if open go right to the hatchery.)

Bryan

January 27th: Folks,

After yesterday’s work party we have fry in troughs 1 to 5 and they need looking after so …….We have an excellent opportunity at the hatchery for 2 enterprising, resourceful and highly astute people. Outstanding possibilities for advancement (more work).

There is an opening Wednesday mornings for 2 people to look after our fry. The duties are:

1 - take and record the water temperature

2 - Feed fry every half hour

3 - Clean troughs and tanks

4 - pick out morts and record the number

The hours are from 9:00 a.m. to noon when the second shift takes over. Every Wednesday starting this week (January 30) EVERY WEEK until end of May/beginning of June (depending on water supply).

Please let me know and if you need any “training” we can arrange that as well.

Bryan

PS Coffee, tea, cookies are provided

January 20th: Folks,

All 250,000 Nitinat fry are ready to pond. We need the troughs cleaned and 40 trays of alvins/fry relocated to their new home. Lots of work.

See you there 8:15 to 8:30.

Bryan

PS - Likely we’ll be ponding every weekend if the water temps stay high but I’ll let you know.

December 26th: Folks

It will be our last trays to shock for this year ( 4 trays) - HURRAY!!!

See you Saturday 29th 8:15 to 8:30am at Butler’s gate

Bryan

December 19th: Folks, 

We should have 5-6 trays to shock and pick this Saturday. See you there 8:15 to 8:30am.

Bryan

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year from all the 650,000 Chinook and Coho in the hatchery

:December 13th: Folks,

We have a few more trays (4+) to shock.

See you Saturday 8:15 to 8:30

Bryan

December 9th: Folks,

There will be a monthly meeting on Wednesday December 12 at 7:00 at the Community hall.

$10 dues are due.

Bryan

December 4th: Folks

We will have 6 more trays that will be ready for shocking on Saturday morning .

See you there 8:15 to 8:30 at Butler gate.

Bryan

November 29th: Folks

We will have 6 trays, about 30,000 coho eggs, that will be ready for shocking on Saturday morning

See you there 8:15 to 8:30 at Butler gate.

Bryan

October 31st: Folks

This Saturday November 3 we’ll be shocking the first of the chinook eggs AND we’ll be removing the “boards” from De Mamiel Weir since we have take our allotment of coho.

See you at Butler’s gate 8:15 to 8:30am.

Bryan

October 29th: Folks

Mel, Bill and Les have been at De Mamiel Weir today and there are fish so ….. we meet at the Weir tomorrow at 8:30 - bring your rain gear.

Bryan

PS the Weir is located on Young Lake Road. At the 4-way stop continue straight ahead toward the Boy Scout Camp.

October 10th: Folks,

There will be a work party at the Jack Brooks Hatchery on Saturday to take some chinook eggs and get ready for the coho - cleaning trays, installing the boards at the De Mamiel weir, etc.

Be at the Butler Main gate 8:15 to 8:30am. See you there.

Bryan

October 6th: Folks,

After a very successful seining today (Saturday Oct 6) we have our monthly meeting on Wednesday October 10 at 7:00 PM at the community hall.

See you there

Bryan

PS Currently we have our chinook broodstock scattered in three locations 1) two large tanks at John Martins, 2) two tanks at Charters Creek Interpretative Centre and 3) in one tank at the Jack Brooks Hatchery.

This is because currently we do not have enough water from Rocky Creek to supply the Jack Brooks Hatchery with the amount we need. Recently there have been newspaper articles about us possibly moving our hatchery to Charters Creek. To the society’s good luck we have Mr. Mike Hicks championing our cause. So come out to Wednesday’s meeting and find out the latest on this potential new chapter of the society.

30th September: Folks

Saturday Oct 6

We will be seining on Saturday - the divers and Charters Creek Int. Centre have been notified. We will meet at Edward Milne School parking lot (6218 Sooke Road) at 8:30 am to sign in all who are not members of the society and actively taking part (this is for insurance purposes only). The society will provide some waders but if you have your own please bring them.

Thursday Oct 4

Work party at the hatchery to load up the two portable tanks, pumps, generators, boat, nets, waders, and everything needed for seining. Meet at Butler Gate at 8:30 (we still have only one key).

Bryan

24th September: Folks

Mel and Bill were at the fence this morning and there is nothing moving in the Sooke River. They walked downstream to the two pools and again nothing so they are cancelling Gord’s swim scheduled for tomorrow and will possibly have it next week.

Thus the most likely date for seining will be Saturday October 6 but this will be confirmed next week.

NO SEINING THIS SATURDAY SEPT 29

No rain no fish.

Bryan

22nd September: Folks

This Tuesday Sept 25 Gord Fultcher will be doing a “swim” in the Sooke River to see if there are enough Chinook to do a seining. If the word is go, then Saturday September 29 will be our seining day. However, if not that Saturday then the following Saturday October 6 will be the day.

I will notify you via email on Wednesday Sept 26 as to the results of the swim and when we will do the seining.

So until Wednesday…...

Bryan

PS Big thanks Gord.

13th September: Folks

There will be a work party Saturday Sept 15 to “clean-up” the hatchery and get ready for broodstock.

See you at Butler's gate at 8:15 to 8:30.

Bryan

5th September: Folks

It is that time of the year again for a new hatchery season.

The first item is to install the fence so we meet at Butler gate at 8:30 am (TW changed the locks and we have only one key) and load up with all the “stuff” we will need and then head down to the river.

So I’ll see you SUNDAY

Bryan

1st August: Folks

This coming weekend Saturday August 4 and Sunday August 5 is our annual Chinook derby when we raise the bulk of the funds to keep the hatchery going.

We need volunteers to:

Friday afternoon 1:00 PM meet at Butler’s gate to pick up tent, chairs, totes, etc from the hatchery. Timberwest are replacing the bridge over Rocky Creek so we’ll all go in together. We’ll be about an hour.

Saturday morning 5:30 AM meet at the weigh-in station (Phillips Rd and Sooke Rd) to setup the tent, tables, etc. On Saturday the weigh-in station stays open until 7:00 PM so we need volunteers - if you can spare a few hours it would be appreciated.

Sunday morning the weigh-in station opens at dawn until 1:00 PM. Again we need volunteers to help out. After 1:00 PM the bulk of the weigh-in station gets moved to the Flats for a steak dinner at 2:00 PM and awarding of the prizes soon after. We should be finished at the Flats about 4:30 to 5:00 PM.

See you there

Bryan

PS: Take Monday off

July 10th: Folks,

There will be a work party at the hatchery this Saturday. Seapen net needs drying. Fish food need to be brought down from the steel containers before it cooks. Finishing touches on the new roof and trailer to be moved; and other surprize jobs.

See you at Butler's gate 8:15 to 8:30am.

Bryan

June 25th: Folks,

The roofing material has been delivered for the roof of the lower hatchery so….. it needs to be installed. There are a few other jobs to do as well.

See you there 8:15 to 8:30 at the gate.

Bryan

June 6th: Folks,

Bill wants the old sheet metal roof removed from the lower hatchery as well as the front metal panels from the upper building. New stringers are to be added to the lower hatchery roof. The actual sheeting-in of the lower hatchery will be at a later date.

Old clothes and gloves would be advisable.

See you there 8:15: to 8:30.

Bryan

PS Monthly hatchery meeting next Wednesday June 13 (I’ll send out a reminder over the weekend).

May 26th: Folks

The hatchery is empty as of 2:00 pm this afternoon. A big, big thanks to all who helped out.

Bill is giving us a week off but just to keep us in fighting trim next Saturday June 2 he wants the dam at Bradford mowed and weed-wacked.We’ll meet at the hatchery at 8:30 and double up on vehicles.

If you have a gas powered weed-eater, etc bring it.

See you at the hatchery Saturday

Bryan

Enjoy the week off.=

May 19th: Folks

On Saturday May 19 we moved all the coho to Young Lake.

The water levels in Rocky Creek are falling rapidly so Bill wants to empty the hatchery by Saturday May 26.

On Tuesday May 22 and Thursday May 24 and Saturday May 26 there will be work parties to move the springs to the Sooke River.

See you at Butler’s gate 8:15 to 8:30am - if the gate is open go to the hatchery.

The end is in site - finally. It has been a long event-filled year.

Bryan Manning

May 12th: Folks,

On Friday (May 18) evening at 7:00 PM we will release the 83,000 smolts from the seapen into the harbour.

On Saturday morning (May 19 @ 8:30 AM) instead of going to the hatchery we will load up the seapen gear and bring it back. Also on Saturday we’ll be moving more fish.

See you Friday and Saturday.

Bryan Manning

May 9th: Folks,

There will be a work party this Saturday May 12 at the hatchery. Bill wants tanks 12 & 13 emptied of fish so the water can the be used for the other tanks. Two trips to the Sooke River.

Butler Gate 8:15 to 8:30 - If the gate is open go through to the hatchery.

See you there,

Bryan

May 1st: Saturday, May 5, 8:15 AM at Butler gate. Take 2 loads of smolts to the river .

Gerry Glaum

April 18th: Nitinat hatchery are to deliver chinook salmon smolts to our net pen on Thursday, April 26. Two work parties are scheduled.

Saturday, April 21, 8:30 AM at Butler gate. Tasks include:

1. Take the floats to the government dock and assemble, but not install them.
2. If possible, place the boards in Demamiel weir.
3. Redistribute some salmon at the hatchery.

Thursday, April 26, 8:00 AM at Butler gate or the hatchery if the gate is open.

• Collect the rest of the net pen gear, transport to the government dock, assemble and install the net pen and receive the fish.

Gerry Glaum

March 31st: Folks

There are two items Bill would like to get done on Saturday April 7:

- Fill tanks 12 & 13 and thin out the other tanks.

- Install the “boards” in De Mamiel Weir.

See you at Butler’s gate 8:15 to 8:30

Bryan Manning

March 28th: Folks,

Once again we need a volunteer or volunteers to help out Brian Johnson with the Tuesday morning cleaning, mort count and feeding. The shift is from 8:30 to noon every Tuesday until the hatchery shuts down for the summer.

Gerry Glaum is having health problems and will continue as long as he can but another volunteer will be needed when all the tanks are full.

Please let me know if you can help out.

Bryan

March 20th: Folks,

We require a feeder (s) for Saturday afternoon feeding - Noon to 3:00PM - feed every half hour that is all. This will last until we empty the hatchery of fry say end of May but it is 100% weather dependent.

Mel Hull does the morning feeding as well as cleaning and picking out the morts. So anyone interested let Mel or me know.

Thanks Bryan

March 14th: Folks

There will be a work party this Saturday March 17 to thin out the upper troughs and put fry into the lower tanks. See you at the Butler gate at 8:15 to 8:30 - if the gate is open go directly to the hatchery.

Bryan

March 10th: Folks

There will be a general meeting Wednesday at 7:00 at the community hall.

Bryan

P.S. Since we have fry in most of the troughs……..

In the wild fry are not strong enough to swim upstream, so they drift downstream until they find calm pools where they can feed. There, they defend a small feeding territory from other fry. They catch land insects that fly close to the water or fall from plants hanging over the water. They also catch food in the water, mainly insect nymphs and larvae, as well as plankton. They grow from about 2.5 cm to between 4.5 and 5.5 cm. Because they are out in open water searching for food, many salmon fry are eaten by predators, including birds and larger fish. To hide, salmon fry change their skin colour. They develop camouflage markings known as Parr marks, which are dark bars across their bodies. The mixture of light and dark helps them blend into the shadows on the stream- or lakebed so they are less visible to predators. They also dart very quickly from spot to spot. A crucial part of the salmon’s life cycle occurs at the fry stage — imprinting. Salmon fry memorize their home stream or lake through factors such as the type of rock and soil in the bed, plant life and other aquatic organisms, all of which contribute to the quality and the unique scent of the water. Salmon learn to recognize this scent as very young fry and can identify it in the water when they return from the ocean. Changes in the stream’s environment that occur after the fry leave can confuse the returning salmon, preventing them from finding their home stream and spawning. Imprinting continues as the fry grow and become smolts, so fry raised in an aquarium use these memories, rather than memories of tap water used in aquariums, to find their way home.  Almost 90 per cent of all fry die from predators, disease or lack of food. 

Feb 11th: Hi Everyone,

Well, we had a great turn out for our work party on Saturday. We got an amazing amount of work done in just a few short hours. Proof that many hands make light work. Or at least many hands can get a little cold and wet. The thrills of working at a fish hatchery. I guess everyone was tired of sitting at home watching the rain lately so with the beautiful weather on Saturday it was as good an excuse as any to get out of the house and see some different scenery. I certainly enjoyed it being as I work out in the elements. I’m ready for some nice weather. How about all of you?

So with that I want to thank everyone who was able to come out and have some fun. Its always nice seeing old and new faces alike. And remember……Its for the fish.

Thanks,

Roger Praud, President

Feb 4th: Folks,

There will be a work party on Saturday to pond fry into the troughs. In order to do this the troughs need to be cleaned as well as the trays. Morts need to be picked out as well as any other jobs Bill has for us. This work should take about 2 hours.

See you at Butler's gate 8:15 to 8:30am. If the gate is open go right into the hatchery.

Bryan

Feb 3rd: Folks,

We are starting up a new season in preparing for our Derby on August 4 & 5. New volunteers are welcome to share the work load.

The Derby meeting is on Tuesday February 6 @ 7:00 pm at Gerry Glaum’s 7251 Bethany Place (Whiffin Spit Area)

See you there

Bryan

Jan 7th, 2018: Folks

There will the monthly meeting Wednesday January 10th at the Community Hall.

$10 DUES ARE DUE!!!

Bryan

At the hatchery, currently the Chinook Salmon are at the alevin stage ie ready to hatch or have hatched.  T he baby salmon will break free of the egg's soft shell retaining the yolk as a nutrient-rich sac that hangs below it's body (yolk sacks are the orange pouches underneath them). At this stage, they are about one inch in length. During the next month, the alevin will remain in the incubator trays and feed from the nutrient-rich yolk sac until it is completely absorbed. The yolk sacks contain protein, sugar, minerals, and vitamins. These yolk sacks last only about a month until they “ button-up” and the sack disappears -  they now are at the fry stage.  At the end of the alevin stage and beginning of the fry stage is when they are moved into the  aluminum troughs (ponding).  This year depending on water temperatures (ATU’s) it looks like the end of January we’ll be ponding both our springs and the Nitinat ones.

December 11th: Folks

There will the December monthly meeting in Wednesday at the Community Hall.

Also Mel put the heat-lamps in the Inc. Rm and assembled a small box with the torch, a BBQ lighter and lighters at Phil’s for frozen locks — to LEAVE the lights on in the Inc. Rm.

Bryan

November 29th: Folks

There are 3 coho trays to shock Saturday Dec 2. See you at Butler main gate 8:15 to 8:30 am

Bryan

November 24th: Folks,

There are 5 coho trays to shock Saturday Nov 25 and 5 trays to shock on Sunday Nov 26. See you at Butler main gate 8:15 to 8:30 am.

Bryan Manning

November 10th: Folks

There will be a work party on Sunday to remove the coho males from the hatchery and to shock a few trays of chinook eggs. Today (Friday) we took the last eggs from the females so only the males are left.

Meet at Butler’s gate 8:15 to 8:30 am - if the gate is open proceed to the hatchery.

See you there

Bryan Manning

November 10th: Folks

On Tuesday November 21 we will make our annual pilgrimage to Nitinat to collect our 250,000 chinook eggs. The truck leaves Sooke at 6:00 AM and gets back between 2 and 3:00 PM and then goes to the hatchery to unload the eggs into trays. There are a few passenger spots left open in the hatchery truck for a ride there and back.

If you are interested in going to see the largest DFO hatchery in Canada send Mel an email or call him at 250 642-5548.

Thank you,

Bryna Manning

November 4th: Folks,

Wednesday November 8 is our Annual General Meeting - dues are due & the election of officers.

See you at the Community hall at 7:00 PM.

Bryan Manning

October 23rd: Folks,

Quite a few trays of Chinook eggs will be ready to shock on Saturday (October 28) and likely on Sunday as well. See you at Butler’s gate between 8:15 and 8:30 am Saturday.

Bryan Manning

PS Currently we are still taking our coho brood stock at De Mamiel Weir at 8:30

October 20th: Folks

This morning we took two loads of coho to the hatchery. Tomorrow (Saturday Oct 21) we are still at it - see you at De Mamiel Weir at 8:30 am.

