March 13th:

Hello Fish Friends,

The SSES general meeting will be held at 7:00PM on Tuesday, March 19 at the Charters River Salmon Interpretive Centre.  

Attached for your information are the minutes of the February 20 general meeting.

Also, we wanted to let you know that we will be having a guest speaker, Jessica Boquist.  Jessica is the Parks and Environmental Services Coordinator with the District of Sooke, and she will be giving us a presentation on Bohemian Knotweed, one of the most invasive plant species in the world.  Her presentation will focus on the plant's characteristics, why it is so invasive, where it is found locally, and what can be done to prevent its spread. 

If you are interested in invasive species and how this particular plant may affect your favourite wetland, creek or river area on the Westshore, this is a presentation you will not want to miss. 

As a courtesy to other volunteers,  please remember to:

Hope to see you there!

Sally Manning, Secretary 
Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society
Sooke River Jack Brooks Hatchery

Feb 2nd: Hello Volunteers!

Come one, come all!  What you’ve all been waiting for - it’s happening!  

We will be ponding our lovely little fry into troughs and tanks on Saturday, February 10.  Things are set to start at 8:30 a.m., but come a bit earlier if you want coffee before we get going.   No experience is needed and duties will be assigned at the hatchery.

For those of you who have not taken part in ponding before, this means that we will be taking trays from the Incubator Room and depositing the fry into designated troughs and tanks.  This process requires many volunteers who will perform the following tasks:

There will be coffee and goodies in the office if you need a break to warm up.

Note:  We have a number of chest waders available at the hatchery, but please bring your own if you have them - be prepared to get wet.

Please stay tuned in case conditions change and we need to adjust the scheduled day.   We look forward to seeing your smiling faces soon!  

Sally Manning, Secretary 
Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society
Sooke River Jack Brooks Hatchery

Jan 23rd: Hello Hatchery Members,

I know that some of you have been wondering when we will be ponding the fish.  Due to the low temperatures in recent weeks and the effect they have had on the ATUs, I have been advised that the date for that is probably at least three to four weeks away.

Please feel free to email me should you have any questions.

Sally Manning, Secretary 
Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society
Sooke River Jack Brooks Hatchery

Jan 12th: Hello Fellow Fish Lovers,

Ponding of our fry has already begun!  This means that the fish have reached the stage where they are gradually being moved from the Inc Room trays into the troughs and tanks which take up a large part of the Hatchery space.

Once fry are all ponded, our feeding schedule will begin.  Teams of 2-3 (with alternates in case of illness) are required for both morning and afternoon sessions, seven days per week.  Feeding of a measured amount of “crumb” food is given every half hour.  Morning session runs 9am until noon.  Afternoon session runs noon until 3pm

If you would like to be a part of the feeding schedule, even as an alternate, please respond to this mail with your preferred day for participation.  You will be trained, (or given a refresher!) during the first week of feeding.  We will do our best to accommodate everyone’s preferences.

As always, your help is greatly appreciated.

Also, commencing in February, the date for our monthly general meetings is being changed to the third Tuesday of every month. 

Sally Manning, Secretary 
Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society
Sooke River Jack Brooks Hatchery

Jan 7th 2024: Hello Members,

The regular monthly SSES general meeting will be held at 7:00PM on Wednesday, January 10 at the Charters River Salmon Interpretive Centre.  

Attached for your reference are the minutes of the November general meeting.

Gentle reminder - Membership fees are now past due, and given that they are still a paltry $10, it’s a bargain!  So if you have not yet paid your fees for membership, you can either bring your funds to the meeting or send an e-transfer through your financial institution to  sookeriverjbhatchery@shaw.ca .

SPECIAL NOTE:   If you are the last person to leave the hatchery, please remember to lock all doors/gates as you leave.  Thanks in advance.

See you Wednesday!

Sally Manning, Secretary 
Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society
Sooke River Jack Brooks Hatchery

Dec 24th: Hello Volunteers,

We will be shocking eggs and picking the bad ones on Friday, December 29 starting at 8:30 a.m. We are expecting to do 8-10 trays.

Again, as a reminder, since COVID is once again on the rise and we will be working in close quarters, please wear a mask when you come to volunteer on Friday in consideration of everyone’s well-being.

Thank you for volunteering!

Sally, Secretary 
Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society
Sooke River Jack Brooks Hatchery

Dec 17th; Hello Volunteers,

The next group of trays  for picking will be ready on Friday, December 22 starting at 8:30 a.m.

Again, as a reminder, since COVID is once again on the rise and we will be working in close quarters, please wear a mask when you come to volunteer in consideration of everyone’s wellbeing.

Sally, Secretary 
Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society
Sooke River Jack Brooks Hatchery

:Dec 14th: Hello Volunteers,

We will be shocking fish and picking bad eggs this Sunday, December 17 starting at 8:30 a.m.  We are expecting to do about 10 trays.

Again, as a reminder, s ince COVID is once again on the rise and we will be working in close quarters, please wear a mask when you come to volunteer on Sunday in consideration of everyone’s wellbeing.

Thanks,

Sally, Secretary 
Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society
Sooke River Jack Brooks Hatchery

Dec 12th: Dear Volunteers,

Since COVID is once again on the rise and we will be working in close quarters, please wear a mask when you come to volunteer at the hatchery on Thursday in consideration of everyone’s wellbeing.

Thank you,

Sally, Secretary 

Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society

Sooke River Jack Brooks Hatchery

Dec 11th: Hello all you wonderful hatchery volunteers!

Bill advises that there will be eight trays of shocked Coho eggs to pick over on Thursday morning, December 14. Picking to start at 8:30, but come earlier if you’d like to chat and have coffee.

Sally, Secretary 

Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society

Sooke River Jack Brooks Hatchery

Dec 5th: Hello Members,

The regular monthly SSES general meeting will be held at 7:00PM on Wednesday, December 13 at the Charters River Salmon Interpretive Centre.  Gentle reminder - Membership fees are now due, and given that they are still a paltry $10, it’s a bargain!  You either can bring your funds to the meeting or send an e-transfer through your financial institution to  sookeriverjbhatchery@shaw.ca .

Attached for your reference are the minutes of the November general meeting.

SPECIAL NOTE:  Yet another gentle reminder - if you are the last person to leave the hatchery, please remember to lock all doors/gates as you leave.  Thanks in advance.

Dec 4th: Hello SSES Fish Lovers,

We’re going to be picking out unfertilized eggs from shocked Coho trays on Friday morning. Start time, as usual, is 8:30, but you can come earlier around 8:15 if you want coffee and conversation before we start.

For those who haven’t been part of the shocking process, here’s the relationship between ATUs (and what they are) and the shocking process:

When broodstock are collected and the first female is harvested for eggs, we record the water temperature on a daily basis, adding Day 1’s temperature to Day 2’s temperature and so on. The result is called the Accumulated Thermal Temperature or ATU.

When eggs are at the eyed stage at a specific ATU (which is different for Chinook and Coho), they are physically shocked so that the infertile and dead eggs turn milky or white, and they can be easily separated from the fertilized healthy ones. This process is accomplished by agitating the eggs enough to affect the membrane in the infertile and dead eggs. This allows the water which has entered the eggs to coagulate the yolk which turn them cloudy or white. Eggs are agitated at the hatchery by pouring them from a designated height into pail containing water.

Once this is done, the eggs are poured into basins, and the basins are distributed to volunteers who pick out the “bad” eggs which will be discarded so that only good fertilized eggs are put back into the incubation trays and left to continue their maturation to hatching.

Sally

Dec 1st: Hello Members,

The last broodstock female Coho will be taken in the next few days. Thanks to all who helped over the last few weeks.

Stand by for a email soon, calling for volunteers to clean troughs ahead of ponding.

Sally, Secretary 

Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society

Sooke River Jack Brooks Hatchery

Nov 20th: Good Morning, Fish Lovers!

Today’s delivery of the Nitinat Chinook eggs will arrive between 12:30 & 1:00 p.m.  Again, help is needed in transferring them to trays in the Inc Room.  

If you want to pay your membership fees then, please put your (paltry) $10 in an envelope marked with your name on, a note that identifies that you are paying your membership fees, and place the sealed envelope in the treasurer’s clear acrylic “box” on the wall under the window close to the fridge.

Thanks in advance, folks & see you on Wednesday evening for two - count them, two - meetings starting at 7:00 p.m.

Update: A big thank you to the volunteers who were able to come out to the hatchery to help tuck 250,740 prospective Chinook babies into bed in 50-plus incubation trays this afternoon.Well done!

Sally, Secretary 

Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society

Sooke River Jack Brooks Hatchery

Nov 18th: Hello all you fish lovers,

The general meeting for November will take place on Wednesday, November 22 at 7:00 p.m., with the 2023 AGM following immediately afterward.  As usual, the meetings will take place at the Charters River Salmon Interpretive Centre just up the driveway from the hatchery.

Membership dues for 2023/2024 are payable at the meeting .   However, should you wish, you may pay your dues prior to the meeting by sending $10 in an e-transfer to  sookeriverjbhatchery@shaw.ca .  Please note in the e-transfer comment line “Payment of SSES membership dues.”   And remember that the dues entitle you to loads of fun at the hatchery!

Please note:  For those who joined in September and October, the dues you paid are good for 2023/24.

See you on the 22nd at 7:00 p.m.  

Sally, Secretary 

Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society

Sooke River Jack Brooks Hatchery

Nov 17th: Hi Everyone,

We will be receiving our annual “crop” of shocked eggs from Nitinat Hatchery on Monday, November 20 some time between noon and 1:00 p.m.  We will need volunteers to help receive them and transfer them to incubator trays.  We typically receive approximately 250,000 eggs, so a good turnout would be great.

Hope to see you on Monday at the hatchery!

UPDATE

I’ve just had word from Bill that “they (the Nitinat folks)  will be loading them about 10 am, so they will likely be here from 1:00pm on, depending on road conditions.”

If things change, I’ll let you know, so stay close to your email.

See you soon, fish lovers!

Sally, Secretary 

Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society

Sooke River Jack Brooks Hatchery

Nov 5th: Good Afternoon Fellow Fish Lovers,

The general meeting for November will take place on Wednesday, November 22 at 7:00 p.m., and the 2023 AGM will follow immediately afterward.  As usual, the meetings will take place at the Charters River Salmon Interpretive Centre just up the driveway from the hatchery.

Membership dues for 2023/2024 are payable at the meeting.  A reminder that the dues are a paltry $10 and entitle you to loads of fun at the hatchery!  Should you wish, you may pay your dues prior to the meeting by sending $10 in an e-transfer to sookeriverjbhatchery@shaw.ca .  Please note in the e-transfer comment line payment of SSES membership.

Please note:  For those who joined in September and October, the dues you paid are good for 2023/24.

See you on the 22nd at 7:00 p.m.  

Sally, Secretary 

Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society

Sooke River Jack Brooks Hatchery

Oct 20th: Folks,

The coho have finally arrived up De Mamiel Creek so tomorrow Saturday Oct 21 we meet at the hatchery at 8:30 am.

We need to put the tank on the truck, fill it with water, hook up the compressor, get waders, garbage cans, nets and 27 other things.

See you there.

Bryan Manning 

Directoe SSES

Oct 11th: Folks,

There will be work this coming Saturday to:

- Haul the remainder of the Sooke River fence back to the hatchery - 4 wheel drive trucks please

- install boards at De Mamiel Weir.

The work should take less the 2 hours.See you at the hatchery at 8:30 am

Bryan Manning 

Directoe SSES

Oct 8th: Folks,

After yesterday we took a lot of female chinook and after going through all our fish this morning at the hatchery we find ourselves short of males.

So tomorrow Monday October 9 we are going to net/mini-seine some males - we NEED our members to help out by showing up at the hatchery at 8:30 - we’ll supply waders, nets, etc but we need to get more males. If we fail then we’ll have no choice but to release females.

Please help us out - the time frame is about 2 hours.

Bryan Manning 

Directoe SSES

Oct 5th:

Greetings to all SSES members,

As we prepare for the seining day this Saturday on the Sooke River, we realize that there are many tasks, regular and periodic, that need your help after this fall’s seining harvest. These include;

- daily checking and harvesting of chinook from the tanks at the hatchery

- daily checking and sorting of the eggs in the trays in the Inc room

- setting up the trap and dam at Demamiel Creek

- daily checking and transport of coho from Demamiel to the hatchery

- daily checking and harvesting of coho from the tanks at the hatchery

- periodic shocking of both chinook and coho eggs

It would be very helpful if you could volunteer some of your time each week to help with these tasks. Similar to the feeding schedule we set up after the fry have been ponded, we want to set up a work schedule for each day of the week.

The work involves about 1-3 hours each morning 7 days a week. We need a maximum of 8 people each day allowing for periodic absences due to sickness or prior commitments etc.

If you can’t commit to one morning a week, perhaps you can indicate which days you are available or we can put you on a back-up list in case we are short staffed any one day.

If you could get back to me with your preferred day(s), we’ll make up and publish the schedule similar to the feeding schedule so everyone knows who’s expected and when.

Please be aware we are asking you for a commitment for October, November and December.

We really appreciate your willingness to help and look forward to your responses.

Regards,

Andt Schell , President  

Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society

Sept 25th: Hello all you fish lovers!

We are planning to seine for Chinook broodstock on Saturday, October 7.  However, this depends on the weather and amount of rain we get over the next 10 days or so.  If we get a lot of rain this week, we may have to call for an early seining this Saturday, September 30, so everyone should be prepared in case the plan changes.

To get there:  Drive down Sooke River Road about 1.8 km to Fisherman’s Way, turn left and continue left down a gravel road, continue past all houses, through the gate in the white fence to a large cut grass area in the flats off to your left.

If you have non-members in your vehicle, they must sign in at arrival at the gate where there will be two volunteers with sign-in sheets.  We need name and phone number of all non-members so that our they will be covered by our insurance.

Park anywhere on the grassed area BUT NOT ON THE ROAD!!!  The roadway must be kept clear so the hatchery truck can travel to the hatchery with fish and back to the site to collect fish.  A volunteer member will direct you to park you vehicle.  Please park close to other vehicles so that there is room for all to park.

Plan on arriving at the site at 8:30 a.m.  Seining will start at 9:00 a.m.

There are no toilet facilities at the site.  There will be a limited supply of chest waders from the hatchery, but if you have your own, please bring them.

 

MEMBERS:  We need members to keep the fish moving from the seining net to the tanks.  (The fish are the priority, so please no photo-ops or enjoying the scenery.)

 

DIVERS:  Gordie Fulcher will be co-ordinating the diving activities.

 

We look forward to a successful seining, and we really appreciate your help in collecting the broodstock!

Sally, Secretary 

Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society

Sooke River Jack Brooks Hatchery

Sept 20: Hello Fish Lovers,

Broodstock taking entirely depends on the weather and whether those Chinook are moving up the river to the pools where we seine.  

As of today, we are hoping that we will be taking broodstock on Saturday, October 7 (Thanksgiving weekend).  However, if the weather changes (i.e., rain) and  if  we see lots of fish, we may be taking broodstock on Saturday, September 30.

Members who have wet suits (and perhaps fins) are invited to help in the river when we do take fish.  Others who can help in the river wearing waders are encouraged to do so; waders will be available at the hatchery when we take fish.  I will endeavour to contact non-members who have helped before, but if you have friends who have helped previously, please let them know what’s going on.

I’m happy to answer questions; you can call me on my mobile at (250) 884-6767 or email me at the SSES email address.  Stay tuned.  We’ll let you know as soon as we know.

Sept 12: Hello One and All,

We will be putting the fence in the river on Saturday, September 16.   Please arrive at the hatchery at (or before) 8:30AM so that all the gear can be loaded in trucks to take down to the river.  A convoy will then head to the river where work will begin.  

For those members who are new to the SSES, we use a“fence” in the Sooke River to prevent fish from getting up river.  Along with the fence, there is a “cage” which allows fish to enter but not exit.  The cage is checked every day until we do our broodstock taking later in the month, but that’s a whole other story.  You might want to come to tomorrow’s meeting at 7:00PM to learn more.  The meeting is held at the Charters River Salmon Interpretive Centre, just up the road from the hatchery.

This work party is labour intensive, so if you are able and willing to do some tough work this Saturday, come out to give a hand.  Many hands make light work.  (I’m sure your mother told you that, right?)

Feel free either to email me or call me (250 884-6767) should you have any questions.

We look forward to seeing you on Saturday morning.

Sally, Secretary 

Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society

Sooke River Jack Brooks Hatchery

Sept. 9th: Hello One & All,

Wednesday, September 13 at 7:00 p.m. is the date for the first general meeting of the New Fish Year to be held at the Charters River Salmon Interpretive Centre at 2895 Sooke River Road … just metres further along from the Sooke River Jack Brooks Hatchery.  But of course you knew that, didn’t you?

Come along to hear exciting hatchery news, along with plans for putting the fence in the river, and possible dates for broodstock taking.  

And welcome to the new members who have joined over the summer months!  New blood - yay!

Hope to see you there!

Sally, Secretary 

Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society

Sooke River Jack Brooks Hatchery 

June 21st: Hello,

Thank you to the hardy fellows who came out to help at Bradford.  Bill says, "Great job on the broom and grass and removing the blockage from [Bucky] Beaver's work."

Stay tuned for more messages about work parties - there’s always something to do at the hatchery during the summer. 

Sally, Secretary 

Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society

Sooke River Jack Brooks Hatchery 

June 17th: Hello (Work) Partiers!

Please meet at the hatchery at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, June 20 for a work party taking place at Bradford dam.  If you have them, please bring a gas-powered weed eater and a rake.  Bill will be renting a billy-goat (NOT a live one!) for the heavy work.

IMPORTANT :  The plan is to leave from the hatchery at approximately 8:45 in a convoy.  Access to Bradford is at the end of Clark Road where there is a locked gate.  If you’re late and miss the convoy, chances are you won’t get into the work party because of the gate.  Expect to be there until about noon, and leaving the site will also be in a convoy also because of the gate.

It will be good to get this work done, so come along if you can.

Sally, Secretary 

Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society

Sooke River Jack Brooks Hatchery 

June 7th: Good Day,

I know how you were looking forward to a (work) party at Bradford this weekend, and I’m sorry to disappoint you, but we will NOT be going to Bradford to do maintenance until the extreme dry conditions improve.

So, take the weekend off … heck take three days off, kick back, and enjoy the weather! ☀ ️  

Sally, Secretary 

Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society

Sooke River Jack Brooks Hatchery 

May 31st: Hi Everyone,

Thanks to all who helped in setting the boys & girls free to fend for themselves in the wild.   The hatchery is now empty.

From Bill - the totals for this year's release:

 

And here’s the good news:  Bill has given everyone the weekend off, no doubt for good behaviour!  There will not be a work party at Bradford this weekend, but please stay tuned for an email next week about going to Bradford for some maintenance work on the valve at the dam and clearing the broom, etc.

As usual, there will be work parties taking place during the summer months, so watch your email for information on those.

In the meantime, put your feet up and relax … until next time.

Sally, Secretary 

Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society

Sooke River Jack Brooks Hatchery 

May 27th: Hello Fish Loving Volunteers!

You did us proud today - four trips of Chinook to the Pot Holes with about 115,000 little ones released to fend for themselves.  Bill wants to empty out the hatchery on Wednesday, May 31 starting at 8:30am.

Bradford:  Bill is hoping to get a work party together  next Saturday, June 3 to go to Bradford to clean up the grass, broom, etc.  As soon as Bill gives me a heads up, I’ll send a more detailed email, so stay tuned for that.

And finally, thanks to the 15+ of you who came out to today’s work party.

Sally, Secretary 

Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society

Sooke River Jack Brooks Hatchery 

May 25th: We’ll be at it again at 8:30am on Saturday, May 26 to release some of our Chinook fry.

By the way, yesterday we released all of the Coho to Young Lake.

So if you have some time on Saturday morning, please come and help out for a couple of hours.

Sally, Secretary 

Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society

Sooke River Jack Brooks Hatchery 

May 20th: Hello Fish Lovers!