Bryan Manning

October 19th: Folks

After the 3 plus inches of rain we have had this week Young Lake has overflowed the weir. So tomorrow morning (Friday Oct 20) show up at the weir @ 8:30 am and we’ll likely take some coho.

Bryan Manning

October 16th: Folks,

Up date on our broodstock.

This morning (Monday Oct 16) we took our last Chinook broodstock eggs. They are all nicely “tucked in” trays in the incubator room. The pumps supplying water for the last two weeks to the broodstock are shutdown and removed from Rocky Creek. Heads, scales, etc were taken from our chinook broodstock and will be sent to DFO for analysis. A big thanks to all who have no only participated in taking the chinook broodstock from the Sooke River but also in taking eggs for the past 16 days.

We are now awaiting the coho. They are milling about at the Flats waiting to go up De Mamiel Creek however there is virtually no water. We are now 100% dependent on the rain to get our coho broodstock. Young Lake - the headwaters of De Mamiel - is down a foot or so before any water spills over down the creek. There are at least three falls on De Mamiel the coho have to navigate before they reach our weir and trap.

Needless to say we need a lot of rain. Rain - let it rain.

Water temperature takers - do not bother going to the hatchery for the next while since members will be there daily monitoring the water situation (ie we have only enough water (without pumping) to supply the incubator room).

Bryan Manning

PS Should we get rain and the coho begin their run I’ll be sending out an email on short notice.

October 8th: Folks,

Wednesday October 11 is our monthly meeting at the Community Hall @ 7:00PM.

Tomorrow Monday October 9 (Thanksgiving) there will be a work party at Charter’s Creek to move all our springs to the hatchery @ 8:30 AM.

Bryan Manning

October 2nd: Folks

We have taken our brood stock and removed the fence from the Sooke River BUT we need to dismantle it and bring it to the hatchery. So on Saturday October 7 …...

We will be meeting at the EMCS parking lot at 8:30 am and will all go down to Martins Park from there. 

Bryan Manning

October1st: Folks

Since we have fish at the hatchery we have to take eggs so we will we doing that everyday starting tomorrow Monday October 2. See you at the gate at 8:15 to 8:30am

Bryan Manning

September 30th: Hi Everyone,

Well we’ve officially begun the 2017-2018 season. The weather looked rather threatening at times but it turned out to be pretty darn nice over all. We had a great turn out of volunteers this morning. Both members and non members. A big thank you to everyone who came out. It was fun meeting with everybody. This was one of the smoothest run seines that people could remember. I’m not sure if its just that we’re becoming more forgetful or just getting better with practice.

I would like to thank Gord, Rebecca and Jamie for organizing the divers and swimmers who all did a fantastic job.

As well, a big thank you to the Sooke Lions for providing us with yummy hot dogs, pop, and coffee. Its always nice to have some warm food after working and gives everyone a chance to unwind before heading out.

In the end we collected 101 chinook. A great day for sure. Once back at the hatchery, we processed some of our females. So we now have eggs and are back in the hatchery business.

Again, thank you everyone.

Roger Paud, President

September 23rd: Hi Everyone,

Its that time of year again when we all get to put on our big rubber boots and go stand in the river and get splashed by all the spawning salmon. Yes it’s brood stock time.

The date will be Saturday Sept. 30. Next weekend. We will be meeting at the EMCS parking lot at 8:30 am and will all go down to Martins Park from there.

Bring your waders and boots and come out for the fun. Hope to see you all there.

Thanks, Roger

September 23rd: Hi Gang,   

We will be putting together a work party for Friday Sept. 29 to gather up all our gear for the seining of our brood stock.

We will meet at the gate @ 12:00. It shouldn’t take more than an hour to load everything up.

Thanks, Roger

September 13th: Folks,

There will be a work party on Saturday at the hatchery to work on the “shed” for the truck as well as other jobs. See you at Butler’s gate at 8:15 to 8:30am.

Bryan

September 5th: Folks,

This Saturday is the start of our hatchery season - we need to install the fence in Sooke River to prevent our Chinook brood stock from reaching the Potholes.

So we’ll meet at the hatchery and load up all our gear then head down to John Martin’s and get to work. We need all hands on deck for this job.

See you at Butler’s gate at 8:15 to 8:30 am Saturday.

Bryan Manning

August 30th: Folks

There will be a work party on Saturday Sept 2nd at the hatchery. We need to:

• Build walls, etc for the new parking garage for the hatchery truck

and if we have enough volunteers then we can start on ……...

• Fence panels for the river need some work.
• Repair/replace the chimney 
• Hangers to be installed for the new fry hose
• Tidy up derby gear

See you Saturday at Butler’s gate between 8:15 and 8:30 am

Bryan Manning

August 20th: Folks,

There will be a work party on Saturday Aug 26th at the hatchery.We need to:

• - mix concrete for the new parking area for the hatchery truck
• - repair/replace the chimney 

and if there is any time left …..

• · Fence panels for the river need some work.
• · Hangers to put up for new Fry Hose
• · Tidy up Derby gear

See you Saturday at Butler’s gate between 8:15 and 8:30 am

Bryan Manning

August 10th: Folks

There will be a work party on Sunday August 13. There’s a couple of jobs that have to be dealt with before much time goes by. They are: -

1. Fence panels for the river need some work.
2. Hangers to put up for new Fry Hose
3. Water pipe from upper to lower hatchery needs repair
4. Start work on future parking stall for truck
5. Tidy up Derby gear.

 The new season starts now. See you at the gate at 8:30.

Bryan Manning

July 30th: Folks

It is Derby time this coming weekend!!

We’ll meet on Friday August 4 at the hatchery at 1:00 PM to “load-up” tent, tables chairs, scale, totes, etc. This should take about an hour or so and then ……..on Saturday morning (Aug 5) at 6:00AM (yes in the early morning) we’ll set-up our weigh-in station at Phillips Road.

This weigh-in station will have to be manned from early in the morning until 7:00 PM in the evening so we need volunteers.

On Sunday Aug 5 the weigh-in station needs to have volunteers from 6:00 AM until 1:00 PM.

After 1:00 PM the scene shifts to the “Flats" where the Lions dinner is served from 2:00 PM on with prizes being given out from about 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM when we pack everything up and return it to the hatchery and give ourselves a well deserved pat on the back for a job well done.

Sounds simple doesn’t it.

Bryan Manning

July 24th: Hi Everyone, hope you are all enjoying the summer. It certainly has been warm.

Just a reminder that our derby is less than 2 weeks away. August 5 and 6. If you or anybody you know would like to fish in it, head on down and get yourselves some tickets. There are some great prizes available and of course a great steak dinner.

Tickets are $60.00 each and are available at these locations in Sooke:

• The Crab Shack at Jock’s Dock
• Eagle Eye Outfitters
• Sooke Marine Centre

If you’re in Victoria:

• Island Outfitters
• Trotac Marine

So come on out, support the hatchery and maybe I’ll see you at the weigh in station with the winning fish.

Thanks,

Roger Praud, President SSES

July 16th: Hi Folks,

The Consultant’s Invitational Derby is being held this year on Saturday July 29  and so far we have four people lined up for fish cleaning. A couple more would be nice.

 We plan on picking up totes and chairs, etc. at the hatchery that morning at 10 a.m. and going down to the hotel from there. There’s a free meal for anyone interested. 

If you can help out please email Mel Hull at melanjudy@shaw.ca

Thanks.

Bryan Manning, Secretary SSES

June 9th: Hi Everyone,

The bbq on Saturday June 17 will be from 11 to 3. I hope you can all make it.

Thanks,

Roger

June 6th: HI Everybody.    

With another season of hard work behind us,it’s time to let off some steam and relax, and with that we have decidedt o have a THANK YOU BBQ for all of our amazing volunteers.

Please bring your spouses, kids, grandkids, etc. It would be nice to meet the people who put up with us spending so much time at the hatchery. It’s a thank-you to them as well.

The date will be Saturday June 17. Not sure of the time yet. It will be held at Martins Park. The same place where we get our brood stock. We will be having hamburgers, hot dogs, pop, water etc.

 Bring your swimming gear (if you dare) and a lawn chair and have a good time.

More info will be coming soon.

Please try to keep the date open and I look forward to seeing you all.

Thanks,

Roger, President SSES

June 4th: Folks,

The hatchery is empty of fry so there will be NO work party on Tuesday June 6.

However …. Wednesday June 7 we will be releasing the seapen at 7:00PM and hauling out the net so wear old clothes and bring gloves (the net smells) Thursday June 8 at 8:30 am we’ll meet at the seapen to dismantle it and lug it all back to the hatchery.

Tuesday June 13 Derby meeting - staple the tickets to the rule book - bring any prizes you may have accrued.

Wednesday June 14 will be a busy day:

The Esquimalt Anglers are not having a seapen this year so their 100,000 fry are still at the Goldstream Hatchery. DFO have approved their release into the Sooke River so …..

we will pick them up at 9:00am - meet at the hatchery at 8:00. Goldstream are going to use their truck as well but it will take 2 trips to move all the fry - we’ll not be done until the afternoon

7:00 PM General monthly meeting at the community hall.

Bryan Manning, Secretary SSES

June 4th: Hi Gang,

Well,  we’ve finally emptied out the hatchery of our little finned friends. Yesterdays release put us at 19,500,000 fish released back into the rivers since the hatchery started. That truly is an amazing amount. I bet in the early years the guys never thought they would ever see numbers like that.

I have been part of SSES for just a few short years but am proud to apart of this great organization. GREAT JOB EVERYONE.

We still have a few things to do before our summer break but its been a good year.

I’ve had a few phone calls about the derby dates. They are Saturday August 5 and Sunday August 6. Please pass this along to everyone you know who wants to fish in it. We are working on updating the web site and getting the proper dates on it.

Thanks,

Roger Praud, President SSES

 

May 27th: Folks,

Today Saturday May 27 we moved 3 loads of fry out of the hatchery.

There are about 10 loads of fry left so the plan to move them out is:

• Tuesday May 30 - 3 loads
• Thursday June 1 - 3 loads
• Saturday June 3 - 3 loads or possibly 4 loads???
• Tuesday June 6 - any remaining fry if necessary
• Wednesday June 7 - release smolts from our sea pen

Meet at the gate at 8:15 to 8:30 for moving fry out of the hatchery and as far as the sea pen goes we will confirm the time in a later email.

Summer off except for the derby and hatchery maintenance and work at Bradford.

Bryan Manning

May 25th: Folks,

A work party Saturday to move out coho and springs. See you at the gate 8:15 to 8:30am

Bryan Manning

May 21st: Oops! Just can’t get good help anymore!!

The work party for Bradford should be on Thursday May 25.

See you at the gate at 8:30.

Bryan Manning

May 21st: Folks

Bill is calling for a work party to go up to Bradford and weed-whack grass, broom, etc; install sandbags along spillway and other jobs on Tuesday. We expect to be finished early afternoon.

Meet at the hatchery at 8:30 to load up.

Bryan Manning

May 18th: Folks,

Bill is giving us the weekend off for good behaviour but the following weekend ………

Bryan Manning

May 16th: Folks,

This morning we installed the floats and stanchions.

Tomorrow morning at 10:00 we need to install the net and weights so we need a few volunteers.

As far as I know the smolts are coming noon to 1:00 pm tomorrow.

Bryan Manning

May 14th: On Tuesday May 16 we’ll setup the seapen. See you at Butler Main gate at 8:15 to 8:30.

The smolts should be arriving at the Government Dock (end of Maple Street South) from Nitnat around noon to 1:00pm. on Wednesday May 17.

Bryan Manning

May 11th: Folks,

This Saturday May 13 Bill wants to move out two loads of coho and springs. See you at the gate at 8:15 to 8:30 am.

Further we’ll be receiving our smolts from Nitnat on Wednesday May 17 so we need to install our Seapen at the government wharf on Tuesday May 16. So Tuesday morning at the gate at 8:15 to 8:30 am and we’ll load up the floats, net, stanchions, etc and then go to the government wharf. I’ll send our a reminder notice over the weekend.

Bryan Manning

May 7th: Hey all,

Just a quick note of our latest activities. Last weeks Rotary Auction was a good success. We had lots of people come by our booth and chat with us. For my first time doing this it was fun.

Yesterday we were able to release just over 100,000 of our little ones into the Sooke River.

Today of course was our open house. It went extremely well. We had a very good turnout of people who have never been there before. Everyone seemed very interested in what we do up there. There were lots of young kids and they all thought the little fish were really cool. Kids are always fun at these types of events.

As always none of this could be done without great volunteers. Thanks to all those who were able to help out.

Oh yeah, there were also a few guys chasing rubber ducks up and down the Sooke River on Saturday for the Lions Club. Great job guys.

Till next time thanks,

Roger Praud, President, SSES

May 7th: Hi Folks

DERBY MEETING  -  @ 7:00 pm Tuesday May 9, 2017 at Gerry Glaum’s (thank you Gerry and Maureen). Bring your sponsor updates with you.

GENERAL MONTHLY MEETING - @ 7:00 PM Wednesday May 10 at the community hall.

SEAPEN - Smolts are to be delivered on May 17 so we’ll need to install the seapen before then.  Details will be discussed at the general meeting on Wednesday.

See you there

Bryan

May 4th, Folks

This weekend is busy again:

Saturday:

- two loads of springs to the river

- Duck Race - Mel, Andy and Dan are looking after that

Sunday - Open house 11:00 am to 3:00 pm we need volunteers for touring visitors and as gate keepers.

See you at the gate 8:15 to 8:30 am Saturday.

Bryan

April 26th: Hi Folks,

Just in case you do not have any thing to do……….

1) Rotary Auction - Friday April 28 AT NOON meet at the hatchery - we need a few trucks to hall the tables chairs, info boards, aquarium, fry, etc to the arena and set up on Friday afternoon.

Saturday April 29 - we need volunteers to staff our info booth. Time is from 10:00 am to about 5:00pm and then take our booth down and haul it back to the hatchery.

2) Move fry - Saturday April 29 Bill wants three loads of fry out of the hatchery. See you at the gate at 8:15 to 8:30am

Bryan Manning

April 22nd: Hi Gang,

It’s been awhile and I apologize for that. As usual at this time of year we have been very busy at the hatchery. With the water temps getting warmer the fish are starting to eat more which means they are getting bigger. With that we have been releasing many of our little ones back into the river to begin their long journey.There has been a lot of tidying up recently at the hatchery and it looks FANTASIC. Great job by those involved.

Next Saturday is the Rotary Auction at Sea Park Arena. We will have a booth set up so come on down and check it out. There is a lot of great thing to see there.

May 7 we will be having an open house at the hatchery. This would be a great time to bring your friends up and show them what we are all about.

Our derby committee has been working very hard as the big weekend slowly approaches. It will be here before we know it. For those of you that don’t already know, we now have a facebook page. We have entered the modern era. A big thanks to Dan Eaton for all his hard work on this. For those of you who don’t do facebook we still have our web page. Please check our facebook page out. Here is the link.

https://www.facebook.com/sookesalmonenhancement/

They have changed the lock on the red gate. They now are using the fob to unlock it. I haven’t used it myself so good luck to those who do.

Till next time. Thanks,

Roger Praud, President SSES

April 20th: Hi Folks,

There will be a work party (an oxymoron if I ever heard one) on Saturday. We’ll move out two loads (trips) of Springs out of #13 and thin our the troughs back into 13.

See you at Butler's gate at 8:15 to 8:30

Bryan Manning

April 13th: Hi Folks,

There will be work party this Saturday April 15 - 8:15 to 8:30 at the gate - we have to get the boards installed in DeMamiel Weir as well as clean up the hatchery for an upcoming tour and open house.

We are just entering a very busy time for the next month or so: (there will be emails for each of the following activities). Possibly on Saturday April 22 work party - two trips to move fry out. As well we will be moving fry out of the hatchery all through the following:

• Rotary Auction Saturday April 29
• 1st week in May meet with DFO re Sooke Watershed
• 1st or 2nd week in May Sea Pen
• Wednesday May 3 EMCS tour of hatchery
• Saturday May 6 Sooke Harbourside Lions assist with Duck Race
• Hatchery Open House Sunday May 7
• Tuesday May 9 Derby Meeting
• Wednesday May 10 Director’s and general meeting

I hope I haven’t left anything out - I’m tired already!!!

Bryan Manning Secretary, SSES

April 5th: Bill says:

On Saturday we’ll thin the troughs of Springs into tank 13 and we’ll move some Coho out to the three bridges on DeMamiel.