Thank you to the volunteers who came out this morning to set some of our little guys & gals free.  Seventeen folks - both young and old(er) - came out to lend a hand today.  We made three trips to the Potholes and released 45,000 Chinook in total this morning.   

We will be doing another round of releasing fish this coming week on  Wednesday, May 24 and  Saturday, May 27 starting at 8:30am.  Please come along if you can spare some time on these days.  As the saying goes:  many hands make light work.

Paige & Joshua brought a Tim Hortons Coffee Box (a lot of coffee in a dispenser box) and Timbits for the volunteers.  Thank you!

Thank you for the work you do and your dedication to raising Chinook and Coho.  See you on Wednesday!  And, as usual, stay tuned for more updates by email.

Sally, Secretary 

Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society

Sooke River Jack Brooks Hatchery 

May 15th: Hello Fish Lovers,

Come one, come all for an exciting Saturday morning’s work because we will be releasing some fry from the hatchery this  Saturday, May 20.

So, if you have some time on Saturday morning -  start time is 8:30 a.m.  Coffee and chat will be on at about 8:00.   See you there!

Sally, Secretary 

Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society

Sooke River Jack Brooks Hatchery

P.S.  We have waders in many sizes for those who may (will) get wet ☔️…  what fun!

May 9th: Hello Fellow Fish Lovers,

Bill has advised that due to the place where we release the Chinook being paved at the Potholes, we will not be moving fish out of the hatchery on Wednesday, but we will do so on Thursday morning.   So, if you have some time on Thursday morning - start time is 8:30 - 9:00 a.m. - come out and give a hand.  Coffee and chat will be on at about 8:00.

I apologize for any inconvenience caused but hope to see you on Thursday morning to set some of those little guys & gals free.

Sally, Secretary 

Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society

Sooke River Jack Brooks Hatchery

P.S.  General meeting on Wednesday evening at 7:00 p.m. is still on.

May 8th: Hello Fish Lovers,

We will be moving some Chinook and Coho out of the hatchery on Wednesday morning.  Bill advises that we will try to make three trips to release both Chinook and Coho.  The Chinook are released just up Sooke River Road at the Potholes, while the Coho are released into Young Lake at Camp Barnard, the Boy Scout camp off of Otter Point Road.

So, if you have some time on Wednesday morning - start time is 8:30 - 9:00 a.m. - come out and give a hand.  Coffee and chat will be on at about 8:00. 

And, of course, there’s the general meeting on Wednesday also at the Interpretative Centre starting at 7:00 p.m.

See you there!

Sally, Secretary 

Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society

Sooke River Jack Brooks Hatchery

May 5th Hello Fellow Fish Lovers!

The SSES May general meeting will be held at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, May 10 at the JdFRS Interpretative Centre just up the driveway from the hatchery.  Come and get updated on Chinook, Coho, and hatchery goings-on.

Hope to see you there!

Sally, Secretary 

Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society

Sooke River Jack Brooks Hatchery

April 12: Hello Members,

Bill has asked that members turn out for a work party starting at 8:30 a.m. this Saturday, April 15 to  move fry around,  and because all of our Coho are ponded now, we can clean their 76 trays as well.  

It can be wet work, so rain pants/jackets or fishing gear is appropriate wear, and the old adage “many hands make light work” holds true.

Come earlier if you want coffee, cookies, and conversation in the office.

Sally, Secretary 

Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society

Sooke River Jack Brooks Hatchery

April 10: Hello Members,

There will be no general meeting this month.

Please stay tuned for an upcoming work party at the hatchery.  As the fry grow, they will get stressed if they are crowded, so we start “thinning” them out and moving them mostly into the tanks that are now empty.  They are much happier when they have more room to swim about with their buddies.

Saturday’s opening celebration was attended by about 100 (maybe 150) hardy folks.  There was a program of (short!) speeches by various dignitaries including Chief Gordon Planes; Mike Hicks (retired JdF CRD director); Al Wickheim, Juan de Fuca CRD Director; Councillor Kevin Pearson (who stood in for Mayor Maja Tait); Jim Shinkewski, Pacific Salmon Foundation; Wes Shoemaker, Fisheries & Oceans Canada; John Horgan; and our fearless president, Andy Schell.  The Lions and Village Food Markets provided hot dogs, sandwiches, baked goodies, and both hot & cold beverages.  Guests had an opportunity to tour the hatchery and the interpretive centre and ask questions of our hatchery guides who were more than happy to show them around.  And even though the weather was cool, it didn’t pour buckets of rain, so all in all, it was a good afternoon.

Sincere thanks to the volunteers - parking lot, guest & VIP registration, hatchery guide, clean up, and first aid - who worked at the event.  You did a ** stellar ** job …and made everything work flawlessly!

So take Wednesday evening off and stay tuned for news about that work party.

Sally, Secretary 

Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society

Sooke River Jack Brooks Hatchery

April 5: Hello Members,

If you are not volunteering on Saturday and wish to go to the event, please be aware that there is absolutely no parking at the hatchery.  There are, however, several parking lots where you can park and take one of the shuttle busses that will be running continually to the hatchery from noon to 5:00 p.m.  The parking lots are: l

There will be SSES volunteers in red volunteer teeshirts stationed at each of these lots to assist with traffic, parking, and the busses.  There will be clearly marked HATCHERY PARKING and  BUS STOP signs at the lots.  

Once you arrive at the event, please check in at the REGISTRATION tent, get a name tag, and then proceed down the driveway to the hatchery.  Speeches are scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m. with the program lasting approximately thirty minutes.  The Lions will be cooking up hot dogs, and there will also be sandwiches and goodies provide by Village Food Markets.

Sally, Secretary 

Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society

Sooke River Jack Brooks Hatchery

Mar 5: Hi Members,

A huge thank you to everyone who came out to help with ponding the Chinook fry yesterday - cleaning troughs and tanks, loading trays of fry into the dollies, transporting fry to troughs & tanks, depositing the fry into their new homes, power-washing trays, fine-tune cleaning trays & screens, reassembling trays and putting them back in the incubator room.  Also thanks for being willing to get wet, because many of us did!

From Bill (who always supervises us is his kind manner):  “… that was the most (270,000) Chinook in one day that we have done, and the 115 trays is by far the most trays in one day that we have ever done.  Good job everyone.”

Thanks again, and we look forward to seeing you on Wednesday at the general meeting.

Sally, Secretary 

Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society

Sooke River Jack Brooks Hatchery

Feb 25: Hello Members,

Bill has advised that we will be ponding our fry on Saturday, March 4 starting at 8:30 a.m.   We'll start with cleaning the troughs and tanks, then start ponding into them.  At the same time we will also start cleaning the trays.   All the Sooke River Chinook are ponded, and  we have started to pond our first Cohos.

This is one of the “main events” of the year, so it would be great to have a good turnout; the old adage that many hands make light work holds true.  There will be coffee and cookies, too!

See you there.

Kindest regards, 

Sally, Secretary

Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society

Sooke River Jack Brooks Hatchery

Feb 5th: Hello!

The SSES monthly general meeting will be held at the Charters Creek Salmon Interpretive Centre (just up the driveway from the hatchery) on Wednesday, February 8 at 7:00 p.m.

I apologize for several errors that I made in a previous message to members regarding the dates for SSES general meeting dates.  General meetings are regularly scheduled for the second Wednesday of the month at 7:00 p.m.  Please revise your calendars accordingly for revised dates for upcoming meetings as follows:

.An agenda for the meeting will be emailed early in the week.  We look forward to seeing you on Wednesday.

Sally Manning, Secretary

Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society

Sooke River Jack Brooks Hatchery

Jan 12th: Hello!

Thanks to everyone who came out this morning to pick over the last remaining trays of Coho eggs.  Something new was tried with these last trays … they were shocked yesterday.

As volunteers who are familiar with the shocking process know, eggs often “turn” after they have been shocked, so the result of shocking yesterday was that these eggs “turned” yesterday, so there was none of that happening this morning when we picked out the bad eggs.  This made the process of picking eggs a little faster.  So, well done to the “shockers” yesterday!

Also, thanks to the fellas who moved the bags of food into the Feed Room.  We received several pallets yesterday, so once again, many hands make light work.

Now we wait for the little guys to be ponded, and then feeding will start.  Stay tuned for that information.

🐟  Sally, SSES Secretary

Jan 11th: Hi Everyone,

We will be shocking the last 11 trays of Coho eggs tomorrow morning starting at 8:30 a.m.  All are welcome and we can have a celebratory coffee to mark the end of shocking!

Hope to see you then.

🐟  Sally, SSES Secretary

Jan 9th: Good Afternoon!

General Meeting - Wednesday, January 11 at 7:00 p.m.

There will be an in-person meeting on Wednesday, January 11 at our usual time of 7:00 p.m. at the Charters Creek Salmon Interpretive Centre - just up the road from the SSES Sooke River Jack Brooks Hatchery (aka, the Hatchery).  Expect minutes from the November meeting, a hatchery update, information about feeding, financial update, and and all sorts of new business.

Meetings tend to last thirty minutes or so, so you can probably get home in time to watch your favourite TV program.

Any questions?  Please either email me or call me on my cell phone at (250) 884-6767.  See you soon!

🐟  Sally, SSES Secretary

Jan 7th: This message is all about another volunteer opportunity at the hatchery.

Bill advises that we will be ponding fry around the end of the month, and that means that we will need volunteers to feed the fry.

Feeders are required both morning and afternoon, seven days every week from ponding to release into local waters in late spring.  The job description for each shift is as follows:

• Morning Shift - 9:00 a.m. to noon :

• Afternoon Shift - noon to 3:00 p.m. :

Job perks :  Camaraderie with other volunteers, coffee, tea, hot chocolate and cookies!

On site training will be given for those who have never done this job.  The  job is easy to learn and none of the work is hard to do, but it also requires continuous volunteering every week from ponding until we release the fry.  Please see the attached schedule for openings.

Should you have any questions, feel free either to call me on my cell - (250) 884-6767 - or email me at the above address, and I’ll do my best to answer them.

Thanks in advance for your volunteerism (in any way you can), and as the saying goes,  many hands make light work.

🐟  Sally, SSES Secretary

Jan 6th: Hello!

A big thank you to the volunteers who came out to the hatchery on Thursday morning to shock Coho eggs.  We did 14 trays of the little eyed guys & gals.  

Next Shocking Event

Bill tells me that there are only 12 trays left to be shocked.  The water temperature has been hovering around 4.5°C for the past few days, so with 32 ATUs left to gain before that can happen, there will be a few more days to go before we will have another shocking event.  ATU stands for Accumulated Thermal Units.  This is the method we use to predict when our salmon eggs will hatch, as well as keep track of the progress of our eggs.

Now, for our most welcome newbies, why do we shock the eggs and how do we shock them?  Shocking is done when the eggs develop eyes, and the process affects the infertile and dead eggs so they can be easily separated from the fertile healthy ones.  The shocking process is accomplished by agitating the eggs enough to affect the membrane in the unfertilized eggs which then coagulates the yolks and turns the eggs cloudy or white.  The “bad” eggs are removed from the trays so that the healthy eggs can continue to grow and then hatch.

General Meeting - Wednesday, January 11 at 7:00 p.m.

There will be an in-person meeting on Wednesday, January 11 at our usual time of 7:00 p.m. at the Charters Creek Salmon Interpretive Centre - just up the road from the SSES Sooke River Jack Brooks Hatchery (aka, the Hatchery).  Expect minutes from the November meeting, a hatchery update, information about feeding, financial update, and perhaps even new business.

Meetings tend to last thirty minutes or so, so you can probably get home in time to watch your favourite TV program.

Any questions?  Please either email me or call me on my cell phone at (250) 884-6767.  See you soon!

🐟  Sally, SSES Secretary

Jan 1st, 2023: Happy New Year!

Just a quick reminder that we will be shocking more Coho trays on Thursday, January 5, starting at 8:30 a.m.  Bill informs me that there will be approximately 14 trays to be done.

Also, remember the presentation on salmon egg development and incubation tomorrow, Wednesday, January 4 at 11 am, at the Charters River Salmon Interpretive Centre.  The guest speaker will be Ted Sweeten, an aquatic technologist with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans at the Pacific Biological Station in Nanaimo.

🐟  Sally, SSES Secretary

Dec 31: Happy New Year!

Just letting you know that we will be shocking more Coho trays on Thursday, January 5, starting at 8:30 a.m.  Bill informs me that there will be approximately 14 trays to be done.

And remember  the presentation on salmon egg development and incubation on Wednesday, January 4 at 11 am at the Charters River Salmon Interpretive Centre.  The guest speaker will be Ted Sweeten, an aquatic technologist with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans at the Pacific Biological Station in Nanaimo.

Hope to see you at both events!

🐟  Sally, SSES Secretary

Dec 29:

Thank you to the volunteers who came out to help with shocking the 15 trays of Coho this morning!  There will be more trays to shock some time next week, so if you were unable to come this morning, perhaps we’ll see you after the New Year.

Some talk around the table this morning was about people choosing just to use their mobile phones instead of landlines.  So, if you’re one of those folks, please advise me of your phone number so I can update the membership list.  

Oh, and speaking of membership, if you still haven’t renewed your membership and are planning on doing it, please do so very soon.  As mentioned before, in several messages, membership dues are still a paltry $10 per year.  Payment of dues can be made by one of the following methods:

e-transfer to  sookeriverjbhatchery@shaw.ca ,

Paying your membership dues entitles you to be a volunteer at any of the SSES events along with coverage under our insurance (if you’re under the age of 85) should you have a mishap while volunteering, and you'll receive up-to-date information about meetings, work parties, and other goings-on.  

Thanks in advance for your attention to this matter.  We look forward to receiving your $10 dues

Sally, SSES Secretary

P.S.  Also remember the presentation  on salmon egg development and incubation on Wednesday, January 4 at 11 am at the Charters River Salmon Interpretive Centre.  The guest speaker will be Ted Sweeten, an aquatic technologist with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans at the Pacific Biological Station in Nanaimo.

Dec 26: Happy Boxing Day!

Just letting you know that we will be shocking this Thursday, December 29, starting at 8:30.

Bill informs me that there will be 10+ trays to shock, as well as this:

Hope to see you on Thursday.  Remember if you want coffee, come earlier. 

Sally, SSES Secretary

P.S. The cookie supply has been replenished.

Dec 25:

A presentation has been arranged for members of the SSES on salmon egg development and incubation on Wednesday January 04th at 11 am at the Charters River Salmon Interpretive Centre.

Whether you are a new member or one who has been at the hatchery for many years you are invited to join us for this presentation, followed by questions and discussion, on an aspect of the salmon life cycle often shrouded in mystery, behind hatchery doors or in the gravel beds of streams and rivers.

Our guest speaker will be Ted Sweeten, an aquatic technologist with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans at the Pacific Biological Station in Nanaimo. Ted has been working with salmon reproduction for many years and has considerable knowledge, experience and research in all aspects of salmon production including broodstock selection and care,egg growth and incubation, and measures to detect and prevent disease and early mortality.

We look forward to seeing you there on the 4th. Should you have any questions, please contact Ian Waugh who has arranged this presentation.

Sally Manning, Secretary

Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society

Sooke River Jack Brooks Hatchery

Dec 23: Good Afternoon,

Just a heads-up for your calendars,  we are planning on having in-person meetings at the Charters Creek Salmon Interpretive Centre on the second Wednesdays starting in January 2023.  The tentative schedule is as follows:

  No meetings are held in July and August.

General meetings are a good place to learn what is going on at the Society and include a hatchery report as well as other items of interest.  Meetings start at 7:00 p.m., and business is conducted in a timely fashion, with meetings rarely running an hour.  The interpretive centre is located at 2895 Sooke River Road … the last building on the driveway, just up from the hatchery.

We look forward to seeing you in January for the meeting, and I will send a reminder message several days prior to the meeting.  Also, you will receive another message about shocking Coho which, according to Bill, will probably happen next week - stay tuned.

In the meantime, enjoy the holiday ✨🤶 🏻💫 season, and stay safe & warm.

Sally Manning, Secretary

Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society

Sooke River Jack Brooks Hatchery

Dec 19: Hello,

Thanks to the members who were able to come to the hatchery for shocking of Coho.  We did 13 or 14 trays - I lost count - and Bill advises that the next shocking event will be in a week or so.  He has promised me that it won’t happen on Christmas, and I will keep you informed as soon as he tells me.

Wishing you a Happy Christmas,

Sally Manning, Secretary

Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society

Sooke River Jack Brooks Hatchery

Dec 15: Hello,

We will be shocking ten trays of Coho on Monday morning starting at 8:30.

For those who have never shocked eggs, this is how and why this process is done:

• When the eggs in a tray have reached a certain ATU number (in the incubator room), the tray is taken out of the stack, and poured from a height of about three feet into a bucket of hatchery temperature water.
• Once they hit the water, the unfertilized eggs turn cloudy while the successfully fertilized eggs remain clear.
• Then the eggs in the bucket are divided into individual bowls and distributed to volunteers who go through each bowl and remove the bad eggs.  If the bad eggs are not removed from the trays, they will grow mould and “infect” the good eggs. 
• Once that is done, the good eggs are returned to their incubator tray and put back in their stack to await hatching.

What’s very cool about going through the eggs in the bowls is that the good eggs have developed eyes that appear as two little black dots in the yolk of the egg, and sometimes the eyes will follow you as your are sorting!

And , if you are planning on renewing your Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society membership, Monday would be a good time to do that.  We would be happy to take your dues, and remember dues are still only a paltry $10 per year (correct change would be appreciated).

Paying your membership dues entitles you to be a volunteer at any of the SSES events along with coverage under our insurance (if you’re under the age of 85) should you have a mishap while volunteering, and you'll receive up-to-date information about meetings, work parties, and other goings-on.  

See you on Monday at the hatchery at 8:30, and if you want coffee, come earlier.  There may be goodies too.

Sally Manning, Secretary

Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society

Sooke River Jack Brooks Hatchery

Nov 30: Hi Everyone,

We took eggs from the four remaining Cohos this morning - hurray!  Tomorrow morning, the remaining males will be killed.  If you are not familiar with the reason for doing this, DFO requires that all fish taken for broodstock, both males and females, be returned to the environment from which they came.

The next round of shocking eggs will happen some time next week.  Stay tuned for an email about that - many hands make work light.  (And there will be cookies!)

On another note, If you haven’t already paid your annual membership dues, now is the time to do that.  Membership dues are still a paltry $10 per year.  Payment of dues can be made by one of the following methods:

• E-transfer to  sookeriverjbhatchery@shaw.ca
• Snail mail to Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society, PO Box 947, Sooke, BC, V9Z 1H9, or, failing those methods,
• Visit the hatchery at 2895B Sooke River Road.  If you choose this method, it’s best to come in the mornings between 8:00 and 11:00 a.m.  And you might end up volunteering while you’re there!

Paying your membership dues entitles you to be a volunteer at any of the SSES events along with coverage under our insurance (if you’re under the age of 85) should you have a mishap while volunteering, and you'll receive up-to-date information about meetings, work parties, and other goings-on.

Looking forward to seeing your happy faces next week!

Sally Manning, Secretary

Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society

Sooke River Jack Brooks Hatchery

Nov 27: Hi Everyone,

We will be shocking the first trays of Coho eggs tomorrow at the hatchery.  We will start at around 9:00 after we have checked all the girls for readiness.  As of today, we 11 girls left in the hatchery tanks, and we go through every female every day to see who is ready to “give birth”.

For those who have never shocked eggs, this is how and why this process is done:

• When the eggs in a tray have reached a certain ATU number (in the incubator room), the tray is taken out of the stack, and poured from a height of about three feet into a bucket of hatchery temperature water.
• Once they hit the water, the unfertilized eggs turn cloudy while the successfully fertilized eggs remain clear.
• Then the eggs in the bucket are divided into individual bowls and distributed to volunteers who go through each bowl and remove the bad eggs.  If the bad eggs are not removed from the trays, they will grow mould and “infect” the good eggs. 
• Once that is done, the good eggs are returned to their incubator tray and put back in their stack to await hatching.