See you at the gate 8:15 to 8:30 am

Bryan Manning Secretary, SSES

March 23rd: Hi Gang

Bill wants to move out some fry into Young’s Lake. We are running out of room and this will give us some breathing space. See you at Butler’s gate 8:15 to 8:30 am.

Bryan Manning Secretary, SSES

March 16th: Hi Gang,

Bill has called a work party for Saturday.

Clean tanks # 12 and # 13,  transfer Chin. from 6a and 6b down to lower level. Clean troughs 6a and 6b, and Pond 6-7 trays of Coho into 6a, and have a coffee and a cookie before we go home. 

All Chin.’s have been ponded.

See you at Butler main gate 8:15 - 8:30 AM.

Bryan Manning Secretary, SSES

March 4th: Hi Everyone, did this morning have you all going ‘oh hell not again’? Even though we were warned about it I was still hoping it wouldn’t happen. Thank goodness it didn’t last too long. Lets see what happens tonight. Will this stuff never end?

Anyways we had another good day up on the hill. Got some fish moved from the troughs to the lower tanks, I hear the fish enjoyed the ride. Good job Bill. We patched up some potholes on our driveway, sorry no hope for the main road. Some bumps in life are just out of our control.

And as always the coffee and conversation were good. Thanks to all who came out.

Derby committee and monthly meeting this coming week.  Till next time.

Roger Praud, President SSES

March 2nd: Hi Gang

Bill Pednault says:

We can clean and ready the 4 lower tanks and transfer the fry from 6a-6b down into the lower tanks,  power wash the sloping walkway down into the lower hatchery, return chains back to Danny H. and get a yard of road base gravel in the truck to fill the pot holes on the driveway down into the hatchery, have a coffee and go home happy.

See you at Butler Main gate 8:15 to 8:30am on Saturday.

Bryan Manning Secretary, SSES

Feb 18th: Hi everyone, well it sure is nice to see the snow gone. (That’s just my opinion). Its nice to look at but that’s it.

Thanks to everyone who came to the old hangout this morning. We had a very good turnout. It was nice to see some new faces and some familiar ones we haven’t seen in awhile.We ponded (I think) 28 Nitnat trays, 3 trays of our chinook and 1 tray of coho. That’s a lot of fish for the future. And of course with that is lots of tray washing and the usual cleaning. Great job done by all.

With all this, the regular feeding schedule will begin on Tuesday. Again, thanks to all the feeders.

Moving forward we will be having our first Derby Committee meeting Tuesday night. An official notice we be coming shortly. So anyone who wants to come and join the fun, PLEASE, come on out. It takes a lot of work to put this on so help is always welcomed.

That’s about it for now.

Roger Praud, President SSES

Feb 16th: All Hands on Deck.

Bill wants to “pond” all the Nitnat trays, all 32 of them so if you come be prepared for 3 hours of work.

See you at Butler Main gate 8:15 to 8:30am on Saturday.

Bryan Manning, Secretary SSES

Feb 9th: Hi Gang,

Bill has cancelled the work party for this Saturday.  With water temps around 2 degrees the alevins have not buttoned-up so ….. likely Saturday Feb 18 will be the next work party for ponding - if so I'll send out an email to confirm.  That damn snow has slowed down everything.

The Derby Committee meeting was cancelled due to the white stuff.  New meeting date is Tuesday February 21 at Gerry and Maureen’s 7251 Bethany Place in the Whiffen Spit area.  Again I’ll send out a meeting notice just before the meeting date.

Enjoy the rain

Bryan Manning, Secretary SSES

Feb 7th: Hi Folks,

Due to the Winnipeg weather we have the Tuesday meeting at Gerry and Maureen’s is cancelled until further notice.

However, there will be (weather permitting) a general meeting at 7:00 pm at the community hall on Wednesday Feb 8.

Bryan Manning, Secretary, SSES

Feb 5th: Hi Gang,

The start of a new year also signals in the start of the Derby Committee. Volunteers are needed to join in the fun and games of the committee. The Derby is the main source of revenue for the hatchery so it is important that members get involved.

We meet @ 7:00 pm Tuesday February 7, 2017 at Gerry Glaum’s (thank you Gerry and Maurine) 7251 Bethany Place in the Whiffen Spit area.

See you there.

Bryan Manning, Secretary SSES

Feb 4th: HI Everyone,

You all finished shoveling the snow? I know I am. We had a little fun getting to the hatchery this morning because of it but as usual our amazing (CRAZY) volunteers did it. And since I was the last one out, I know that no one got stuck there in the snow. For too long anyways.

We finished cleaning the remainder of the troughs, screens and other associated goodies today. As always there is lots of stuff to be done as we move into another year so keep an eye on your email and come on out if you like.

With us ponding more fish just want to say thanks to our temp takers and feeders.

Till next time.

Roger Praud, President

Feb 2nd: Hi Gang,

Bill is calling for a work party this Saturday to clean the upper troughs in getting ready for the little fry.We might pond a few trays but the water temp has been 2 C so we’ll see on Saturday. At Butler Main gate 8:15 to 8:30 am.

Bryan

Feb 2nd: Hi Gang

It is getting to be the time when the hatchery is starting to be a hatchery.  We’ll be ponding fry and when we do then we’ll have to go onto a three hour feeding schedule morning (9:00 to noon) and afternoon (noon to 3:00PM).

We have volunteers for the morning shift but we do not have a full compliment for the afternoons so if can can spare 3 hours in one of the following afternoons then please notify Mel Hull (melanjudy@shaw.ca)

Vacant afternoons are:

• Sunday
• Monday
• Tuesday
• Thursday
• Friday
• Saturday

Thanks Bryan

Jan 29th: Hi Everyone, Well the work party season has begun again. Even with the late notice we still had a good turnout. We were able to clean out some troughs and screens and move some fish into them. We also had the water line which feeds the hatchery in need of repair. Those of us on that detail can vouch for the fact that the water is REAL cold. Hopefully all toes and fingers are thawed out today. Till next time.

Roger, President SSES

Jan 27th: Hi Gang,

There will be a work party tomorrow - see you at Butler’s Gate 8:15 to 8:30 AM.

Bill was up ckecking on our little guys this morning. We have about 4 or 5 trays of cohos to pond. Things that will need to be done are --- clean some troughs, fix the water line, and pond what trays maybe ready.

It looks like we maybe ponding some of our Springs on Sat. Feb 4th and maybe the Nitnat springs on Sat. 11th of Feb. in all depends on the water temps.

Depending on the turnout this Sat., as to how much we get done, it doesn’t have to all be done this Sat.

Bryan, Secretary

Jan 17th: Hello everyone,

I hope you all had a good Christmas and New Years. I thought it would be good to touch base with everyone with a quick update on things coming up. Fish hatching time is close, so with that we’ll be putting together work crews to get some stuff done for the up coming season. But don’t all rush up to the hatchery just yet, an official notice will be coming soon as to dates and such. Whew, that was close.

The other thing, although it’s still 6 months away, is the fishing derby. We will have to get going on this “reel” soon as there is tons of work to be done before the big day. So anyone who would like to be part of the derby committee, your help is always welcomed. Again, a notice will be coming very soon with the fishy details.

Here’s hoping everybody receives this.  Stay dry.

Thanks,

Roger, President SSES

Nov 29th: Apparently there are 4 trays of Coho left to shock so ……..

Thursday Dec 1st 8:15 to 8:30 AM at Butler gate

Bryan

PS Dogs are welcome

Nov 24th: We are ready for the next round of shocking for our Coho Eggs.

Work Party Saturday Nov 26 8:15 / 8:30 at Butler gate.

Looks like we should have about 5 trays to do so if you can help out we will see you then. R

Nov 17th: Went and had a look at our eggs this morning and all is looking well. Our Nitinat egg transfers were received well yesterday and are in incubation.

Looks like we will have at best 4 trays of Coho to shock on Saturday. So not a very heavy work load so if you have other things to do feel free. As long as we get 8 or 10 people we should be Ok , If you want to come and have a coffee and a cookie, come on up ……

Saturday Nov 19 th 8:15 AM at Butler Gate

CU then Robert

Acting Hatchery Assistant 4 th Class

Nov 14th: Things are moving along well at the hatchery.

We got another half dozen Coho trays shocked on Saturday. We also cleaned 4 stacks of heath trays in anticipation of receiving our Chinook egg transfers from Nitinat on Tuesday.

Things will be slowing up a bit at the hatchery over the next few weeks. Coho trays available to shock will be a few at a time until we hit the last batch.With that in mind, next up will be this coming Saturday to shock another 4 trays or so 8:15 at the gate as usual.

Cheers Robert

Director at Large

Nov 7th: Moving right along ………..All but one Chinook tray has been shocked. We also shocked 3 trays of Coho today.We are in great shape.

Next up will be a shocking work party on ….SATURDAY NOV 12 8:15 AT BUTLER GATE.

GOD KNOWS WHO WILL BE IN CHARGE !

We are now on our temperature takers schedule.

Reminder - AGM on Wednesday

Cheers R

Nov 6th: Yet another very productive day at the hatchery with a great turn out of volunteers.

We took eggs from our last 11 Coho and set free the males we had on hand. All the round tanks got a good scrub and are squeaky clean. We also got another 6 trays of Chinook eggs shocked.

So, we are all done with brood stock and egg take for 2016 !

The focus moving forward will be to get the remainder of our Chinook eggs shocked and the same with Coho eggs as they become ready. Water temperatures at the hatchery remain above 10 degrees so this will help speed up the process for now.

We will have a work party on Monday Nov 7. 8:15 AM at Butler gate. We should have a few trays of Chinook trays to shock.

Also, a reminder of our AGM on Wednesday night , and the $10 membership that is due.

Cheers R

Nov 4th: NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING AND ELECTION OF OFFICERS.

Be advised that our AGM will be held Wednesday November 9 th at 7PM, Sooke Community hall, 2037 Shields Road, Sooke BC

We will be taking nominations and elect a……

• President
• Vice President
• Directors at large

Please attend if at all possible as we need to ensure we have the necessary members in attendance to make this all happen. It will also be time for renewal of membership in the Society, Dues are $10 per year. Regards.

Robert Gamache, President

Nov 4th: Saturday work party, 8:15 AM at Butler gate.

We will take a final look at our Coho and release what we do not use. This will end our brood take for 2016 , Yahoo !

Nitinat Egg Transfer

We have been contacted by DFO and our Chinook eggs will be ready to pick up in about 10 days.

At the moment the schedule is for either November 15th or 16th.We will need a crew to travel to Nitinat to pick them up and another small group to meet at the hatchery in the afternoon to put these eggs into heath trays.

Mel Hull will be leading this endeavor.We will advise the exact date when we get it confirmed.

Let us know if you are interested in helping out

R

Nov 2nd: It’s a new world record !

We harvested eggs from more than 20 Coho females today. Our egg count is looking very good.

These fish are getting tired of being in our hatchery and showing signs they need to be harvested or released.

We are going to give it one last shot on. Saturday Nov 6 8:15 AM at Butler gate.

What we do not harvest will be released, should be a good days work.

R

Oct 31st: We had a very productive day today.

We harvested eggs from 13 females. We also shocked 2 trays of Chinook. Your president is so talented that he was able to convince 4 male Coho into becoming Females !

Next up will be Wednesday to go through the same routine. 8:15 to 8:30 AM at Butler Gate.

R

Oct 29th: We had another productive work party today.

We went through all our Coho females and took 2. We shocked 4 more trays of Chinook eggs.

And managed to get the remainder of the boards out of DeMamiel Creek. Not a bad days work.

Next up will be on Monday Oct 31,  we will go up to the hatchery and go through our routine once again. 8:15 to 8:30 AM at Butler gate.

For those of you looking to get going with daily temperature taking , it will be a while yet until we finish taking eggs.

Have a good Sunday ! R

Oct 27th: We keep on a go..in....

Hatchery is in good shape. We still have many Coho to harvest and Chinook eggs to shock.

We are going to take Friday off. Saturday we will have a work party to check our Coho and take the boards out of DeMamiel weir and haul them up to storage at the hatchery.

Saturday morning, 8:15 to 8:30 AM at butler gate, will need some strong arms to get DeMamiel weir done.

C U then R

Oct 26th: I did not realize it was some kind of national holiday in Sooke today! It was standing room only for volunteers at the hatchery, and on a rainy Wednesday to boot !

We managed to go through all our females and took eggs from 7. We also managed to shock 5 Chinook trays as well.

All in all a very productive day. We will give it another shot on Thursday morning , 8 AM at Butler gate.

Cheers Robert

Oct 24th: Coho are taking their sweet time giving up their eggs. We took 2 more females today, still a long ways to go.

With that in mind we will skip tomorrow ( yup , another day off ! ). Next will be Wednesday, 8:30 AM at butler gate. We may also be ready to shock a couple of Chinook trays that day as well.

C U then R

Oct 23rd: Things are starting to even out a bit.

We went through all our Coho females today but only one was ready to harvest. Got to the Sooke River and straightened up some of our gear. There were a good number of fish in the Sooke River ready to spawn.

We were not able to get the balance of the boards out of DeMamiel Weir as water levels were too high. We will need to get this done when the next opportunity presents itself.

In honour of Sunday , October 23 , 2016 We are going to ……………Take the day off !Ya Hoo !

We will be back at it on Monday to check the Coho, 8:30 AM as always. Looks like we will most likely shock our first trays of Chinook this week as well.

Will advise a schedule later on. Have a good days rest tomorrow.

Cheers R

Oct 20th: We are all done taking Coho Brood stock for this season. We now have a very good number of females at the hatchery that we will be looking to harvest eggs from over time.

Next up will be a work party on Saturday Oct  22nd 8:15 to 8:30 AM At Butler Main gate.

We will be taking out the boards at DeMamiel creek as part of our work load so we need some youthful muscle.

C U then R

Oct 18: We are making very good progress on our Coho take. We had another productive day in the water today.

We will be back at it in the morning at 8:30 AM, DeMamiel Weir. We will do a set of Coho, then most likely go up to the Hatchery and sort through all our females.

We Expect DFO at the hatchery between 12 and 1 PM.

C U on the water R

Oct 16th: We are moving along well with our Coho take. We will continue to take Coho as long as the fish are at the weir.

Looks good for the next couple of days at DeMamiel weir.

8:30 AM

R

Oct 14th: Well , we now have all the water we need !

A pretty good torrent coming down DeMamiel Creek today. We took our first Coho up to the hatchery.

We will meet Saturday morning at DeMamiel Creek weir and have a look at conditions. From there we will decide on an agenda that may include:-

• Opening up the trap and catch some Coho.
• Going to the Sooke River and stowing our tanks for the winter.
• And who knows …

8:30 AM as always

R

Oct 13th: A good amount of water has come down DeMamiel Creek. The trap has been converted to take Coho brood stock.

As of 3 PM Thursday afternoon there were many Coho pushing up. Friday morning we will:-

• Be at DeMamiel weir
• Be at the hatchery Etc.

8:30 am and moving forward

R

Oct 10th: We are making good progress on our Chinook egg take. Over the past number of days we have taken eggs from all but 3 females.

Moving forward we will be bouncing back and forth from the hatchery and DeMamiel weir as Coho have now moved in.

As always, 8:30 AM.

R

Oct 6th: Good morning all …….

We need to get some chores done this weekend Saturday Oct 8 th.

We will meet at the park and ride, Sooke Road at Sooke River road across from the Teriyaki Restaurant. We will leave there at 8:30 AM and head out to the Sooke River to pick up all the bits and pieces of our fish fence. This will be an amount of work. We will need a good show of helpers and at least a couple of full bed pickup trucks. Once we have it all loaded up we will be off to the hatchery and stow it all away for the season. We also have all our gear from beach sein to put away up at the hatchery as well.

Somewhere in all that we will also check our on hand Chinook females and see if any are ready to give up their eggs. Look to see a good crew out for this ( looks like it may rain but that’s just another perk of volunteering for this outfit ! )

C U then R

Oct 1st: We had a great day out on the river today. Will put out some further details later.

For now we need to keep at it as we have fish and eggs on hand.

We will meet Sunday morning Oct 2nd at Charters Creek Interpretive Center on Sooke River Road, 8:30 AM.

We will go through the fish we have there and move on from there. We may also go down to the river and pull our trap out of the water.

Hope you can help out

R

Sept 29th: Good morning all…….Looks like we have an amount of fish that have moved up into Pemberton Pool this week. Just hope an amount of them are Chinook.

As a reminder………..

Saturday October 1 st

We will meet at Edward Milne Community School parking lot. We will be there between 8:00 and 8:15 AM.