What’s very cool about going through the eggs in the bowls is that the good eggs have developed eyes that appear as two little black dots in the yolk of the egg, and sometimes the eyes will follow you as your are sorting!

Please feel free to email me should you have a question, and I’ll do my best to answer it.

Sally Manning, Secretary

Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society

Sooke River Jack Brooks Hatchery

Nov 22: Hi Everyone,

Thanks to the volunteers who helped out late yesterday afternoon with the shocked Chinook eggs that we received from DFO's Nitinat hatchery.  Thanks to all the hardy souls who were able to stick it out until just after 4:30 when the eggs finally arrived.

In the space of just over one hour we transferred all of the eggs into sixty trays in the incubator room, where they are now nestled in for a short winter’s nap until they hatch and can then go into the hatchery troughs.

Once they are transferred into the troughs later in the year, they will be fed seven days a week, from 9:00 a.m. to noon and noon to 3:00 p.m., every half hour by teams of volunteers who sign up for this task.  So stay tuned in the future for more news about volunteering for feeding.

Sally Manning, Secretary

Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society

Sooke River Jack Brooks Hatchery

Nov: 19: Hi Everyone,

The delivery of the Nitinat eggs on Monday will be later in the day that previously noted, so please plan on arriving at the hatchery at 1:00 p.m.  We need volunteers to help transfer the eggs to incubator trays and welcome the little fellas & gals to their new home!

Looking forward to seeing you on Monday at 1:00 p.m.

Sally

Nov 18: Hi Everyone,

We are expecting the Nitinat egg to arrive at the hatchery on Monday morning at approximately 11:00 a.m. We will need volunteers to help receive them and transfer them to incubator trays

See you on Monday at the hatchery!

Sally Manning, Secretary SSES

P.S. You will be receiving email messages about hatchery business from me now as I am the new secretary. Bryan has retired from the position of secretary after a run of 12 years!

Nov 18: Folks,

We are taking coho eggs every morning at the hatchery so if you can spare some time please come out and help.

See you at 8:30 or earlier if you want coffee & cookies.

Bryan

Nov 12: Folks,

There will be an AGM Wednesday at  Charters River Salmon Interpretive Centre 2895 Sooke River Road at 7:00, Wednesday November 16 th.

Bring $10 as dues are due for 2022/23

See you there

Bryan

Nov 5: Folks,

There are more coho at DeMamiel weir so meet there tomorrow (Sunday 6th Nov) at 8:30am

If the water level has dropped then we’ll pull out some of the boards.See you there.

Bryan

Oct 31 Folks,

With the 3 plus inches of rain since Saturday night Young Lake has risen to overflow our weir and coho have made it up DeMamiel so…… tomorrow (Tuesday) we’ll meet at the DeMamiel weir at 8:30.

For those of you who do not know where the weir is go up Otter Point road the Young Lake Road (Boy Scout camp). Continue down Young Lake road to the 4 way intersection - go straight through for 100 yards to the bridge - our weir is under it

See you there.

Bryan

Oct 30: Folks,

Water is going over DeMamiel weir so get ready to take coho soon.

Meanwhile back at the hatchery more chinook eggs are ready for shocking on Wednesday morning.

See you at 8:30am Wednesday

Bryan

Oct 26: Folks,

There are 9 trays of chinook eggs to shock.

See you Saturday Oct 29 at 8:30 am at the hatchery.

Bryan

Oct 19: Folks,

Saturday 22nd October, we need to bring our fence/trap material from the river shore to the hatchery.

4x4 trucks welcome.

See you at the hatchery at 8:30 am

Bryan

Oct 19: Folks

Sorry about the delay in letting you know the results but we have been busy at the hatchery.

We have taken all the eggs and have 100,000 in the incubator room. Unfortunately this is less than 1/2 we can take under our DFO licence.

What we have noticed this year there are a preponderance of males to the tune of about 5 to 1. Lots of chinook but few females. Anyway this is a better result than in the past 2 years when we got flooded out.

There are no fish in the hatchery, we took heads, scale samples, etc for DFO to analyze as to their origin and the carcasses moved to the watershed.

Our fence has been pulled out of the river and seining gear had been collected and stored away.

We are awaiting rain, a lot of rain to move the coho up DeMamiel Creek.

So thank you very much for helping out.

See you next year,

Bryan

Oct 13: Folks,

Last Saturday we took 90 fish and now every day we're going through the females to see if their eggs are ready (we have already taken about 40,000 eggs).

If you are interested in seeing the process or if you want to help out, see you at the hatchery at 8:30 am.

Thanks

Bryan

Oct 9th: Folks,

Thank you so much for your turnout and help in seining on Saturday.

This morning (Sunday) at the hatchery we went through the fish and there were 59 males and 31 females. Since we are a little light in females we would like to seine again so….

On Saturday, October 15 we'll start at 8:30am and begin seining about 9:00 am.  We should be finished moving fish to the hatchery around noon.

To get there: down Sooke River Road about 1.8 km to Fisherman’s Way, turn left and continue left down a gravel road,continue past all houses, through the gate in the white fence to a large cut grass area in the flats off to your left.

Park anywhere the grass is cut   BUT NOT ON THE ROAD!!!   (We had one bumpkin this past Saturday).

Walk toward the noise of a generator.  A sign-in table will be set up - we need your NAME and PHONE NUMBER so our insurance covers you. There are no toilet facilities, sorry.

MEMBERS: we need members to keep the fish moving from the seining net to the tanks (the fish are the priority not photo-ops or enjoying the scenery) .

DIVERS: Please contact Gord Fulcher  to co-ordinate your activities - Your work last Saturday was greatly appreciated by the society and the fish.

Thanks again

Bryan

Oct 4th: Folks,

There will be a work party Friday to lug all of our stuff down to the river and set up the 2 portable tanks on the beach and fill the the two page green holding tanks as well as other jobs

See you at the hatchery at 8:30 am

Bryan

Oct 3rd: Folks,

This coming Saturday the SSES will seine the Sooke River for Chinook.

We hope to get in the river around 8:30 am and start seining about 9:00 am.  We should be finished moving fish to the hatchery around noon.

To get there: down Sooke River Road about 1.8 km to Fisherman’s Way, turn left and continue left down a gravel road, continue past all houses, through the gate in the white fence to a large cut grass area in the flats off to your left.

Park anywhere the grass is cut BUT NOT ON THE ROAD (we need the road open to transport the broodstock to the Jack Brooks Hatchery).

Walk toward the noise of a generator.  A sign-in table will be set up - we need your NAME and PHONE NUMBER so our insurance covers you. The Lions will have a refreshment stand in the area.

There are no toilet facilities, sorry. 

Btyan 

Sept 27th: Folks,

We need a work party to get our gear ready for seining.

We’ll load the trailer with seining nets, pumps, hoses, generator, extension cords, waders, carrying nets, and duct tape. The trailer will be stored in the hatchery until the following Friday Oct 8 when we’ll move it down to the river.

See you Saturday at the hatchery.

Stay safe

Bryan

Sept 24th: Folks,

So far we have 3 chinook in the hatchery but there appears to be no others in the Sooke River.

So…. that combined with little rain in the forecast it is becoming evident at this time Saturday October 8 will be seining day. We’ll keep watch on the river and forecast and update/confirm when we’ll be in the river.

Stay safe and keep the waders handy.

Bryan

Sept 22nd: Folks,

Work party Saturday Sept 24 at the hatchery at 8:30am

Bryan

P.S. I got this from Bill

We have our first Spr. (5-6 lb. male ) in tank # 13. and we removed the beaver dam. No other fish in the system yet.

Thanks  Bill

Sept: 17th: Folks,

There will be a work party next Saturday to basically clean up the hatchery.

More Specifically:

Clean all the trough screens with Dove cleaner.

Clean and tidy up the meeting room

• ·            Tidy up the tool room
• ·            Tidy up the electrical/storage room
• ·            Clean and tidy up the feed room
• ·            Wash the hatchery floor
• ·            Whipper snip/tidy up the front of the hatchery
• ·            Tidy up the back of the hatchery  
• ·            Clean bathroom

And any other duties as we can find.

See you at 8:30 am

Take care

Bryan  

:Sept 16th: Folks,

Last Saturday the fence was installed in the Sooke River and we are now waiting for both rain and fish. Our “best” guess for seining would be Saturday October 1st and/or Saturday October 8th.

I’ll keep you informed as to when - until then stay safe.

Thank you,

Bryan Manning

Secretary, SSES

Sept 7th: Folks,

On Saturday September 10 there will be a work party to gather the equipment/materials to install the fence in the Sooke River.

If there are a lot of us “grunts” we’ll start putting the fence together.

See you at the hatchery at 8:30 am or earlier.

Bryan

Sept 1st: Folks,

It is now September and a new salmon enhancement/hatchery season.

We are going to begin by putting in the fence across the Sooke River on Saturday September 10 and Sunday the 11th. For you new members this is the start of collecting our chinook broodstock.

We anticipate on the 10th to collect all the material and bring it down to the river and if we have a lot of volunteers start installing the fence.

I’ll send out a reminder email a few days before.

Rest up

Bryan

June 23rd: Folks,

Now that the hatchery is empty of fish, time for a general cleanup-

Floors and trough screens need to be scrubbed.

- tidy up buckets, nets, etc

- general housekeeping

See you Saturday June 25 at 8:30 am.

Bryan

June 6th: Hatchery info;

Released:

Nitinat  Chinook 241,227

Sooke Chinook     48,796

Total Chinook     290,073

DeMamiel Coho   65,086

 grand total         355,159

Job well done volunteers!!!

June 6th: Folks,

Saturday we need a work party at Bradford to cut grass, bushes etc.

He has arranged for a few “billy-goats” but we need weed eaters, hedge trimmers, etc.

The society will provide gas, cookies, drinks.

The dam at Bradford is an earthen filled one with an overflow weir. BC dams require a water licence issued under the Act and must meet the requirements specified in the Dam Safety Regulation.