At 8:15 AM we will have a bit of orientation and plan to leave for the river at 8:30 AM. Depending on how many fish we have to deal with we should be done at the river by noon.

1 ) Please wear your Red Volunteer shirts if you have one, we have a number of pairs of chest waders but if you have your own gear please bring it.

2 ) Please leave your dogs and other assorted pets at home.

There will be in attendance……..

• Directors and staff from CRD.
• Representatives from Sooke First Nations
• Representatives from Sooke Council, Provincial or Federal Government
• DFO
• The Martin Family
• The Media

The Sooke Lions Club will also be cooking up hot dogs and serving beverages.Weather and water conditions look to be as good as it gets.

Should be a great event.

CU then R

Sept 18th: A few dedicated types braved the rain on Saturday morning and we now have water flowing through the hatchery ready for fish.

We are anticipating that with this rain a few more fish will migrate up the Sooke River into our fish trap.

We will continue with checking the fish trap daily 8:30 AM DEPARTURE.

• Weekdays, parking lot on Sooke River Road at the ball fields.
• Weekends, Park & Ride Parking lot , Sooke Road at Sooke River Road across from the Teriyaki House Restaurant.

Look for the Hatchery Truck and a bunch of OLD guys.

Looking promising for brood take on October 1st.

R

Sept 16th: Over the last few days we have seen the odd fish poking up the Sooke River.

With that in mind we will do a beach Seine of the Sooke River at Pemberton Pool on Saturday October 1st.

We will meet at the parking lot of the high school between 8:00 & 8:15 AM, have a brief orientation and then head out to the river as a group.

As many of you know, this area is now behind a locked gate so we need to go together. We will need an amount of divers in wet suits for this, please let me know if you can help in this regard.

Hope to see a good crowd out for this event.

C U then R

Sept: 15th: We will get a few things done at the hatchery on Saturday morning.

Butler gate 8:15 to 8:30 am

C U then R

Sept: 10th: A very good group of top notch volunteers did an amazing job getting our fish fence installed on the Sooke River today. No one did a swan dive into the river either ! ( but Amy was not there ! )

So we are back in the fish business for brood 2016. Moving forward, now that we have the trap in the water we need to check on it daily. Schedule will be.

Each morning at 8:30 AM ( Departure time ! )

• Monday to Friday , at the parking lot beside the Sooke ball fields.
• Saturday and Sunday, at the park and ride parking lot in the front of the corner store and the Teriyaki House restaurant Sooke Road at Sooke River Road. Look for the hatchery truck in the parking lot.

Now that this is CRD property and is behind a locked gate we MUST go down together as we lock the gate behind us after we enter.

Confused ? Shoot me an email.

Cheers R

Sept 7th: Good morning, we will be installing our fish fence on the Sooke River this weekend Saturday Sept 10.

We will be at the gate on Butler main from 8:15 to 8:30 AM and go up to the hatchery and load up our gear. We will then head out to the river and get this installed.

The access to Martin’s property now has a locked gate on it so we will need to go through it as a group. Need all the strong bodies and trucks for this project, please attend if possible.

Cheers Robert

Sept 1st: We will be installing our fish fence on the Sooke River at the new CRD Park ( John Martin’s ), Saturday September 10th.

Not sure at this point if we will load up on Friday or Saturday morning .

Please keep Saturday open to help out if at all possible as this requires a number of strong bodies Final details early next week.

R

Sept 1st: Yes folks, it’s September already. What does that mean ?    Your life is no longer your own !

So here we go again……………..Monthly meetings will start back up.

We will get our fish fence installed on the Sooke River in anticipation of taking brood stock possible late Sept , early October. All depends on rain and water levels.

Looks like our project for excavating work up at Bradford Dam will proceed next week. Keep an eye on your email moving forward as we have some things to do in the short term.

Can’t wait to see your smiling faces !

Cheers Robert

August 22nd: First let me say how much I miss you all !

Hope you have found a shady spot the last few days. With that in mind we have been advised by Timberwest that the bush is shut down until further notice.

The project we had scheduled for Aug 29 th has been postponed until mid September.Will keep you all informed.

Cheers Robert

July 22nd: Just when you thought your life was your own………As many of you know next weekend is our 13 th annual Chinook derby.

Here is a schedule for next week.

Friday July 29th, we will meet at the hatchery at 8:30 AM and load up our gear into a few trucks in  preparation for the weekend.

Saturday July 30th , We will meet at the weigh in station , Corner of Sooke Road and Philips Road at 5:30 AM ( OMG that’s early !). We will need volunteers to work the weigh in station till 7 PM .

Sunday July 31 st - Volunteers will be needed from 6 AM to 2 PM at the weigh in station.

Another group will move from the weigh in station to the awards dinner site at Sooke Flats Campground at about noon.

The whole thing should wrap up at about 3:30 PM at which time we will load up all our gear from both sites and head up to the hatchery to put it all away.

All volunteers will get a dinner ticket for the meal on Sunday.

Hope you can find some time to pitch in.

Any questions give me a call.

Cheers Robert

July 5th: Yes,  you heard it here first folks !

We are going to have a work party, Saturday July 9, 8:15 to 8:30 AM at Butler main gate.

We are going to move 2 round tanks from the hatchery to Martins Farm ( 2 trips ). One tank is already strapped down on the trailer. We will meet at the hatchery first and also load up the two tank lids and 2 staircases and haul all that down to the Sooke river and off load it all. Then we will need to send a crew back to the hatchery and get the second tank and bring it to the river.

It will take six good strong backs to handle a tank. We will also get on with building the pedestals and setting the tanks in place. Hopefully this will not take any longer than our typical morning of work.

Hope you can pitch in

C U Saturday R

June 30th: Good afternoon all.

We are going to have a work party this Saturday to finish up the projects we started last week.

8:15 to 8:30 am at Butler Gate

C U Then R

June 23rd: We are going to incorporate a work party into Saturdays plans.

Lets meet at Butler main gate at our usual time 8:15 to 8:30. We will head up to the hatchery and work on a few things.

Others can set up and sell tickets at the weigh in site from 10 AM to 1 PM.

Confused ? Send me an email or I will be on my cell Saturday morning.

R

June 23rd: We will be down at the weigh in station Saturday morning to kick of this years derby ticket sales.

We will need a few hands to set up at about 9:30 AM at Sooke Road & Philips Road. We may also get some other chores done if we have some hands.

Let me know if you can lend a hand.

Cheers R

June 16: Howdy folks.

Over the last number of days we have had contractors on the hatchery site falling some trees and excavating a fewspots on the property.

We need to do some cleanup of debris in Rocky Creek and on site. This Saturday , 8:15 to 8:30 AM at Butler main gate.

You may want to bring::-

• Rubber boots
• Chain saw
• Steel Rake

C U then R

June 2nd: A few lads ( Fraulein’s also welcome )will be getting together at the hatchery….

Saturday June 4 th, 8:30 AM at Butler Gate.

On the Agenda

1. Disassemble the information Kiosk and store away for further use.
2. We  ‘’ MIGHT ‘’ also look at a bit of weed trimming inside the hatchery compound
3. Disassemble the floats that are inside the compound and move them up with the others
4. This spot ‘’ MIGHT ‘’ be a place we could set up the kiosk in the future

I will be away this weekend so Dan Eaton will let volunteers in on Saturday morning

R

31st May: How’s everyone enjoying some time off from the fish ?

We have some maintenance projects of interest upcoming.

We have a couple of large Cedars near the hatchery that we are going to fall next week. We have a faller coming in to do this for us.

As part of this work and in anticipation of excavating the large cedar stump near the hatchery compound entrance, we need to get rid of the ‘’ Information Shelter ‘’ ?

If anyone wants it ( It is HEAVY ! but could be disassembled with some effort ), please let me know as soon as possible as we will need to move it this weekend perhaps. Might be useful as a garden shed or wood shed.

Cheers Robert

24th May: Good morning.

I hope everyone had a chance to enjoy the long weekend. As you are probably aware we are all done with rearing fish for the season.

Our net pen Chinook were released last Thursday night at a final weight of 9.86 Grams. All our gear has been stowed away at the hatchery for another year.

Moving forward we have some maintenance and upgrades to look after this summer.

First up will be to give Bradford Dam a hair cut. We are renting a couple of industrial mowers and will go up to Bradford dam on Wednesday May 25 th. We will meet at the 4 way stop, Butler road at Young Lake road, 8:30AM.

We will probably go up in more than one vehicle ( including the hatchery truck ). If you want to join in and have a weed eater you can bring,  feel free to do so. Good footwear is also a good thing up on the dam for this job.

We are continuing with work organizing our Derby at the end of July, next meeting ( Derby committee ) announcement will be in a couple of weeks.

That’s about it for now.

Cheers Robert

19th May: With great fanfare we released our Sea Pen fish this evening.

Still a bit to do in the morning at the Government dock to pack it all up and head to the hatchery and store it all away.

Once we are done we invite all that can attend to have an early lunch ( spouses welcome ) at Mom’s Café Friday May 20 th , 11:30 AM.

If you think you may attend shoot me an email or just show up.

I will be on my cell.

R

15th May: It has been brought to my attention that our plans to work next Saturday may need a re-think as it is a long weekend.

With that in mind let’s change our schedule as follows.

We will release the fish out of the sea pen on, Thursday May 19 th at 7 PM, we will need a few strong arms to get this done.

It should take less than ½ an hour to pull this off. We will need to pull up the weights and net onto the dock. We will then return to the dock on, Friday May 20 th  at 8:30 AM and gather up all our gear and haul it up to the hatchery

It will be a good idea to have at least rain pants on as the net will be rather slimy when we carry it up to the truck. We will need a good group of volunteers for this.

Sorry for the confusion and I realize that either scenario includes and excludes some of you.

R

1st May: And there they were, GONE.

We are all done at the hatchery for this season. We released the remainder of our Chinook on Saturday and gave the hatchery a good scrub. By all accounts a job well done by our volunteers.

We  also had our booth set up at the Rotary Auction & Fair at Seapark Arena on Saturday. Hope everyone has their feet up today enjoying the incredible weather.

We do have our seapen in the water at the Government Wharf for the next 2 to 3 weeks.

Keep your eye on your email for what comes next.

Cheers

Robert

April 28th: We will be releasing fish…………………

Friday morning, April 29th and Saturday April 30th.

If you don’t know the drill by now let me know.

Cheers R

April 28th: Things are moving along at a blinding pace………….

Hatchery

Due to water flows and temperatures we are now well into full release mode. In the past few days we have released , Tanks 12 & 13, Trough’s 6 & 7.

Feeders, as the situation is rather dynamic the feed sheets may not be 100 % up to date day to day. All we have on site now is Chinook, feed size is 1.2 MM ( more bags in the freezer in the office ).

Sea Pen

We anticipate receiving our Sea Pen fish today, more details to follow for feeding and cleaning.

Other

We are receiving students from Edward Milne Secondary for a tour of the hatchery today.

We will set up at Sea Park for Rotary Fair tomorrow ( Friday ) afternoon.

We will be at the Rotary Fair all day Saturday. We will need a bit of help to take down the displays etc. at Rotary Fair Saturday afternoon.

Just another week in paradise ! R

April 24th: We will be receiving our sea pen fish this week.With that in mind we need to accomplish the following on Wednesday April 27 8:15 AM at the gate on Butler Main :-

• Move all our gear from the hatchery to the government dock
• Set our floats in place and install the stanchions

Thursday April 28 , drop the net in the water and get it rigged up, 8:15 am at the government dock.

C U then R

April 24th: With our supply of water being a bit tenuous at the moment we want to get ahead of the game and release another batch of fish, Tuesday April 26, 8:15 AM at Butler Gate.

We plan to do 2 trips to get 12 & 13 empty.

C U then R

April 19th: We need to release fish from the hatchery moving forward. This Saturday, April 23rd 8:15 at Butler gate.

We would like to do  3 trips to the Sooke River.

C U then R

April 14th: Good evening.

We will be releasing more fish from the hatchery into the Sooke River. Saturday April 16th 8:15 to 8:30 at Butler main gate.

We will be doing 2 trips with the truck and trailer.

CU then R

April 10th: We had a productive Saturday work party on the 9th of April.

Chinook in Cap Trough 6 A & 6 B were released into the Sooke River, 2 trips.

We also moved half the Coho into 6 A & 6 B. We installed new rubber gaskets onto the balance of the boards for DeMamiel weir.We cleaned out the valve box at DeMamiel weir.

I am sure we got more done as well,  but 1 day later my memory is lacking. Thanks to all those that came out; we also had a few guests from Victoria that helped out.

We anticipate that we will be releasing more fish this coming weekend, more details to follow.

R

April 6th: Howdy folks…..

This coming Saturday 8:15 to 8:30 AM at Butler Gate.

We will be releasing 2 loads of fish into the Sooke River to create some room to grow for our remaining fish. We have a few other odd jobs as well.

C U then R

March 22nd: Good afternoon all…

Things are moving along well at the hatchery. Our fish have settled in and are growing well.

We need to get our 2 big round tanks up and running to accommodate the growth.

We would like to do that this coming Saturday, March 26th 8:15 to 8:30 at Butler main gate.

If you have the time, come and join in the festivities. Milk and cookies will be served.

Cheers Robert

Feb 26th: Sorry for the short notice but.....we could get a few things done tomorrow at the hatchery.

8:15 to 8:29 at Butler main gate.

Cheers Robert

Feb 19th: Yes we have things to do, this Saturday, Feb 20th.

Need to …….

Pond Fish; Move Fish; Fish Fish Fish ! ......And other chores

8:15 to 8:30 at Butler gate.

R

Feb 15th: We are off to the races for fish feeding 2016. We will start our full feeding schedule on Tuesday morning.We still have openings on Saturday & Sunday afternoons, if anyone is interested please let me know.

Water temperatures are in the 8’s so the remaining fish in incubation are developing quickly and more fish will be ponded most likely this week. Keep an eye out for updates.

Cap Troughs, ith the exception of  7A ( COHO )  &  7B ( Empty for now ).

The rest are all Chinook.

Keep in mind we still need to take and record daily water temperatures.

R

Feb 13th: We had a great day moving fish from Incubation into Cap Troughs.

Altogether we ponded, 106,000 Nitnat Chinook and 177,000 Sooke River Chinook.

It is going to take a couple of days for our babies to settle into their new surroundings so for the next couple of days all we need to do is come in and take daily temperatures and check water flows as normal.

We will start full feeding and cleaning schedule beginning with day shift on Tuesday Feb 16 th.

More details to follow.

R

Feb 11th: Another Party ! Whoopee !

We will pond a bunch of Chinook, this Saturday, Feb 13th 8:15 to 8:30 at Butler Main Gate.

Cheers Robert

Feb 4th: Good morning.

As mentioned previously we are going to get back at it this Saturday, Feb 6 th 8:30 AM at the gate or hatchery if it is open.

We need to clean all our Cap troughs so this will be an amount of work. We also have a few other tasks to complete if possible.

Rumor has it way will also burn some hot dogs.

C U then R

Jan 31st:: We had a very productive work party yesterday. We are well on our way to being ready for rearing this year’s production.

• The floors in the upper hatchery have been power washed.
• All the gear that was stored at the end of Cap trough’s 1 – 4 has been stowed in the new container.
• A new 3 ‘’ recirculation line has been installed from the lower hatchery back up to the top manifold.
• The existing 2 ‘’ line was also repositioned.
• A second 6 ‘’ discharge has been installed from the Cap trough manifold down to the aerator in the lower hatchery.
• We installed an overflow valve at the bottom of 6 B.
• We repaired the main feed line from the steel pipe.
• We removed the old lower kitchen cabinets in the lunch room and installed the new ones, plumbing and installation of the counter top yet to do.
• We did some burning on our refuse pile and did a run to the dump.

I am sure we got more done but the above is about all I can store in the limited space I have in my brain! Thanks to all those that came out and helped….

• We have an auto feeder on Cap trough 1 A , there will be a note in the lunch room with feed amount.
• We are currently using feed size , # O Crumb.
• Keep in mind there are only 3150 fish ponded in 1A so feed is very minimal. If anyone is unsure of how to set the feeder, please let me know.
• We are still on Temperature Take schedule.
• We won’t go to full feed schedule until we pond a significant portion of what’s in the incubation room.

To that end, we will MOST LIKELY have a work party this coming Saturday to clean all our Cap troughs. We will put the definitive word out on Wednesday.

Cheers R

Jan 28th: Howdy ! Everyone all rested up ?