The  Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society holds the water licence for Bradford and as part of the licence is the requirement to keep the grass cut and “looking like a golf course” - ie no shrubs or trees.

Bradford dam holds the water that the society regulates flowing into Youngs Lake and from there through DeMamiel Weir into the DeMamiel Creek.  This trickle of water in the summer keeps the coho alive in the pools.

We need to go to Bradford via a “convoy” since we will be going through locked gates on Timberwest property so we’ll meet at Youngs Lake Road and Butler main (the 4 way corner going to the old hatchery) at 8:30 am this coming Saturday.

We expect 3 hours or so..

Bryan

June 5th Folks,

Wednesday June 8th general meeting is cancelled.

The treasurer’s report and general news will be forthcoming.

Maybe it’ll warm up soon.

Stay safe

Bryan:

May 30th: Folks,

This is from Bill:

Hi Bryan, good job, here are our numbers for 2022

Nit-241,227

Sooke-48,796

Total Chin. 290,073

Coho-65,086 grand total of all == 355,159

Bill and Chris are going up to Sidney to retrieve 200 of our chinook smolts (500 grams each) on Wednesday June 1st and bring them to the Prestige to be released via bucket load into the harbour.

On Wednesday morning between 11:00 am and noon we meet at the Prestige to await the truck and trailer. I’ll have the pumps, hoses, electrical cords, buckets, etc

To get these fish into the harbour they will have to be bucketed - our 4 inch hose is too small.

See you Wednesday at the hotel at 11:00 am

Bryan

May 28th: Folks,

Today (Saturday May 28) we made 3 trips to Young Lake and dropped off our coho.

Take a few days off and relax for in June we start off the summer with a work party at Bradford. More later.

A BIG thanks to all who helped out in moving fish.

Stay safe,

Bryan

May 25th: Folks,

This morning (Wednesday May 25) we moved all the remaining springs to the Sooke River in 5 trips (so far that makes 20 trips)

Only the coho are left and on Saturday we’ll move them out to Young Lake.

Stay safe - see you Saturday.

Bryan

May 21st: Folks,

Today (Saturday) we made 4 trips to the Sooke River and as a result all 6 tanks are now empty

Thanks to all who showed up - good job.

See you Wednesday at 8:30 am.

Bryan

May 18th: Folks,

Saturday for moving fish.

Today (Wednesday) we made 4 trips to the Sooke river - we’re about 1/2 way there to tempting the hatchery.

See you Saturday 8:30 am

Bryan

May 14th: Folks;

Today (Saturday May 14) we did 4 trips to the Sooke River.

Troughs 1 to 6 A&B have been thinned as well as tanks 9 to 13

On Wednesday we’ll be at it again. See you there at 8:30

Bryan

May 11th: Folks,

Saturday we hope to make 3 trips of Nitinat fry to the Sooke River.

See you at 8:30

Bryan

May 9th: Folks,

Wednesday’s general meeting is cancelled.

The treasurer’s report and general news will be forthcoming.

Maybe it’ll warm up next month.

Bryan

May 2nd: Folks,

The fish are jumping out of trough 6A and B and are ready to smolt.

Bill would like to have a work party this Saturday May 7 to move them to the Sooke River where they can jump all they want to.

(Yes this is an advance of the May 14 start date to unload the hatchery)

See you this Saturday at 8:30am.

Bryan

April 29th: Folks,

As the title above mentions May is the month the little guys get out in the big wide world after a long cold winter.

Likely Saturday May 14 is the beginning of moving fish out and over the next few Saturdays after that. We’ll probably be doing a “load” or two during the week as well. We’ll be doing the chinook first and the coho last just to give them more feeding time in the hatchery.

We have about 350,000 fry and can take about 30,000 per trip (maximum number depending upon weight) so quite a few trips. I'll confirm the date in a week or or so.

Stay safe,

Bryan

April 11th: Folks,

There will be no meeting Wednesday April 13.

As to a monthly update Coast Capital have shut down to “upgrade" their software so we cannot get a treasurer’s report and since all fry have been ponded and of last week we are in the mort taking, cleaning and feeding mode.

We will be moving chinook fry to the Sooke River and coho into Young Lake in May but as to when it will depend on our effluent discharge from the hatchery into Charter’s creek. There must be a 20 to 1 ratio of clean water to effluent soif we continue to get rain then with lots of water in the creek we are ok according to provincial water quality regulations.

Water samples have been taken for a while and sent to a lab for analysis. Currently we are in compliance even though our feed has increased and there are more feces from more and bigger fry.Any news and I’ll pass it on.

Take care

Bryan

March 7th: Folks,

Wednesday’s monthly meeting is cancelled as well as the Director’s meeting.

Monthly fish report:

Up to date total number on the springs is 295,513 with 24,000 coho ponded, about 40,000 yet to be ponded.  Water temperatures have been colder this year so far, should start warming up soon. All the springs will be on  #1 crumb starting Monday.

Bradford is full now.   4 of the 6 boards are in De Mamiel weir..

Started taking water discharge samples as to the provincial Water Sustainable Act in February, more to be taken in March and April.

Brayn Manning

February 8: Folks,

There will be no meeting on Wednesday. A summary of recent activities will be sent out soon.

Thank you

Bryan

January 25: Folks,

Work party Saturday to pond all 250,000 Nitinat Fry in troughs 1 to 5.The actual ponding will be done probably within 1/2 hour or so, BUT (you knew there was a but) the cleaning of 64 trays likely will take 2 to 2 1/2 hours using pressure washers.

We have waders but if you want to bring your own please do so. Coffee, tea, hot chocolate, and cookies will be available.

See you at 8:30

Bryan

January 18: Folks,

We need to disinfect/clean the troughs/screens and get the hatchery ready for ponding.

So see you Saturday at 8:30.

Bryan

2022 January 10: Folks ,

$10 dues are due.  Paid-up members are covered by our Streamkeepers insurance for all Society activities so I urge you please pay your annual dues.

You can pay by cheque or cash mailed to:

Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society 

PO Box 947

Sooke BC

V9Z 1H9

Or

Set it up in your account under e-transfer.  Then add a recipient.  It is sent to our email address sookeriverjbhatchery@shaw.ca

We receive an email from Coast Capital telling us of the deposit. It is auto deposit.  Your account will likely want a question to be answered, but with auto deposit we don't answer or see the question. 

Any questions notify me via email.

Bryan Manning

Secretary SSES

December 28: Folks,

We ended up with 70,000 shocked Coho eggs and big thanks to all those who helped out especially yesterday it was little chilly (-5C at the hatchery).

Our Sooke river chinook fry have been ponded over the last few weeks in trough 6A ( it's full ). There are still 24,000 of Sooke River fry to be ponded - yesterday 1,200 went into 6B, which we will be ponding the rest of the Sooke River fry as we go along. The amount of feed for 6B will increase as we add to it.

Seeing that the water temp is below the same time as last year, we may be ponding the Nitinat fry after Jan. 20, we will see as time moves along.

Take care, stay safe and have a happy new year.

Bryan

December 22: Folks,

The final shocking is now on Monday (it slid a day from the previous email).

Merry Christmas and dress warmly.

See you at 8:30

Bryan

December 19: Folks,

With the resurgence of COVID and our coho shocking we’ll set up more tables out by the troughs/tanks so we can have space between each other.

We’ll also supply masks if you don’t have them.

Dress warmly. See you there peeking over your mask.

Bryan

December 16: Folks,

Thanks for helping out today.

There will be about the same number of trays on Tuesday and to finish off the coho likely we’ll be shocking on Boxing day Sunday Dec 26 but that will be confirmed later.

Ho Ho Ho

Bryan

December 10: Folks,

There still are more coho trays to shock so on Thursday (16th) we’ll do about 6 to 8 trays.

Likely there will be another shocking date just before Christmas.

See you at 8:30 .Take care stay warm & dry

Bryan

December 8: Folks,

Eggs: -

As of Dec 6, after shocking we have 52,111 Sooke Chinook eggs and 245,800 Nitinat Chinook eggs.  Total chinook eggs = 297,911.

Also there are 25,263 shocked Coho eggs and 77,970 green (not shocked) Coho eggs.  Total of both shocked and green coho eggs = 103,233 (the actual number will definitely be lower but we will have about 400,000 fry in the hatchery).

The school egg program (Salmon in the Classroom) will be out on Dec 16---8:30-9:00 to pick up their 500 coho eggs for the classrooms.

The first Sooke River chinook tray was ponded on Monday December 6.  The little ones will be on auto feeders for a while.

Heads-up: -

In a few weeks I’ll be surveying the feeders, cleaners and mort takers if they are going to continue as last year.

Stay safe take care

Bryan

PS Merry Christmas

December 6: Folks,

There will be more coho shocking on Thursday Thanks to all to attended today.

As to news: -

The water flow valve was open wide to aid in regulating Bradford water level after these heavy rains. (Sooke Reservoir is full).We took eggs from 67 coho females in November. Currently we are in the midst of shocking the early ones.

Both our Sooke River chinook and Nitinat’s have hatched and some of our first alevins are almost “buttoned-up” so we could be both shocking coho and ponding chinook on Thursday.

We have finished “chilling” our Sooke River Chinook ie marking the otolith ear bone with 5 rings to designate our hatchery. The tanks are empty but we maintain a trickle of water flowing in each to prevent the pipes from freezing. (It’s December).

Stay safe, stay dry, stay warm.

Bryan

December 3: Folks,

Our December meeting scheduled for Wednesday December 8 is cancelled.

In a few days a news letter for the month of November will be sent to all.

Take care

Bryan

December 1: Folks,

We’re shocking on Sunday about 11 trays and some are BAD.

Free coffee (tea) and cookies.

See you at 8:30 AND ONCE AGAIN STAY SAFE STAY DRY

Bryan

November 28: Folks,

We’re shocking Wednesday about 6 trays and some of them are bad.

Free coffee (tea) and cookies.See you at 8:30.

RAIN, WHAT RAIN

Bryan

November 26: Folks,

We took our final coho eggs this morning (thankfully) and in about a week or so we’ll shock about 6 trays of coho eggs. Some of the springs have hatched so ponding will be in January - no rest for the …..