With warmer water temperatures of late things are pushing forward. We ponded one tray of Chinook into Cap Trough 1 A today. This was a female we took from the trap a couple of weeks before brood take.

So here is the plan moving forward:-

This Saturday, Jan 30th we will have a work party to get a few things done in and around the hatchery.

We want to pull the old Kitchen cabinets in the lunch room and have a few other things in mind. Don’t need a huge crew but there are things to do if you want to come out.

Saturday Feb 6 th, we will clean our troughs in preparation for ponding. We will need a good crew for this. Depending on how water temps go over the next number of days we may also pond fish. Or maybe come back and pond Sunday, but we do need to clean on Feb 6th.

As far as the few fish that are currently in 1 A , we will most likely set up and auto feed. If we do, we will let the volunteers that are currently coming in to record temperatures know the scoop on feeding.

A full feeding schedule will be worked out at the end of next week.

I you have any questions , shoot me an email or send cash !

Cheers Robert

Jan 12th: Greetings !

We have a general monthly meeting , Jan 13 , 7PM , Sooke Community Hall.

Things are moving along well at the hatchery. Of note temperature takers , the forestry gate has not always been open of late. So make sure you have a gate key with you.

With the cold temperatures lately things have slowed a bit but it will not be long until we are ready to pond fish. With that in mind we will most likely start cleaning out the hatchery and get a few projects done towards the end of this month.

This will give you a chance to work off some of those many shortbread cookies you had over the holidays !

C U at the meeting

R

Dec 24th: Good morning SSES volunteers………….

I see a bit of snow on the Sooke hills this morning ! Had a nice drive over the Malahat yesterday afternoon in the blowing snow.

Here is a bit of an update of our operations so grab a glass of eggnog and a short bread cookie….

All of our Coho eggs are shocked and have had a second pick.We had a good turnout of volunteers a couple of Saturday’s ago and shocked at least 10 trays of Coho. Subsequently , Bill and various little helpers have shocked and picked the remaining trays to get us past this phase of the process.

We have a nice bunch of egg’s on hand:-

79,271 Coho

105,828 Nitnat Chinook ( Egg Transfers )

336,603 Sooke River Chinook

The Chinook are mostly all in the emerge stage so ponding will not be far off………. OH MY !

For the time being we will let everyone enjoy the holiday season, we will need to keep taking our daily temperatures and hatchery check through the holidays. If anyone needs a day off , let me know.Yet another good years work is in the books thanks to the dedication of our volunteers.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to all !

Dec 12th: We will be shocking Coho tomorrow morning, Saturday Dec 12 th.

C U at the gate, 8:30 AM

Cheers R

Nov 24th: Good morning,

A bit of an update on where we are at………….

All our Chinook eggs are shocked and re-picked, we should have the first handful of trays in the hatch stage soon. We also received our Nitnat egg transfer last week, all are in incubation doing well.

The first few trays of Coho eggs are coming up for shocking. As they are ready a tray or two at a time, we will not be calling for a work party unless necessary.

At this point we have ( In round numbers ) - 450,000 eyed Chinook eggs; 110,00 Coho eggs.

The hatchery is now being put into winter mode, thanks to all who helped on this.

At our AGM last week we elected 2 new Directors, we welcome as directors at large. Dan Eaton & Roger Praud. Thank you for stepping up and serving on our most esteemed board of directors !

My God , 4 weeks left in the year, HO HO HO

Cheers for now

R

Nov 1st: A week ago we were praying for water and our wish came true. DeMamiel Creek is flowing hard. Still some Coho pushing up but we won’t be able to get back in the water until it drops a foot or so.

In the meantime we are dealing with the Coho we have up at the hatchery, we took eggs from 2 females today.

I will be away for the next two weeks so here are a couple of things to keep in mind…..Next Saturday, Nov 7 th , we will be shocking several trays of Chinook eggs. 8:30 AM at the gate on Butler main.

Temperature takers, if you run into an issue at the hatchery, there is a white pad near the phone in the lunch room with phone numbers for.Bill and Mel.

Adios Amigos R

Oct 30th: An update on Coho take.

Managed to take some Coho on DeMamiel creek today.We are going to give it another shot on Saturday morning.

DeMamiel weir , 8:30am

R

Oct 29th: With yesterday’s rain we have a number of Coho at the weir on DeMamiel creek.

We will get together tomorrow and see if we can chase some into the trap. Meet at the weir at 8:30 and do a few modifications to get it fishing better and then sit by the campfire for a bit and see what happens.

There is not a ton of water in the raceway but the fish are trying their best to push upstream. With that in mind this might be a day to leave the dogs at home; I will leave that up to individual volunteers.

Cheers, Robert

Oct 23rd: Good morning,

A bit of an update…………We are all done with Chinook egg take and all our heads have been processed and data sent to DFO. There is still a minimal amount of water in DeMamiel creek so we will have to wait for rain and Coho.

A schedule has been sent out to water temp takes. So take a day or two off if you are willing.

Cheers R

Oct 18th: Things are starting to get to a bit more of a normal pace up at the hatchery. Just a handful of Chinook females left to harvest.

We will go and check on them once again on Monday 8:30 AM at the gate on Butler Main.

Speaking of the gate on Butler Main. Looks like the BC Wildlife Federation has convinced Timberwest to open the back country to hunters. I think it is primarily on weekends and  they have arrange for Shadow Security to man the gate but only for an hour or 2 here and there through the day.

It is not up to SSES volunteers to allow access to Timberwest property for any particular reason, so if someone asks, refer them to Timberwest or Shadow Security.

R

Oct 18th: We will be up at the hatchery Sunday morning (18th) to check on our remaining Chinook females. I believe there are only 5 or so; this should not take long to accomplish.

Note the start time, 9 AM at the gate.

R

Oct 15th: We will get together on Saturday morning to retrieve the components of the fish fence on the Sooke River 8:30 AM, meet at the park and Ride across from the corner store on Sooke River Road.

We will need some trucks , and you know who you are , so if you can’t make it let me know.

C U then, R

Oct 12th: We took another 19 females today with 33 left to go.

For the balance of the week we will meet at the hatchery at 8:30 AM to check our remaining females. Most likely we will go & get the bits and pieces of the fish fence on Saturday Oct 17th.

More details will follow.

Cheers R

Oct 12th:: Not sure how loud I said this yesterday at the hatchery yesterday……We will be at the hatchery today, Monday Oct 12 th 9 AM, to go through our females once again.

If you can help  we will see you there. R

Oct 10th: We had a fantastic day on the Sooke River taking our Chinook brood stock. Fish were plentiful and of very good size. A big thanks to all those that helped out today, it was great to see some new faces.

But ……..No time to rest, we will be back at it tomorrow at the hatchery, Sunday Oct 11th. Meet at the hatchery at 9 AM and we will go through our brood stock and most likely take more eggs.

C U then

Cheers R

Oct:7th: Good morning,

Following is the schedule of events for this weekend’s activities to take Chinook Brood stock.

Of note, we are scheduled to get an amount of rain over the next few days. Depending on the amount we get, it can have a significant impact on our ability to get into the river safely.

With that said, dress for rain on Saturday, and keep an eye on your email just in case we need to call this off due to high water. Also keep in mind that just because it is not raining in Sooke town does not mean that it is not raining up in the hills.

So , here we go….Friday , Oct 9 th , 8:30 AM at butler gate

We will go up to the hatchery and load up all our gear onto the 2 trailers and the odd truck. From there we will proceed to the Martins and drop the trailers so they are there for us Saturday.

Saturday , Oct 10 th , 8:30 AM at the parking lot of Edward Milne School ( the High School in Sooke )

We will get together there and go over the agenda for the day.

PLEASE DO NOT  go directly to the Sooke River. We will car pool from the school in order to minimize the impact of vehicles at Ingrid Martins property.

If you have any questions drop me an email.

C U on the weekend

R

P.S. One more thing.

As mentioned in emails a week or so ago , we will need a number of divers for this event. So if you are proficient with a wet suit and a mask and can swim without drowning ( unlike me ), we would welcome your help. R

Oct 3rd: WELL…….. We are a  hatchery again.

We took our first Chinook female with 3100 eggs today. So we will now be recording ATU’s and checking conditions at the hatchery daily.We will have a few of the Society Directors looking after this for the next handful of days and come up with a more comprehensive schedule in a bit.

We are still checking the trap on the Sooke River daily. More to follow…………

Robert

Oct 1st: We keep getting closer ………………

Our group has been checking the trap on the Sooke River daily. So far we have 3 Chinook at the hatchery , 1 Female and 2 males. We also have 3 Coho on hand … Males / Females ? Fish are holding in Pemberton pool in some numbers.

Moving forward we need to get some things done in preparation for Chinook Brood Take. So, Saturday October 3rd  we will have a work party.

8:30 AM at the gate at Butler Main and up to the hatchery.

Hope to see you then.

Cheers R

 

Sept 27th: Look for the Super Moon Eclipse tonight….

Over the last few days we have seen a number of fish in the Trap on the Sooke river. We have taken 2 Coho and 2 Springs to the Hatchery. Water levels in the system are hanging in there…………

We will be monitoring the trap on the Sooke and DeMamiel Creek daily as per our previously posted schedule. Weekdays at the ball field and weekends at the park and ride , 9 AM.

A number of fish are pushing up. Brood stock take looks like Oct 10 th. Not carved in stone just yet…………….Keep your eye on your email.

Cheers R

Also

If anyone is free at any time we are looking for someone to swim the Sooke River to see what is in the pools.

Go Pro Cam ? Call me if you have ideas.

Cheers R (250-642-1905)

Sept 20th: We had another productive day on Saturday.

Our volunteers installed the infrastructure at DeMamiel weir for Coho Brood take, so we will be ready when they come upstream. Here again , all was accomplished without anyone falling in the water, it used to be exciting to be president of this outfit, now it’s just kinda boring………..

We also checked the Trap on the Sooke River, no sign of fish as yet, water levels are low …….

Now we wait for fish, the next 2 to 3 weeks should tell the story.

In anticipation of taking Chinook brood stock can we please get a show of hands ( by email ) of those that can help us on the Sooke river, when we do our beach Seine. Specifically those that can turn out with wet suits and mask to help  guide the net. We had a great turn out of divers last year which made for a much easier time getting the fish we needed.

So if you were one of those people and or know others that can help in this regard please let me know.

These dates ARE NOT carved in stone but the most probable Saturdays that we may do this are , OCT 3 , 10 or 17. At the end of the day we do this when the fish are there for the taking, regardless of the date.

Cheers Robert

Sept 17th: We are good to go for our project this Saturday.

We will meet at the Hatchery on Saturday morning to get our gear loaded up and strap on some chest waders and head down to DeMamiel Creek. This will not take all that long to accomplish but we will need a good crew of strong bodies.

8:30 AM at the Gate on Butler Main.

R

Sept 13th: We had a great turn out of volunteers on Saturday to install the fish fence in the Sooke River. We were all done at about 1 PM and no one fell into the water which is very amazing.

Moving forward we will need to check the trap daily for fish…

Weekdays we will meet at the ball field on Sooke River road. Weekends we will meet at the park & ride , corner of Sooke Road and Sooke River road. 9:00 am each day.

We ask that volunteers do not go to the site at Ingrid Martins on their own.You should go with the morning work party only, or as directed by our hatchery manager or society director.

Since this was so much fun we will most likely have another work party next Saturday to install infrastructure to capture Coho on DeMamiel Creek, all dependant on water levels so keep an eye on your email mid week for firm details.

As always , thanks to all for your hard work.

Cheers Robert

Sept 10th: OK , we are off and running……..

19 members took time away from their busy schedules to attends last night’s monthly general meeting, and no one fell asleep, well almost no one…….In preparation for brood stock take here is the upcoming work schedule.

Friday , Sept 11 , 8:30 AM at the gate on Butler Main to head up to the hatchery and…….

- Knock down the cob webs and tidy up a bit

- Have a look at all our gear for installation of the fish fence

- Have a coffee and cookie

- Not a ton to do but this will get us back in the mood ?

Saturday , Sept 12 th , 8:30 AM at the gate on Butler Main. We will head up to the hatchery and load up all the gear to install the fish fence on the Sooke River and head to the river and install it all.

We will need a number of helpers to get this done so if you can help out please attend.

That’s it for now.

Cheers R

Sept 6th: It is that time of year again. September already.

First up, general meeting , Wednesday Sept 9 th, 7 PM , Community hall.

Next will be the installation of the fish fence on the Sooke River , Saturday Sept 12th. Specific details will follow mid next week.

The rain fall we have had over the past week has been nothing short of miraculous. DeMamiel Creek is full of water to the top of the boards. Rocky creek also has a very good water flow.

We had a look at the Sooke River on Saturday morning and it has approximately an extra foot of water over summer water flow levels.

This all looks positive for hatchery operations moving forward. We will need to get a few chores done at the hatchery in the short term and details will follow shortly.

So dust off your hip waiters and find your mittens , here we go again !

Cheers Robert

July 27th: GOOD EVENING ALL …………….We have one more task checked off the calendar.

Our volunteers were hard at work Saturday at the fish cleaning station at the Consultants Derby. Pink Salmon were in abundance with a small number of Chinook in the teens and mid 20 Lb. Thanks to all for your hard work to make this happen, we received a nice donation from them for our efforts.

Up coming…....Derby committee meeting , Tuesday, 7 PM.

Work part, Friday morning to get our gear loaded up for our Derby on the long weekend. We will need a few trucks to get this all loaded up for set up on Saturday  at 5 AM at the weigh In Station.

More to follow. Cheers.

Robert

July 21st: Howdy folks,

A couple of things are coming up quickly.

1 )  Consultants Derby, Saturday July 25th. We will be providing fish cleaning services for this derby in return for a sizeable donation to the society.A bit of a change this year as we will set up at the end of the dock in front of the Prestige Hotel.

So far we have , Bill, Mel, Dan, Robert signed up to make this happen. We need perhaps another 2 or three helps to make this work smoothly. We typically set up shortly before noon and work through about 4 PM. At the end of it all we get a dinner at the awards banquet. If you can let me know if you can help out please email me asap and we will get you on the list and give you more specific details

2 ) Our Derby is also fast approaching, for those of you on the derby committee, all sponsor prizes should be in to Gerry by the end of this week. We will have a final meeting at 7PM at Gerry and Maureen’s on Tuesday July 28th. Watch for details as to work party to load up what we need for the derby , possibly Friday the 31st and to set up at the weigh in station at the crack of dawn on Saturday Aug 1st.

We will need lots of help over the derby weekend so let me know if you can help out.

Cheers Robert

July 6th: Just a quick reminder; Derby meeting , Tuesday July 7 th , 7 PM.

Also of note; as some of you may know we have had some ongoing issues with our web site. In the end we had to let go of our existing URL  and come up with a new one.

So , our web site address is now………www.sookesalmonenhancement.com

So update your book marks to reflect the change. A new society email is also forthcoming but I will advise on this later.

Cheers

Robert

June 25th: Good morning.

We will be kicking off ticket sales to this years SSES Derby on Saturday. We will need some help to set up the tent etc on Saturday morning. If you can lend a hand at our weigh in station site, north east corner of Sooke road at Philips road 9:30 AM.

We will need a few hands to set up which will not take all that long. From there we need to be at the site from 10 AM to 2 PM selling tickets so we will need a small handful of volunteers for that as well as packing it all up when we are done.

C U then R

June 17th: Howdy,

Things are moving along with a few projects. As mentioned at the last general meeting, the floor drains in the lower hatchery have been repaired. A crew went up to Bradford dam an powered up 7 weed eaters and trimmed the grass on the dam. See a few pictures attached.

That is it for general meetings until September.

Coming up are derby committee meetings in July ( Details to follow ).

Consultants derby, July 27th.

Cheers R

May 30th: Wow, May 30th , where is the time going ! Been very busy at work and with a few other matters but that certainly does not stop ( probably helps ! ) our crew.

The hatchery is now silent for the summer with all our fish successfully released. The crew was also hard at it this week digging up the concrete floor between tanks 8 & 9 in the lower hatchery to fix the drains. Sounds like the problems there has been resolved.

Thank you to al all our volunteers for their ongoing hard work and dedication to the cause.So take a deep breath and put up your feet for a bit and enjoy the summer.

Meeting schedule for June will be out in a couple of days.

Cheers, Robert

May 23rd: Good afternoon all……….

We released another batch of fish today and are WELL on our way to being done with this years production. To get us all done we will have what should be our final release of fish on Monday, May 25th 8:15 to 8:30am at Butler gate.