I’ll confirm the shocking date next week. Stay safe Stay dry.

Bryan

November 4th: Folks,

November’s general meeting and the AGM will be at the  Charters River Salmon Interpretive Centre at 7:00 pm Wednesday November 10th.

The centre is located at 2895A Sooke River Road (the hatchery is at 2895-B).

$10 dues are due.

Stay safe, Bryan  

October 31: Folks,

We have over 100 coho at the hatchery.  If you can make it to help out it would be appreciated or even as a cheering section (coffee and cookies as incentives).

We have just finished shocking our 18 trays of chinook eggs and have begun “chilling” those chinook eggs that have over 350 ATUs.

Take care and stay safe

Bryan

PS Just a heads-up - Wednesday November 10 is our AGM at the  Charters River Salmon Interpretive Centre and $10 dues are due. (Another  notice will follow later this week)

October 17: Folks,

Bill has just come back from the weir and he says there are a lot of coho in the pool so tomorrow (Monday) meet at the weir at 8:30. We took 22 today.

Stay safe and dry

Bryan

October 16: Folks,

There are coho at the weir so tomorrow (Sunday) at 8:30 we’ll meet at the weir.

For those who do not know where it is go out Otter Point Road to Young Lake road (Boy Scout Camp). Go down Young Lake Road to the 4 way stop. Continue straight until the bridge - our weir is underneath.

See you there - stay dry

Bryan

October 15: Folks,

Just got off the phone with Bill. There is definitely is enough water for the coho to get up De Mamiel but he only saw one jack coho. If we get a lot of rain tonight then it maybe too much to get in the trap.

Anyway tomorrow, Saturday, is deferred possibly to Sunday. I’ll let you know tomorrow.

Stay dry stay safe.

Bryan

October 13: Folks,

There maybe a work party Saturday to take coho at the De Mamiel weir however that depends on the rain and the coho. In the next few days a lot of rain is forecast and if it materializes we could be taking fish.

I’ll let you know Friday during the day whether it is a go or not for Saturday.

Take care, stay safe

Bryan

September 30: Folks

The work party scheduled for Friday to bring gear down to the Sooke River is cancelled due to high water that flattened the fence - fish gone up to the Potholes - water level too high for safe seining.

Stay dry and safe

Bryan

September 30: Folks,

The seining in the Sooke River on Saturday October 2 is unfortunately cancelled. The rain last night (Thursday) has flattened our fence and any fish below it have gone over unto the potholes.

The water level has risen to the point where it is unsafe to seine even if there were chinook.

Fortunately we have captured about 20 chinook in out trap so all is not lost. Thank you for your offer to help and hopefully next year will be a success.

Take care and stay safe

Bryan Manning

Secretary

Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society 

September 27: Folks,

There will be a work party on Friday October 1st to load-up or nets, tanks, pumps, etc and set-up down where we are going to take broodstock.

Currently the Sooke River is high with the rain last night so I will send out an email on Thursday to confirm the work party.

Stay dry

Bryan

September 20: Folks,

As of today, Monday Sept 20, the good news is there are springs in Pemberton pool just below our fence BUT there are not enough of them. So it looks like Saturday OCTOBER 2 will be our seining day - this date will be confirmed next week.

Take care

Bryan

PS All participants (not spectators or society members) will have to sign in (name, address, phone#) to be covered by our liability insurance (nothing to do with COVID).

September 14: Folks,

On Saturday we are going to checkout/clean the two 12 foot tanks down where we take our broodstock. The tanks were bounced around last year when the Sooke River went into flood.

We’ll meet at the hatchery at 8:30 AM

See you there

Bryan

September8: Folks,

This is the start of a new hatchery season. There will be work parties on Friday Sept 10 and Saturday Sept 11.

On Friday we hope to lug all our material down to the River and Saturday install the fence/trap. So we’ll meet at the hatchery both days at 8:30 am

If you have a truck please bring it especially 4x4\

See you there

Bryan

PS we are hoping to seine on Sept 25 or Oct 2 or Oct 9 water and fish co-operating

September 2nd: Folks,

There will be a general meeting at the hatchery (2895-B Sooke River Road) at 7:00 PM on Wednesday 8th September.

COVID - Masks are required. Up coming COVID rules are as follows:

As to COVID protocols we will be following BC health mandates as follows from BC government:

https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2021HLTH0053-001659

This would mean for all members:

1) masks are mandatory

2) After Sept 13 2021 proof of vaccination will be required (min. 1 dose)

3) By Oct 24  proof of vaccination will be required ( 2 doses required)

Other items include getting ready to install the fence in the Sooke River and getting the hatchery ready to accept broodstock.

See you there,

Bryan

June 2nd: Folks,

The directors decided not to have any monthly general meetings until September.

The following is Bill’s hatchery report:

Overall Fish Report for 2020,

We used 30 Springs, took 58,542 eggs, ponded 46,511, released 46,044 fry, @ 4.4 gm to 5.75 gm. marked as 5H, into Sooke River.

We received 248,345 eggs from Nitinat, lost 40,000 because of water supply problems, ponded 208,144, released 204,056 fry, @ 4.1 to 5 gm, marked as 4H, into Sooke River.

We used 103 Coho, took 95,000 eggs, ponded 83,865, released 82,089 fry, @ 2 gm,, into Youngs Lake.

Since we started keeping records in 1980, and including this year's released fry, our grand total of Fry released is 22,069,098 .

Summer of 2021

June 5 , Sat. We will be going up and trimming the surface of Bradford Dam and checking the far end for any blockages to Tugwell Creek.

As the summer warms up, we will be regulating the summer water flows from Bradford Dam, as well as, from the weir at Youngs Lake, (and undoing whatever Bucky Beaver does to us over the summer), to keep a consistent summer flow in DeManiel to help maintain a minimum number of returning Coho in the system.

We are still waiting for the results of the last hatchery discharge water samples we took in mid May. 

Last summer we had a busy workload with installing the Chiller and building of the Towers, which took a lot of volunteers.

For the jobs to be done in the Hatchery over this summer, we will call on small groups of enough helpers, just for the tasks at hand. 

Come the start of Sept. and wherever covid-19 has us, we will start planning for this year's Brood take.

To the Directors and Membership,

Because of the work , from all of us, pitching in and doing whatever we could, no matter what or how big the jobs where, the general construction of the new Hatchery building and the different procedures are now in working order, it is now time for the hatchery to move forward.  In the last few months, it's become more and more evident that the Hatchery should have a more overall general manager, to develop a new and forward direction of public awareness and participation, in tune with the future years of growth. Because I am not able to do the best job for the Society, I am stepping out of the Hatchery Manager's position. I can stay on until the Society elects a replacement.  As the summer months roll on, I will offer what time I will have to spare, to help finish the jobs that we have started, but not yet finished. With the dedication of the great volunteers, the new site will go forward as well as the old one did.

Thanks to everyone for all the support in making the new site something we can all be proud of.

Bill

See you Saturday Youngs Lake Road and Butler Main at 8:30.

Also see you in September - have a safe and healthy summer.

Bryan  

May 28th: Folks

Next Saturday Bill wants a work party at Bradford to cut grass, bushes etc.

He has arranged for a few “billy-goats” but we need weed eaters, hedge trimmers, etc.  The society will provide gas, cookies, drinks.

The dam at Bradford is an earthen filled one with an overflow weir. BC dams require a water licence issued under the Act and must meet the requirements specified in the Dam Safety Regulation.

The  Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society holds the water licence for Bradford and as part of the licence is the requirement to keep the grass cut and “looking like a golf course” - ie no shrubs or trees.

Bradford dam holds the water that the society regulates flowing into Youngs Lake and from there through DeMamiel Weir into the DeMamiel Creek.  This trickle of water in the summer keeps the coho alive in the pools.

We need to go to Bradford via a “convoy ” since we will be going through locked gates on Timberwest property so we’ll meet at Youngs Lake Road and Butler main (the 4 way corner going to the old hatchery) at 8:30 am next Saturday. We expect 3 hours or so.

Bryan

May 26th: Folks,

As of 11:00 am this morning the last of the coho left the hatchery for Youngs Lake.

According to Les Eve this spring we had 20 trips to the Sooke Water shed with all the fry - last year we managed with a full hatchery 23 trips. (just more hatchery trivia).

Don’t fret - there is still lots of work to do:

• Bradford - cut grass, etc
• Hatchery - incubator room
• Hatchery - lots of “little” jobs to do over the summer

When there are any work parties we’ll let you know until then thanks so much for all your work over the last year and if Dr. Henry is correct - have a good “normal” summer.

Take care

Bryan 

May 24th: Folks,

This morning (Monday) we released the last of the chinook.

On Wednesday we are going to move all the coho to Youngs Lake and shut the hatchery down. Later we’ll be calling work partys to clean the aeration towers before we finally shut the water off.

See you Wednesday @ 8:30 am

Bryan

May 22nd: Folks

Hatchery update:

Stay safe,

Bryan

PS  Since we marked our Sooke River chinook using the new chiller in 3/4 years we’ll see how many of our chinook will return.

May 19th: Folks,

We are moving more fry (almost smolts) out of the hatchery on Saturday.

See you there at 8:30 am

Bryan

May 8th: Folks

1. There will be no general meeting on Wednesday May 12 due to COVID-19.

2. The fry are growing (some over 4 grams) and Bill wants to release some of them starting next Saturday May 15 (3 trips) at 8:30am. He intends to release during the week spaced out a day or two in order not to overwhelm the river’s food supply. We should be done by the end of the month.

3. News update by Bill:

We got all the boards put in Young Lake weir, the lake is full and overflowing, with no sign of Bucky beaver yet. If he does appear then we are planning to hang the net across the front of the weir.

We started laying out the plumbing improvements in the incubator room, will carry on with that into the summer.

Flow in Charters is going down as expected. We have been monitoring flows over Charters Dam and have taken more water quality samples, with more to be done.

Because of Elida Peers' endless work on our behalf, we have had conversations with the loan people and we are able to push the Treatment Plant parts of the loan into next year.