Looks like we will need to do 3 loads to get all our remaining fish released.

We invite our volunteers to join us at Mom’s Café for lunch once we are finished. Hopefully at about noon. Please RSVP if you can so we can give Mom’s Café an idea of numbers. We welcome you all to join us.

The last day for fish feeders will be Sunday May 24th.

Cheers Robert

May 19th: Howdy folks,

We got a good start on getting our fish released today. Feeders, watch for empty tanks moving forward as we release fish.

We will continue to release fish …………..THURSDAY morning , regular time at the gate.

Thanks to all, R

May 18th: We have a bit of a change of plans for starting to release fish from the hatchery.

We would like to start on Tuesday morning ( tomorrow ). The sooner we get all our little ones out, the sooner we can have some time off !

Lets meet at the gate 8:15 AM.

C U then, R

May 15th: Good morning all………We are all set for Coho clipping this weekend. We have lots of cookies , hamburgers , hot dogs and treats. It appears that we will have some relatively good weather as well.

As mentioned,tThe gate on Butler main will be manned from 8:30 to 9:00 AM Saturday and Sunday with the thought of getting clipping by 9:30 and done shortly after lunch each day.

PLEASE note:

Please leave your pets at home for this particular event .

See you on the weekend.

Cheers, Robert

May 8th: Congratulations ! Because everyone has been so good, we will not have a work party this Saturday.

Our Sea-Pen fish were released on Wednesday evening and all our gear is now back in storage at the hatchery.

Upcoming events…….

Tuesday May 12 th , Derby Committee meeting 7 PM

Wednesday May 13 th , General Meeting at the community hall , 7PM

Coho clipping

Saturday And Sunday , May 16 th & 17 th , 9 AM to 1 PM

We will man the gate on butler main from 8:30 to 9:00 AM. Lunch will be served.

Fish feeders , keep an eye out for changes of feed amounts as we will most likely move Chinook out of 5B and put some Coho in that trough.

Cheers

Robert

May 3rd: Here is the latest from fish world…..

Our fish are doing well at the hatchery. Most of our Chinook are now approaching or over 4 grams.

We released another 2 loads into the Sooke river this weekend which puts us in great shape at the hatchery.

We also had a good day Saturday at the Rotary Spring Fair and Auction. Our fish tank is always a popular attraction.

The Sea pen is also doing well. Please note updated feed amounts on the sheets at the dock.

On that note , we will be releasing the fish from the seapen……this coming Wednesday evening @ 6:30 PM.

We will leave the net on the dock overnight and come back Thursday morning at 8:30 to load up all our gear, and haul it back to the hatchery. We will need as many helps as possible and trucks to load this stuff into.

Plans for next weekend will be updated mid week.

Cheers Robert

April 30th: We will release more fish, 8:15 to 8:30 at butler gate.

Saturday , May 2nd.

Thanks R

April 30th: We will set up our booth at the arena on Philips road on Friday afternoon.

Will need a hand to get all our stuff loaded at the hatchery and then set up at the arena Friday afternoon.

Can I get 3 or 4 volunteers to help out please 2 PM at the hatchery Friday.

Please shoot me an email if you can help.

R

April 27th: Good evening,

We would like to move some more fish out this week. Thursday , 8:15 to 8:30 AM at butler gate.

Because we had to de-commission 2 tanks in the lower hatchery, we need to get some of thoseextra fish out into the wild.

So if you have some time we will need a few bodies to get this done.

C U Thursday

R

April 25th: We had a good day at the hatchery today.

Another 2 trips to release fish into the Sooke River. Our fish in the hatchery are growing like crazy with some at 4 grams.

We had a bit of an issue with 2 of the round tanks in the lower hatchery , # 8 & # 9. Something has got into the drain pipes and the tanks were close to overflow. We have moved all those fish up into the 2 large round tanks up top , # 12 & # 13

New feed schedule is in the lunch room. Also, Bill and Lis are not able to cover day shift on Monday, looking for a couple of volunteers to take this shift if possible.

Please let me know.

Cheers Robert

April 21st:: Good afternoon all

Our fish in the sea pen seem to be settling in. After a slow start they seem to be feeding as they should, perhaps not as aggressive as in years past.

But if you take your time they will take a full ration. Day shift , please remember to check for morts. In the morning and record on the sheet in the feed bin even if zero.

We will be moving out fish from the hatchery again this saterday , 8:15 to 8:30 at the gate.

C U then R

April 17th: Sorry for the late update but .....We would like to release some fish tomorrow.

So….. 8:15 to 8:30 Am at butler gate Saturday morning

R

April 11th: We are scheduled to receive our sea pen fish this coming Tuesday April 14 ( most likely mid day ). For the most part we have the infrastructure already loaded onto a few trucks.

It is our intention to install the sea pen on Monday morning, 9AM at the government dock. The more the merrier for this undertaking. Keep an eye on your email just in case something changes.

R

April 7th: Next up ………….This Saturday, April 11 th at the hatchery , 8:15 to 8:30 AM at butler gate.

We will release 3 loads of fish and also get ready for sea pen on Monday / Tuesday.

Cheers R

April 1st: We will release more fish…………..This Saturday, 8:15 to 8:30 at butler gate.

C U Then R

March 25th: We are going to move some more fish out of the hatchery, this Saturday.

The gate will be manned from 8:15 to 8:30 AM.

C U then R

March 19th: We will have a work party this Saturday, March 21 st, Butler Main gate will be open from 8:15 AM to 8:30 AM.

We plan to move 2 loads of fish into the Sooke River.

C U then R

March 12th: We will get together to move some fish around and perhaps some other chores on ……….

Saturday, March 14 th , 8:15 to 8:30 at the gate as usual.

C U then R

Feb 26th: We had a good day moving fish down into the lower hatchery today.

Now that we have the hang of it we will do it again on….This Saturday

Gate on Butler will be manned from 8:15 to 8:30 AM.

C U Then, R

Feb 25th: Work Party: not sure why it’s called a party , but ………Thursday morning we would like to move some fish down to the lower hatchery.

We have a good amount to move so if we can get as much help as possible would be great.

Regular time and place.

C U then, R

Feb 18th: If you have some time to spare,Thursday morning at the hatchery.

We will be moving some fish from the Cap troughs into the lower hatchery. 8:30 am at the hatchery.

C U Then, R

Feb 8th: We had a successful day of ponding Chinook on Saturday. Thanks to all our dedicated volunteers the task was completed in short order and to my knowledge no limbs were lost. We also ponded one tray of Coho into trough 7B.

So ……….All Cap Troughs in the upper hatchery have fish in them. New feed amounts are on the table in the lunch room.

We will go to a full feeding schedule ( Morning & Afternoon shifts ) starting Monday Feb 9 th. Afternoon shift, please try and show up at about 11:45 if possible.

Our fish are still rather small so please be very careful when cleaning. Also, now that we have 2 shifts on the go it is important ( as always ) to make sure you return the key to the lock box at Jack’s place at the end of your shift.

I will be sending out an email to the feed crew as well. We still have openings on Saturday and Tuesday afternoons.

Cheers Robert

Feb 4th: Good morning all…………….It is time to get the balance of our Chinook out of incubation and ponded in the upper hatchery.

To that end we will have yet another spectacular work party to accomplish this task

Saturday Feb 7, 8:15 to 8:30 am at Butler Main gate.

There is an amount of work to do here so the more volunteers the better. Once we accomplish this we will be going to our full feeding schedule Mornings and Afternoon shifts. More details to follow.

C U on Saturday

Cheers Robert

Feb 2nd: A few notes …………

We are moving along at the hatchery. The Chinook in Cap Trough’s   5 , 6 & 7 are adapting well, still small so be very mindful when cleaning ( No hard flush for the time being ).

We have ponded a couple trays of Chinook into 2A , here again they are small and fragile, these only need a very small sprinkle of food at this time.

We are continuing with morning feeding only until we get the balance of our Chinook ponded which will fill all the Cap trough’s. Most likely this week end for that project but that can change so keep an eye on email.

We currently have openings in our feeding schedule as follows.

Afternoon Shift ( Noon to 3 PM ) Tuesdays, Saturday, Sunday. If anyone wants to take one of these shifts please let me know.

Upcoming Meetings…

- Directors , Tuesday Feb 3

- 2015 Derby , Thursday Feb 5

- General , Wednesday Feb 11

Cheers for now, Robert

Feb 2nd: Here we go again…It is time to get underway for planning our 2015 Chinook Derby.

Our first Derby Committee meeting will be this Thursday, 7 PM at the Home of Gerry & Maureen Glaum.

Typically our meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month , however I will be out of town next week so we will go with this Thursday to start.

Anyone that has not participated in the past and would like to get on board , let me know and I will give you further details. For the most part this first meeting should be mostly focused on getting oriented moving forward.

Cheers Robert

Jan 26th: Well……After somehow deleting my list of SSES membership emails, I think I have it back together after a mere couple of hours !

So here goes.We ponded approximately 160,000 Sooke River Chinook on Sunday. All went well and mort rates where right where they should be.

We will start up our feeding schedule this Wednesday. We will do just mornings for now, so from 9 AM to Noon each day.

For those of you on the schedule from years past, please let me know if you are willing to take a shift. For those that have not done this before please let me know if you are interested in this. As we move along the schedule will include an afternoon shift from Noon to 3:30 PM ( probably start this up in 2 weeks ). Feed schedule will be on the lunch room table as normal.

Also, we will need to continue to record water temperatures and mortality counts for each Capilano Trough. Let me know as soon as possible if you are interested in helping out in this regard.

Cheers, Robert

Jan 21st: Well it looks like we will be ready to pond Chinook …………..This Sunday, Jan 25th, 8:15 to 8:30 AM at the gate on butler main.

C U then. R

Jan 7th 2015: Good afternoon all………………..

With high water temperatures at the hatchery things are moving along quickly. We need to get the hatchery all scrubbed out to be ready for ponding of fish in a couple of weeks .

To that end……..We will have a work party this Saturday Jan 10th. Meet at the gate on Butler main between 8:15 and 8:45 AM. YEA ! a work party !

We will be cleaning as many Cap Troughs as possible so we can use as many helpers as possible. Rumors have it that we may have a wienie roast for lunch as well, complete with Hermit Cookies.

By the end of this week we should also have a very good idea of a date for ponding. So here we go again , we will be active at the hatchery for the next 4 months !

Cheers Robert

December 23rd: Good morning all…………….Here is the latest.

Water temperatures at the hatchery remain high. Both our Sooke River Chinook and Nitnat Chinook are well into hatch. Current ATU’s are over 710 Hours.

It looks like we may be ponding Chinook as early as the third week of January. With that in mind we will need to give all our Cap troughs a good cleaning prior to ponding fish.

If I had to guess at the moment it would most like be Jan 1oth for a work party to clean the hatchery. However that can change depending on water temperatures over the next couple of weeks so stand by and watch your email in the new year.

For those that are up to the hatchery taking daily temperatures, please be aware that we ponded a tray of Chinook that were in distress into Trough # 3 A. Please do not attempt to clean or take morts at this time. As part of your routine you can check to ensure there is water flow. If you look at the outfall of  # 3A we have only a minimal flow.

If you have any questions in this regard let me know. Thanks to all our volunteers for their hard work and dedication over the past year. Have a safe and Merry Christmas and New Year.

For those of you that have not got your Christmas Presents to the president as yet  , There’s still time ! ( LOL )

Cheers everyone. Robert

November 17th: Here is the latest………..On Sunday we removed all the boards from DeMamiel Creek weir as we do not anticipate any more Coho coming up the river in numbers, and yes OH MY GOD the water was COLD !

We  went up to the hatchery from there and stored away all our gear for another season. Everything looks to be in good shape. Next up will be shocking Coho eggs in about 2 weeks’ time.

We will need to continue to take water temps and check water flows each day. A few winter maintenance projects are in the planning stage for over the winter months.

We have a crew headed up to Nitnat to get our Chinook eggs on Wednesday, Mel , Randy , Brian J, Pat & Phil. A few more volunteers will meet at the hatchery at 3pm to help incubate the eggs.

That’s it for now.R

November 15th: It does not appear that we are going to get any more Coho coming up DeMamiel Creek in numbers.

That being said we should get our bits and pieces taken off the weir while water levels are on the safe side. We are scheduled to get some rain on Tuesday through Thursday next week so I think it is time to strike.

Let’s meet at DeMamiel Creek , Sunday Nov 16 th 8:30 AM. We will need a number of volunteers in the water with chest waders to remove the boards and haul them up to the hatchery.

C  U then R

Novmber 15th: CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS

We have a  schedule for going up to Nitnat Hatchery to pick up our Chinook eggs.

Tentatively …………..Tuesday , November 18th

We meet at the Park & Ride parking lot on Sooke River Road at Sooke Road by the corner storen at 6:30 AM sharp, from there we go up to Goldstream Hatchery to pick up the coolers and tubes.

From there we head up to Duncan and have a quick coffee and sandwich at Tim Hortons and then proceed along  Cowichan Lake to Nitnat Hatchery, From Victoria it is about 3 hours + depending on road conditions.

We are at Nitnat hatchery about an hour packing up our eggs before we head back towards Sooke with a stop at A & W on the way.Once back at the hatchery we will need to put all the eggs in incubation trays.

So far we have Mel Hull ( Driver and commander & chief ) and Randy Thompson as volunteers to go to Nitnat.We need another three volunteers to make the trip. We will also need some extra hands at the hatchery at about 3 PM Tuesday afternoon to help get the eggs into the incubation trays.

Can you please let me know if you can help out with this task as soon as possible so we can get our crews put together. I am just waiting to hear from Peter at Goldstream to confirm all this but I am confident it will happen as noted.

Please let me know today if you can help out.

Cheers Robert

November 9th: Things are moving along well at the hatchery.

All our Chinook eggs are now shocked.We have 2 Coho females on hand. No fish showing at DeMamiel weir this morning.

As Tuesday is a holiday we will next get together on Wednesday, check or Coho females and dispose of some of the males, 8:15 at the hatchery.

Don’t forget that Wednesday is also our AGM Meeting , Election of officers ( 7PM community hall ).

Cheers R

November 2nd: All is moving along well with hatchery operations.

We had a good turnout of volunteers on Saturday and got many things done.All our heath trays have been cleaned………..We harvested eggs from another 5 Coho Females…….We captured 4 females and 2 male Coho from the trap at DeMamiel Creek…..We shocked two more trays of Chinook at the hatchery. Steel supply line to the hatchery has been flushed and water flows through the hatchery are good.

Although we left a volunteer behind at DeMamiel creek on Saturday we managed to pick up his dog,   Les,  I think I owe you a second Steak & Lobster dinner !

Moving forward we need to continue to take water temps and monitor water flows each morning.

Next up will be getting together at the hatchery, Tuesday morning to check on hand Coho females and look at the remaining Chinook trays for shocking. We will also look at returning Coho on DeMamiel creek and take brood stock as they are available.

I will be out of town this week, Tuesday to Friday, I will keep an  eye on email and will have my phones call forwarded to my cell.

Thanks for all the good work over the past couple of weeks, we have done well.

Cheers, Robert

Oct 29th: Good morning.

Water levels on DeMamieil creek are very high this morning. It will most likely need to settle down a bit before the next wave of fish come up.

In any case , we will shock a bunch of Chinook eggs. Thursday morning at the hatchery, 8:30 AM. As many hands as possible would be helpful. We will be at the hatchery each morning for the next three days.

C U Then

R.

Oct 26th: Another good day enhancing…………..Water levels on DeMamiel Creek were high today.

Hatchery operations are going well. After 3 days in the rain we are going to take a day off on Monday.

Next up, we will meet at the hatchery, Tuesday morning, check our Coho and have a look at Demamiel creek.

See you then

R

Oct 25th:We had another good day taking Coho at  DeMamiel Creek today.

Fish are still moving up in abundance , so ………….Let’s do it again on Sunday, 8:15 at the weir on Young lake road.

We will also go up to the hatchery and go through our females as a few are ready to give up their eggs. A good turn out of volunteers makes it all go smooth.

C U Sunday

Cheers Robert

Oct 23rd: Volunteering for Sooke Salmon Enhancement is a thrill a minute.Nothing quite says dedication like standing on a steel grate in the middle of a river during an electrical storm !

Demamiel Creek has come up nicely overnight and Coho are at the fish fence at Young Lake road in good numbers.

So here is our schedule for the next two days. We will meet at the weir on DeMamiel Creek ( Just past Butler road on Young lake road ) between 8 and 8:30 AM Friday and Saturday.We will be harvesting Coho and transporting them to the hatchery through the morning hours.We will then do an egg take at the hatchery should the females be willing.

If we are not at the weir on DeMamiel we will be at the hatchery ( Turn right on Butler Main off Young lake road, through the forestry gate and take the first right on boneyard main, keep right into the hatchery ).Our days should not stretch past late morning. The hatchery phone number is 250-642-0031.

Lots of work to be done over the next couple of days so we can use all the help we can get.

If you have any questions, shoot me an email.

Cheers Robert

Oct 23rd: With the additional rain we had overnight there will be a very good chance that we will see some Coho below the trap on DeMamiel creek this morning.

With that in mind we could use all hands on deck this morning We will meet at the weir on DeMamiel shortly after 8 AM to have a look at conditions. From there we will head up to the hatchery at 8:15 to 8:30  to make the preparations for brood take of Coho.

If we have enough of a crew we will head back to the weir and set the trap open and move some fish to the hatchery.This is all dependant on what we see initially but in any case we have work we can do this morning to prepare.

Butler main gate has been open the past few days so should not be an issue moving back and forth. Please help  out if you can.

Cheers Robert

Oct 22nd: Well, we have finally got some rain that has brought water flows in DeMamiel creek up to a level that the Coho might be able to move up.

As of 3 PM this afternoon, I saw one fish at Pascoe road, Nothing at Butler Bridge or below our trap at Young Lake road. We will monitor the system tomorrow morning with the thought that we may be able to take some Coho in the next couple of days, perhaps , keep an eye on your email.

FOR CERTAIN , we will have a work party on Saturday morning, 8:30 at the hatchery to get  a whole bunch of heath trays cleaned, the more helpers for this one the better. If things change tomorrow morning we will put out a notice.So for sure we will be having a good work day on Saturday.

Will be in touch.

Robert

Oct 17th: Greetings from your wayward president……………After a very successful Chinook brood stock take 2 weeks ago, we now have 233,483 eggs in incubation. We are no longer holding any brood stock in the hatchery.

We are anxiously waiting for a couple of events…Some substantial sustained rainfall to bring water levels in DeMamiel creek up high enough so that the Coho can migrate upstream and we can take brood stock. Water levels in DeMamiel remain very low. Once we have a better feel for when this might happen we will need to get up to the hatchery and Ovadine some incubation trays.

We are also waiting to hear from Nitnat hatchery as to when they may have our eggs ready for us.I can’t imagine it is going to be too much longer. Here again , once we have better details we will need to Ovadine trays for this project as well.

Starting next week we will be into our daily routine of checking water temperatures and flows at the hatchery. Those of you that have volunteered to do this have already been contacted. We can always use a couple of spares if anyone else is interested.

It will also be important that hatchery access keys are faithfully returned to the lock box at Jack’s moving forward. There are couple of other chores to get done at the hatchery , we will wait for the projects mentioned above to get these done.

Cheers for now.

R

Oct 8th: We will get together…..Saturday , October 11 th, 8:30 AM

At the park and ride bus lot across from the corner store, Sooke Road at Sooke River Road. From there we will proceed down to the river and remove the fish fence and haul it back to the hatchery.

Cheers Robert.

Oct 6th: We had a very successful day on the Sooke River on Sunday.

We now have approximately 183,000 Chinook eggs in the incubation room and another 9 females holding out on us That should push our total egg take well past 200,000.

The society is very fortunate to have had such a great crew of volunteers participate in this event. Water conditions were about as good as it gets for brood stock take. It was also good to see a number of new faces in the crew mixed in with us old guy’s !

Thanks to all those that showed up in dive gear , this made the process so much easier and very effective.

The Chinook that we caught were in excellent condition, plentiful with a large number of 4 year olds and a few 5 year olds. Many of our long term members commented on how well the crew performed and on the size and quantity of the Chinook.

So…………….Thank you all for coming out and supporting our community and fish resource, give yourselves a good pat on the back for a job well done. I would be grateful if anyone has good pictures to share if you could get them to me.

MOVING FORWARD………. We will meet at the hatchery / Butler main gate each morning at 8:30 am to check on our remaining brood stock and then check the trap on the Sooke River. Thanks again everyone.

Robert Gamache

President, Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society

Oct 2nd: OK……………..Change of plans for this weekend.

We did a float down the Sooke River from the fish fence down through Pemberton Pool and below. Looks to be enough fish (  Chinook  ) to take a stab at a brood stock take.

So  …………..Saturday , Oct 4 th , 8:30 AM

We will meet at the hatchery and load up all our gear and haul it down to the Martins at the Sooke River. For those that are new to this experience, please meet us at the hatchery, do not go down to the Martins on your own.We must respect our opportunity to make use of this property. Call me if you need more info. This should take us the better part of the morning.

Sunday , Oct 5 th , 8:30 AM

We will meet at the high school parking lot to get oriented and car pool down to the Martins and sein two different pools. We will most likely be well in to the afternoon by the time we are done on the river and then we will have some work to do at the hatchery taking eggs. Here again please meet at the school to car pool.We will need to have some divers in wet suits to pull this off , those of you who have helped in this regard in the past please contact me to let me know.

If you can make it, if anyone else has a friend in mind that has a wet suit and can swim without drowning ! bring them along. Need to have a good number of helpers to get this done, so please help us out if you can.

River conditions should be excellent to get this done this weekend.

Here we go again ……………….

Cheers, Robert 250-642-1905

Sept 29th: Good morning all …………Things are moving along very slowly on the Sooke River.

Water levels remain low and only a very small handful of fish have moved into the river. We are still checking the trap each morning but there is very little water up river.

Chances are that it will be at least another week or more before we see fish moving upstream and at least a couple of weeks before we attempt to sein the river.

We will have a work party next Saturday to install the fish guards at the weir on DeMamiel Creek and ovadine a stack of trays up at the hatchery, I will advise the schedule for this later in the week.

This month’s meetings are as follows.

Directors , Tuesday Oct 7 th

General , Wednesday Oct 15 th

As some of you may know we have received a very generous donation from  Bite – Me – Derby; further details will be discussed at the general meeting on the 15th .

That is it for now. Cheers.

Robert

Sept 15th: Howdy all ………We will get together on Saturday,  Sept 20 th to install the fish fence on the Sooke river.Meet at the hatchery at 8:30 AM as usual.

We may also chase some Chinook on Sunday.

Hope to see you then. Cheers,

Robert

Sept 11th: It’s that time. Brood stock take is around the corner.

In preparation……..We will have a work party this Saturday 8:30 am at the hatchery/

R

Sept 5th: We are getting geared up to do the remainder of the upgrades to Bradford dam on Monday and possibly Tuesday of next week ( Sept 8 and 9 ).

We could use up to 6 or so helpers to make this easier on all. If you think you can help out let me  know as soon as possible so we can work out the agenda .

Cheers Robert

Jun 13th: Once again, my apologies for the short notice…….This Saturday we will be kicking off our Derby ticket sales by setting up our tent at the new Weigh-In Station on Sooke Road at Phillips Road.

We will meet at the hatchery at 8:30 to load up and then head down to the site. All and any are welcome to participate. We are scheduled to be set up from 10 AM to 3 PM.

Of course it looks like rain for the weekend.

C U there R

Jun 5th: And the Angels Sang and the Villagers Rejoiced…………….We are all done rearing fish for the season.

The last of our Chinook were given a fond farewell this morning. The Hatchery is now as quiet as a church mouse. Thanks to all………….

C U next week at our last general meeting of the season. Wednesday June 11 th, 7 PM at the community hall.

Cheers R

Jun 4th: We are almost there !

One and a half trips to release the last of our fish tomorrow, 8:15 at the hatchery in the morning. And then we can take at least two days in a row off !

After we release the last of our fish in the morning we will meet at Mom’s Café in Sooke for a wind up lunch ( Noon, June 5 th ).

Please RSVP if it is your intention to attend so I can let the Café know how many people will attend.

Hope to see you tomorrow. R

Jun 1st: We are well underway to getting all of our fish released from the hatchery. We are down to Chinook in Troughs 1 thru 4 and the small round tanks in the lower hatchery.

To that end we will have work party’s at the hatchery to release the remaining Chinook into the Sooke River next week on Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday.

8:15 at the gate.

That should get us all done with hatchery operations until the fall.

The last full feeding shift will be Monday June 2nd 

Cheers R

May 26th: This is sounding like a broken record !

Tuesday , 7 PM , We will release the sea pen fish.

Wednesday , 8:30 AM , At the government dock we will pack up the sea pen and take it to the hatchery. We will also do one load of Chinook to Sooke River.

Friday , 8:30 AM , At  the hatchery , we will do 2 loads of Chinook to the Sooke River.

Saturday , 8:30 AM , at the Hatchery , We will release as much Coho as possible in to Young Lake. We are also doing a presentation at Camp Bernard for national ‘’ Beaveree ‘’ week.

I can’t wait till we have this darn hatchery empty again !

Big thanks to all those that helped out with clipping on the weekend , it all went very well. I sent a few pictures to the Sooke Mirror , it will be interesting to see if they print any.

Cheers R

May 21st: We seem to be having some issues with the amount of fish and size on our Chinook. Unfortunately we need to get some out of the hatchery.

If we can get a work party together on Friday we will release a load of Chinook into the Sooke River 8:15 to 8:30 at the gate / Hatchery. R

May 21st:: Just a reminder of this weekend’s activities

Coho clipping , Saturday and Sunday 8:15 to 8:30 each day at the gate.

As per previous , please leave your pets at home for this particular event.

Cheers Robert

May 14th: It is time to set a few more of our baby’s free.

This Saturday, at the gate 8:15 to 8:30. We will be making two trips.

C U there R

May 11th: Good morning. Happy Mothers Day !

Just wanted to give a bit of an update on feeding schedules and hatchery status.

Our fish are coming along very nicely. Growth rates are very good and our fish are looking very healthy. The fish that we received for the sea pen seem to be adapting well to their new environment and are feeding well.

Now that our fish are getting bigger and feed amounts are larger we need to be diligent in our feeding methods. Of late we are noticing a large amount of food on the bottom of the tanks; most noticeable in the large round tanks , # 12 & # 13.

Please take your time when feeding. It might be an idea to give half of the ration of food in the large round tanks at the beginning of feeding and the balance at the end of the feeding to allow the fish the opportunity to take the food at a better rate.

This will also be an issue at the sea pen. Right now we are feeding 1400 Grams 4 times a day. If you can, please spread the food out over 20 to 30 minutes if you have the time. Bring a book if you want,  I am currently reading a real thriller …………..

‘’ Swimming Up Stream , My Life As A Four Year Old ‘’    fascinating stuff !!

A note on sea pen feeding. If you can,  feed on your way to the hatchery and on your way out.  We have one of our commercial fishing buddys down at the dock feeding in the morning every now and then. If you notice that he has done so feel free to give the fish more food if they will take it; typically if it has been an hour or more between feedings they should feed well. There are record sheets in the food bin at the dock; please record the time and amount when feeding.

Cheers Robert

May 7th: Good morning,

We will have a work party this Saturday (10th May).

Plans are to release some fish and any other chores we can find to do.

C U at the gate 8:15 to 8:30. .......R

May 6th: Good evening,

Our Sea Pen fish have been delivered and are now ready for feeding. The feed is in the silver bin next to the pen as usual.

Feeders - The feed amount is based on 4 feedings per day. A feed record sheet is in the feed bin, please record the time and amount at each feeding. If you can feed on your way in and out of the hatchery as part of your normal shift that would be great.

Any questions let me know, R.

May 4th: Once again our dedicated group got the job done today. In the pouring rain we managed to get all the infrastructure for the Sea Pen loaded up at the hatchery, hauled down to the harbor and installed.

Of the dozen or so volunteers that participated there was about 4 smart guys that actually had rain gear on, and no the president was not one of the smart ones. Thanks to all those who helped out , this job goes much faster with lots of helping hands.

We anticipate receiving our sea pen smolts tomorrow at about 11 AM , a few of us will be on hand at 10:30 to do final prep and receive the fish from DFO. Once we know the number and weight of the fish , we will put together feeding information.

Cheers for now , I think a nice hot shower is in order……..R

May 4th: On Saturday 3rd we participated in the Rotary Spring Fair & Auction.

We had our booth set up with our display boards , the aquarium with some Chinook and Coho , and assorted information pamphlets. It was a good day of promoting our society. Seeing the young children guessing how many fish are in the tank is always a positive experience.

Thanks to all that helped in the transport of our equipment to and from the hatchery. R

Apr 30th: Our fish are moving along nicely, gaining weight by the gram……..Feeders, see new feed amounts and sizes, we are now into # 2 crumb for Chinook , Still # 1 Crumb for Coho.

I will need a bit of help Friday afternoon to take our displays, tables, aquarium down to Seapark Arena. Meet at the hatchery at 2:00 PM we should be done by 3 PM. Please send me an email if you can lend a hand for an hour.

I will also need a hand to pack it all up at 5 PM Saturday afternoon. Again about an hours work. Please let me know if you can help

Also, remember we are installing the Seapen on Sunday.

Cheers Robert

Apr 28th: We will install the Sea Pen infrastructure on Sunday May4 th.

We will meet at the hatchery at 8:30 AM to load it all up. The more hands the better on this one.

C U There. R

Apr 24th: Morning.

We would like to release a few fish on Saturday , probably 2 loads. So if you have some time we will do our normal thing , 8:15 to 8:30 at butler gate.

CU at the hatchery R

Apr 20th: Just a heads up for some of the things ahead on our schedule:-

May 2 nd , Friday afternoon , set up for Rotary auction and fair

May 3 rd , Saturday Morning , install floats and stations for Sea Pen

May 3 rd , Rotary Auction & Fair , Saturday morning and afternoon

May 5 th , Monday morning , drop sea pen net in water and receive smolts

May 24 th and 25 th , Saturday & Sunday , Clip Coho

May 31 st , Saturday , Beaveree at Camp Barnard

July 12 th , Saturday , sell derby tickets at new Weigh-Inn Station

July 26 th , Saturday , Consultants Derby

Aug 2 nd & 3 rd , Saturday & Sunday , SSES Chinook Derby

AND ………. I am sure I have forgotten something !

As you can see , not much going on for the next while !If any of you are so motivated please let me know what you can help out with. R

Apr 16th: More things accomplished today. We released the Coho from 6A & 6B. Thinned the Coho in 7A & B into 6A &B, cleaned # 12 round tank as well.

We would like to get a work party …………….Saturday April 19 th.

Hope to see you at the hatchery. Cheers R

Apr 13th: Good morning, We had a productive day’s activities yesterday at the hatchery and in DeMamiel Creek.At Demamiel weir, we dug out the area in front of our metering valve and installed two new sectionsof pipe that will help keep a downstream water flow despite the best efforts of our local beaver population ( we hope ! )

We also got two more round tanks into action in the lower hatchery and did another round of thinning of our Chinooks.We now have fish in tanks 10 and 11 so see the new feed schedule in the lunch room.

For those of you who helped out on Saturday, thank you. We had mentioned that we would be releasing some Coho on Monday. This needs to be pushed back to Wednesday. So , if a few have some time , Wednesday morning , we will meet at the hatchery and give some Coho the boot. Same time as usual.

Cheers R

Apr 10th: Good morning……

We would like to have a work party this Saturday. On the agenda is to get into Demamiel creek at the weir on Young Lake road and muck out the area that the beaver keeps working on.

If you can spare some time we would be grateful as this will be an amount of work.

At the gate 8:15 to 8:30 AM Saturday

R

Apr 6th: Things are moving along very well at the hatchery. We have thinned out the Chinook and Coho and now have fish in round tanks 8 & 9 in the lower hatchery. A new feed schedule is on the table in the lunch room. Please make sure that the lids on round tanks 8  &  9 are closed before you leave the hatchery.

Cheers Robert.

March 31st Good morning,

Things are moving along at the hatchery. We now have all our fish ponded, so the incubation room is now shut down. Feeders should refer to the feed amount sheet in the lunch room. It will most likely be a 10 to 14 days before we have to do more thinning and get the rest of the round tanks in the lower hatchery up and running.

We have meetings coming up as follows:-

Directors , April 1 , 7PM

Derby Committee, April 8 , 7 PM

General , April 9 , 7 PM\

C U then, R

March 19th: Good morning

We will have yet another exciting work party this Saturday , March 22 nd. We will be cleaning all the ‘’ B ‘’ troughs and thinning our Chinook & Coho.

Also, if you have a good hand pruner we can start to trim up some of the new growth on the tree stumps from fallen trees of last year.

C U at the gate , 8:15 to 8:30 AM

Cheers Robert

March 9th: We had yet another productive work party at the hatchery yesterday. All of our Chinook are now ponded. We also ponded a few more trays of Coho.

A big thanks to all those that came out, cleaning a huge pile of heath trays is not a whole bunch of fun especially in the rain.

Chinook are in trough’s 1A thru 5A.

Coho are in trough’s 6A & 7A.

MOVING FORWARD

It is time to go on our full feeding schedule starting Monday March 10^th. A feed schedule will be on the table in the lunch room.

We are currently short a few volunteers for feeding , so if anyone wants to join the party, now is your big chance.

As a reminder…………

Feed amounts are based on 12 feedings per day, one feeding every 30 minutes.

Day shift , 9  AM to Noon , Afternoon shift Noon to 3 PM.

Day shift, if you get to the hatchery earlier you can spread the total amount of feed over more feeding’s I.e. , less food more often.

All feeding crews should confirm water flows in the troughs, overflow at the manifold, and an outflow coming out of the incubation room. We will also need to continue to take and record water temperatures as we still have Coho in trays.

Day shift , Record Temperature, confirm water flows, clean troughs, harvest and record mort’s, feed…….Afternoon shift , confirm water flows , feed . Afternoon shift needs to be at the hatchery at noon to spell off the day shift.

As always , be mindful of how the fish are feeding, they may be a bit sluggish in these first few days. As the fish are very small at this time please also be mindful when you clean, you can tilt the bottom black pipe over to clean rather than pulling it all the way out to minimize the stress on the fish.

If you are not able to make your shift please let ME know. If you have questions or concerns please email me or in an emergency call…………

Robert 250-642-1905

Bill 250-642-3443

Cheers Robert

March 5th: Howdy…………. Is everyone all rested up ?

It is time to pond our Chinook…………. We will have a work party this Saturday , March 8 th, 8:30 AM at the hatchery. We will man the gate on Butler Main from 8:15 to 8:30 AM.

Hatchery Phone # 250-642-0031

In addition to ponding the Chinook we may:-

• Burn debris
• Site Clean up
• Fall small Maples / Alders between the lower hatchery and Rocky Creek
• Clean the pots and Pans ETC !

So be there with bells on !

Cheers Robert

Feb 24th:With all this cold weather things have slowed down to a crawl.

Chinook are still at least ten days away from being ponded ( Or more ). There will be the odd Coho tray to pond here and there but nothing earth shattering.

So for now it will be same old same old…………

I was down at the hatchery this morning and it all like fine, just enough snow to look white and it is melting quickly.

Cheers for now R

Feb 7th: We need to clarify the tasks currently to be performed by daily temperature takers.

DO NOT CLEAN TROUGH 3A ! ! ! ! THE CHINOOK IN THIS TROUGH ARE MUCH TOO FRAGILE !

Trough 7A , FEED ONLY , DO NOT CLEAN. You can pick morts in this trough but no cleaning please. The fish are too small at this time.

Thanks R

Feb 5th: Here is the latest from the Hatchery.

We have ponded 3 trays of Coho into Cap trough # 7A. There are two auto feeders set up and the feed amounts are noted on the table in the coffee room. We are currently feeding # 1 Crumb. On the rare occasion that you may need to open a new bag of food , the # 1 Crumb is in the freezer in the coffee room. Please record usage on the Captains Log sheet.

If you need instruction on the use of the auto feeders let me know. We also have some Chinook in Cap Trough # 3 A, these are not fully developed so NO cleaning or Mort Taking at this time. Bill is keeping a close eye on these and when they are a bit more mature we will start cleaning etc.

Also , DO NOT clean trough # 7A just yet, the Coho are too small and sensitive to handle that just now. Morts can be taken carefully and recorded. For the time being we will stay with our temp taking routine at the hatchery. Temp takers please reset the auto feeders on # 7A each morning.

Moving forward, expect………….

Pond Chinook in about two weeks. Full feeding program by March 1 st roughly,

First Derby Meeting of the season tonight.

Cheers Robert

Jan 23rd: We have been contacted by representatives of the Bite Me derby and they would like to come to the Hatchery on Saturday for a bit of a tour and make a presentation of a donation check from proceeds of their derby last summer.

I have arranged to meet them at butler gate at 9AM. It would be nice if a few of our executive could attend and I extend the invitation to all members. But as long as we have maybe 3 or 4 of us should be good. Please let me know if you will attend.

Also coming up:-

We will be cleaning the hatchery, Saturday Feb 1 st , 8:30 AM ,  in anticipation of ponding fish soon thereafter. Cheers R

Jan 5th 2014: Howdy folks………….Here is our schedule moving forward:-

- Directors Meeting , Tuesday Jan 7 th , 7PM

- General Meeting , Wednesday Jan 8 th , 7 PM at the Community Hall

AND …………….Derby Committee Meeting , Wednesday , Feb 5 th , 7PM at Gerry and Maureen’s Chateau by the Sea.

Things are progressing nicely at the hatchery. Chinook hatch in now mostly free swimming in the trays as are the first handful of Coho trays. We will most likely look at getting the Cap Troughs cleaned the last week of Jan or first week of Feb so we are ready for ponding. There are a few other chores to do around the hatchery site but nothing too dramatic.

C U at the meetings later this week.

Cheers Robert

Dec 30th: Good morning all…………..I trust that everyone had a great Christmas and we all lost an average of 3  ½   pounds !

Not much to report at the moment, all our eggs are shocked. Springs have hatched nicely.The first of the Coho are also hatching.

We will keep up with daily temperature taking and will advise on getting the Cap troughs cleaned up ready for ponding in the next few weeks. That’s about it for now ,

Cheers Robert

Dec 15th: Good afternoon all………….Temperatures seem to be headed in the right direction so we will be able to shock some Coho trays on Wednesday , December 18 th.

As the forestry gate has not been open lately we will meet at the gate on Butler Main at 8:30 am and will be there until 8:45. If you end up stuck behind a closed gate after 8:45 am you can try and call the hatchery, 250-642-0031.

And someone might come down and let you in for about $45!!

C U then R

Dec 10th: General Meeting , Dec 11 th , 7 PM , Community hall.

We had tentatively scheduled a work party for this coming Saturday, however with the severe drop in water temp at the hatchery, we will have to put our next round of egg shocking off for a bit. We will let you know when it is re-scheduled.

Cheers R

Nov 25th: We will shock some more Coho trays on …………..Friday November 29 th, 8:30 AM at the hatchery

I will be away from Nov 27 th to Dec 7 th. Bill is back in town and will resume hatchery operations.

If you have any complaints or want to rant about the direction of the society in my absence please contact Bruce Bagley !

Cheers Robert

Nov 15th: Ya Hoo , It’s raining , the fish will be happy.

A small select of very talented volunteers performed a number of tasks today at the hatchery with skillful precision……………OK . everyone stop laughing !

We are all done holding brood stock. We shocked another 3 trays of Coho.

Ate a doughnut or 2. Did some clean up.

Next up

Now that we will not be in the hatchery everyday with mountains of chores, we will need to have water temps take daily. See the attached schedule. 2  sets of keys are now in the lock box at Jacks place.

I would be very grateful that in anyone cannot make their shift that they contact me directly rather that finding a replacement on their own. I have volunteers that would like to be involved in the process.

Next work party will be Sunday , possible shocking some trays , we need to Ovadine the tubes and coolers used to transport Chinook eggs earlier this week. Sweep the floor ,  etc. Coffee and goodies included.

C U then R

Nov 14th: Well……We left this morning in the dark and got back home in the dark !

Had a great trip to Nitnat River Hatchery where we were very well received. We loaded up approximately 250,000 Chinook eggs and transported them to our hatchery. All are safe and sound in trays in the incubation room.

We will have a work party in the morning at the hatchery to deal with the balance of our Coho and shock some trays. 8:30 as usual.

C U Then R

Nov 11th: A good day at the hatchery once again.....Took 2 more female Coho today.

That leaves us with only 3 to go, a couple of which are still nowhere close to mature enough. So we are going to wait until Friday to do our next check on them, this will be their last chance.

We have our AGM Wednesday night , 7 PM.

We have a crew all ready to go to Nitnat on Thursday to pick up our Chinook eggs.

For those of you on the water temp check list as attached, we will start this program on Saturday November 16 th as we will be in the hatchery doing other things between now and then.

Cheers Robert

Nov 9th: We are getting there…………..We took another 5 females today leaving 5 more to go ( Coho ).

We also cleaned 5 stacks of heath trays so we are in good shape moving ahead

Now ……….I want to get this right…………..How about ……………….We take tomorrow off ! Yes you heard it right and no you don’t have time to head to Los Vegas.

Next up will be Monday at the hatchery to check the remaining females and perhaps shock one more tray of Coho.

Pick up of our Chinook eggs from Nitnat has been delayed until Thursday next week.

We will need to get onto a daily Water Temperature check routine by the middle of next week so if you want to put your name on the list let me know.

Let’s not forget to remember our Veterans on Monday.

Cheers Robert

Nov 8th: AGREAT DAYS WORK DONE

9 ruggedly handsome volunteers spent the day at the hatchery and DeMamiel Creek Weir.

We shocked our first 2 trays of Coho Eggs.We opened the Coho Trap on DeMamiel Creek and took 12 very nice females.Along with the fish we took today and the females at the hatchery we ended up taking eggs from 10 females.

We also removed all the boards out of DeMamiel Weir and hauled it all back to the hatchery ( 2 Truck Loads ). So we are all done taking Coho adults from the creek for this year.

Moving forward our Chinook eggs from Nitnat Hatchery will be ready next week so we need to clean 4 or 5 heath tray stacks in preparation.

We will do this on Saturday morning at the hatchery , 8:30 AM, We will also check our remaining females as well.

C U Then

Cheers Robert

Nov 4th: HATCHERY

We will check our females for eggs at the hatchery…..Monday , Wednesday & Friday this week, 8:30 AM at the Hatchery.

MEETINGS

Directors , Tuesday November 5 th

AGM , Wednesday November 13 th , 7 PM community hall

Thanks R

Nov 2nd: Well it looks like this rain has pushed some fish up to the trap on DeMamiel Creek.We will meet at the weir at 8:30 AM Sunday morning to sort thought what is there and perhaps move some fish to the hatchery.

So if you can’t stand to have a day off come and join the fun. R

Oct 31st: We will do another Coho egg take on Saturday at the hatchery .Regular time and place.

C U there, R

Oct 26th: We had a good day in DeMamiel creek today taking about 50 Coho.

We will meet at the hatchery Sunday morning to go through our females and take more eggs. 8:30 AM as usual.

R

Oct 24th: We had a good day in the river today took about 30 + coho and 2 Chinook.

Next up…………..Friday at the hatchery , to run through the females we have on hand and take eggs.

Saturday , we will go into DeMamiel and seine for more adults.8:30 AM both days at the hatchery

R

Oct 22nd: Well…………….

Since the fish are not coming to us , we will go to the fish. We will do a mini brood sein on Thursday Oct 24 th , 8:30 AM at the hatchery. We will load up and head to DeMamiel Creek.There are a bunch of fish stranded in a pool.

Need about a dozen sets of legs , so if you have some time this could be a bunch of fun ! ( I mean Chaos ! ). Hope to see a bunch of you on Thursday.

Cheers Robert

Oct 19th: Good morning

We took another 4 Coho on Friday. We will go through them again on Sunday, 8:30 AM at the hatchery.

We also installed our nice new shiney manifold at the bottom of 1B / 4B, no more skating rink in the winter , Yea !

C U Sunday R

Oct 14th: Good afternoon campers !

We went through all of our female Coho this morning and took eggs from one more. We have 22 more to go.

Next check will be Wednesday morning at the hatchery 8:30 AM.

Not much is happening on DeMamiel creek as water levels keep dropping so we won’t be opening the trap until we see more rain and or fish.

That’s it for now.

Cheers R

Oct 12th: Good afternoon,

Today we took our first Coho eggs from 3 females.Water levels in DeMamiel creek are continuing to fall. We will have a peek at the weir in the morning but there may not be a bunch of activity.

Next biggie will be Monday morning, we will take a quick peek at the weir and then head up to the hatchery and tickle the females to see if any are in the mood. 8:30 AM as usual.

R

Oct 7th: Morning,

How are everyone’s muscles feeling today….?

We will check the Coho trap on DeMamiel Creek Tuesday Morning , 8:30 AM. There was not much activity there today but who knows what tomorrow will bring.

We will also go and retrieve our fish fence components from the side of the river on Wednesday morning. PLEASE meet at the BALLFIELD PARKING LOT at 8:30 AM  BEFORE going down to the river. C U then

R

Oct 6th: We had a good day out on the river today. Thanks to all those that came out to lend a hand.

We did not harvest any Chinook today.

We were fortunate to see John Martin come out and see what we were up too………..

The fish fence came out of the river today , stubbornly ! A bunch of hard work by our group of dedicated volunteers.

Let’s take a day off from it all. We have some Coho in the Hatchery and will look to take more in the coming weeks.

All our gear is still down at Ingrid and John Martins, we will have to get that all back to the hatchery in the next few days. Keep an eye on email for updates.

R

Oct 6th: Howdy………Our next general meeting is………

Oct 9 th , 7 pm at Sooke community hall.

This is our last general meeting before our AGM in November. There are some directors positions up for grabs in November so should you have ideas in this respect , the meeting next week is the time to speak.

Cheers R

Oct 4th: We have been monitoring the Sooke River over the last number of days and conditions are improving daily.We still need the river to drop a bit further but we are hopeful that over the next 48 hours will see conditions that will allow us to work on  the river on Sunday.

So………….aturday , we will do our regular agenda.We will meet in the Park and ride across the street from the corner store and head up to the Sooke River to check our fish fence and have another look at the river.

From there we will go up to our Coho weir on Young’s lake road to open the trap and then head up to the hatchery to load up all the gear we need to take brood stock on Sunday.

Sunday , Oct 6 th , 8:30 AM

Meet for orientation at the high school parking lot and then head up to the Sooke River at 8:45 AM.We are hopeful that conditions will allow us to get in the river.Should we be able to get in the river we should be there into the early afternoon.

Look forward to seeing all of you. If you have any questions , give me a call.

Cheers, Robert

250-642-1905

Oct 2nd: Unfortunately with the continuing rain it will not be possible to get into the river on Saturday to take Chinook brood stock.

The window to possibly do this on Sunday is closing rapidly as the rain would have to stop completely and the sun come out before I finish typing this email. As mentioned keep a keen eye on your email for updates, we will make a decision as to Sunday within the next 48 hours.

We continue to check the trap on the Sooke river each morning and then move up to the trap on DeMamiel to check for Coho.During the week , meet at the ball field parking lot. Weekends , meet at the park and ride lot across from the corner store 8:30 AM.

Next general meeting , Wednesday Oct 9 th , community hall downstairs , 7 PM

Cheers R

Sept. 29th: RAIN RAIN RAIN

Are we all having fun yet !

Latest news………………With the rain we have had over the last few days the Sooke River has risen significantly to a point that it has swamped our fish fence. We will have to wait and see over the next few days if we have to go half way to Japan to retrieve it.

Better news is that there are Coho showing at the weir on DeMamiel. So , moving forward………….

We will have to keep an eye on the trap on the Sooke river , each morning , 8:30 AM , meet at the ball field during the week. We will also look at getting  set up  at the weir on Demamiel on Monday morning  in anticipation of taking Coho brood stock.

Tentatively , conditions permitting , we will look to sein the Sooke River for Chinook this Saturday. IF all conditions are good , please keep an eye on your email for more details as we get past the next couple of days.

Hopefully we will have definitive news in the next 48 hours.

Cheers R

Sept: 22nd. Thanks to all those that came out and helped install the fish fence on the Sooke River this morning.It was a lovely day on the water………

Bruce gets a 9 . 6 for his dive into the river

Gerry only gets an 8.1

Dam Russian Judge !

All in all a good days work; 16 volunteers. Thanks all

The fish fence is in the water so we will have to check for fish each morning 8:30 AM at the ball field  each morning to go and check the trap at John & Ingrid Martins. Look for the hatchery truck and pitch in if you are interested. Brood stock take should place in the next two weeks , so no more holidays to the tropics unless you check with me first !

Cheers Robert

Sept. 17th. Good morning campers…… We will have a few things to do this week as follows