Our springs are pushing 4 grams and wanting to get out into that big blue ocean, we'll start releasing on Saturday May 15.

A reminder on feeding the 1.2 mm and 1.5 mm size food, it will sink quickly, so feed smaller amounts at a time and spread it out over more of the surface of the troughs and tanks.

We had the truck serviced and got a lighter transfer hose to use down to the river from the truck tanks this year.

There will be a clipboard in the office so if you have any jobs to be done during the summer, please add them to the list.

We thinned once again into tank # 11 and added to tank # 12. The Towers are keeping the dissolved oxygen at saturation levels and the water temp is up to 9 C (seems colder some days).

Some time in the first week of June we will need to go up and cut the grass and weeds on Bradford Dam.

Remember work party Saturday May 15 at 8:30am.

Masks are required.

Bryan  

April 10th: Folks,

There will be no general meeting on Wednesday due to COVID.

The following is the monthly update from Bill:

• We got the boards in the De Mamiel weir, Young Lake is filling.
• We have done a good amount of water sampling from our discharge pipe and from Charters Creek in order to install a water treatment plant to meet provincial water regulations.We have and will be monitoring flow rates over Charters Dam as time goes on.
• We have thinned the Nitinat springs into tanks 9 and 10, and ours into tank 12, check the feed sheets weekly as we will be changing the amounts and feed size as time goes by.
• The albino is still alive in the lower end of trough # 3B, it's getting thinner every week.
• The springs averaged 2 grams this week, help to keep the floor clean by getting all the food into the troughs

Take care and stay safe

Bryan

March 7th: Folks,

Some of the things that we have done at the hatchery in the last month:

Chinook. --- 254,455 all ponded both our Sooke River ones and Nitinat’s Coho — 44,150 ponded between 7A and 7B, about that amount yet to be ponded. This week start ponding coho into 8A.

We are feeding # 1 crum to the Springs now. Coho still get #0. Our fish this year are about 2 weeks behind where they were this time last year.

Please check the amount of food on the Feed sheet weekly and keep it inside the troughs.

We closed the valve on Bradford Dam this week, and are expecting to add the weir broads at Young Lake soon.

We are monitoring the water flows down Charters Creek now, gathering data for the hatchery’s treatment plant dilution. We have had 2 sets of water samples taken, lots more to be done yet. We are gathering data as to amounts of, and types of, wastes in our discharge back to Charters.

Incubator room, we have started to remove the old water lines and install filter boxes ( screens inside them ) in the supply lines to the stacks of Heath trays. During the past 6 months some of the water lines to the egg trays have been plugged due to “stuff” in the lines resulting in many dead eggs.

The next week or two should finish the Chiller project. ( Bench, plumbing and electrical ) The chiller was used for the first time this past October to mark the otolith ear bone to be able to tell our chinook from Nitinat’s in 3 to 4 years time.

On every test we do shows that the aeration towers are working as planned--full saturation at all flow rates. Makes for frisky fish all that oxygen.

No meeting on Wednesday.

Stay safe, take care

Bill & Bryan

February 15th: Folks,

We have an opening for a feeder (s) for Saturdays from noon to 3:00PM

Duties include:

• - every Saturday afternoon from now to end of May
• - Feed every half hour the amount per trough/tank as noted by Bill
• - at the end of the shift clean the mesh trough covers, turn out the lights and lock up

If you are interested let me know.

Thank you

Bryan

February 1st: Folks,

A big THANKS to everyone that came out for the last couple of work parties and to the feeders going forward. There was a lot of work done and a lot yet to be done.

As of Saturday January 30, we have 245,000 Chin. ponded in the first 5 Cap troughs-- with 3 trays yet to pond.( 8,000-10,000).

We should pond our Coho ( about 85,000 ) during the Month of Feb. ( with water at 4-5 C), 1 to 3 trays at a time, utilizing the morning feeders as the trays come of age, into Cap troughs # 7 and # 8.

Feeding rates per Cap troughs will vary until we get everybody in their right homes, so check the feed chart daily. 

During the work parties we (Chris, Mel, Will) power washed the 6 Aeration towers on the tanks and found a surprising amount of fish eggs and waterborne creatures( yet to be identified ) inside the header tanks.  The towers, at these low starting flows, are working as hoped and should keep doing so as we increase the flows as the warmer water and growth comes.   These aeration towers provide almost the maximum amount of oxygen the water can hold.

The Chiller worked fine for the way we used it, but, we will not know if the marks we put on the otolith bone (ear bone that has growth rings similar to trees)  (our 45,000 Sooke Rv Chin.) is what it should be until they are checked by the DFO Lab. in Nanaimo. (this summer).

As we settle into our spring/summer feeding routines, there shouldn't be any mayor work parties needed, but, to do the usual cleaning and feeding (please keep the food inside the troughs and off the floor) procedures and keep the Covid-19-20-now 21 safeguards in mind - masks are required.

PS..  It will be nice to be able to have a coffee, tea, hot chocolate and that cookie, once again, that we use as pay, for the jobs we all do.

Good job everyone,  stay safe.

Bill Pedneault, Hatchery Manager

January 26th: Folks,

On Saturday 30th we’ll be ponding 70 + trays. All of Nitinat’s and 3 stacks of our springs. As well 3 aerators on the tanks have to cleaned. A busy day.

Masks are required.

Bryan

January 19th: Folks,

On Saturday 23rd Jan, there will be a work party to clean some troughs and the aeration towers on the tanks.

This is in anticipation of ponding a few fry in the near future.

See you at 8:30 am. Masks are required.

Bryan

January 12th 2021: Folks

The directors have cancelled the derby for 2021.

The two main reasons are:

• COVID19 and
• asking merchants for support for the derby when they are struggling to keep the lights on.

So stay safe and may be next year 2022 we’ll be back to “normal” (what ever that will look like).

Bryan

December 31st : Folks

From Bill; just doing some looking ahead--

Our Chin. should start to be ponded by about Jan. 23 and on ( 1 or 2 trays at a time ).

Nit. Chin. ponding should be the first or second week of Feb., may change as we go along.

All ( about 90,000 ) the Coho have been shocked and our first ( 2 eggs ) Coho have just started to hatch today.

Happy New Year

Bryan

December 16th: Folks,

We’ll be shocking more coho trays on Saturday. See you there at 8:30 am.

Stay safe, Bryan

PS Masks are required.

December 10th: Folks

Once again we’ll be shocking coho trays on Saturday Dec 12. starting at 8:30 am. See you there.

Bryan

PS Masks are required

December 3rd: Folks,

We’ll be shocking 8 coho trays on Saturday Dec 5. starting at 8:30 am. It sounds like a lot but there is only one female per tray.

See you there. Masks are required.

Bryan

November 28th: Folks,

This morning (Saturday Nov 28) we took the last of the coho eggs. There are no adult fish in the hatchery BUT we have our springs and Nitnat’s beginning to hatch and with water temperature currently around 8 deg C it won’t be too long before we are ponding and into feeding and cleaning.

This week we also finished marking all of our spring eggs with our newly purchased water chiller. After we shock the eggs but before they hatch we drop the water temperature 3 deg C and hold it there for 24 hours, then we turn the chiller off and switchover to regular hatchery water for 24 hours. This cycle is done for 10 consecutive days resulting in the otolith (ear bone which has growth rings similar to tree ring) having 5 definite thick and thin growth rings indicating they came from the Jack Brooks hatchery. Nitinat have 4 rings. The reason this marking is done is to tell our returning chinook from wild (DFO can see the 4 ring Nitinat ones). When we take our broodstock and after we take the eggs we send the heads, scales, flesh and other physical data to DFO. Then a few months later we get a report showing the makeup of our broodstock - ie so many from Nitinat, other hatcheries and what DFO call wild since they cannot tell ours.

Clipping the adipose fin would only indicate that it is an American fish (Canada does not clip chinook)

We have also started shocking our first coho eggs.

Daily temperature takers will start tomorrow (Sunday).

Take care and stay safe

Bryan

October 27th: Folks,

After a discussion by the directors it was agreed to hold the AGM on Wednesday Novemeber 11th at the hatchery but use proxies instead of actual bodies.

Our main concern is with the rising number of COVID cases, the province may reduce the number in gatherings from the current 50 down to 10.

To hold a valid meeting 9 members in good standing are the minimum for a quorum; thus the directors would nicely fit the bill. If members show up and 50 are still allowed, then they will be very welcome.

We will be holding the meeting out by the troughs as we did for the October meeting. If you come dress warmly!!

Attched to the e-mail was a proxy we are sending out (PDF and Word format).

Please fill out and return this proxy by:

1. electronically to me

2. printed out and mail it to SSES, PO Box 947, Sooke BC, V9Z 1H9

3. give it to any director:

Bill Pedneault 250 642-3443

Brian Johnson 250 478-7000

Bruce Bagley 250 642-1357

Dan Eaton 778 425-2597

Mel Hull 250 642-5548

Rob Gamache 250 642-1905

Roger Praud 250 642-7710

Sally Manning 250 642-7766

4) return to the hatchery - drop box will be at the front gate/door.

Annual dues of $10 are due as of the AGM

Bryan.

October 10th: Folks

On Saturday October 10 we are going to pull out the fence and trap - 8:30 am at the hatchery.

Next Wednesday is the October monthly meeting at the hatchery.

Bryan

August 2nd: Folks,

There will be a work party on Tuesday @ 8:30 am to “clean up” the hatchery.

On Friday a group who is funding our chiller, aerators, and waste water treatment plant (to the tune of over $900k) is coming for a perusal of the new hatchery. See you there with masks and physical distancing (the new normal).

Bryan

PS Last week there was a major water main break inside the hatchery.

June 4th: Folks,

This is the time of year for our trek up to Bradford to cut grass and weed-wack. So Saturday meet at the gate on Clarke Road at 8:15 to 8:30 - we have to go in as a convoy so don’t be late.

Bring brush cutters, weed whackers, etc

Refreshments will be served.

Bryan

May 28th: Folks,

There will be a work party Saturday at the old hatchery as promised we’ll start a major clean up on the old site in preparation in turning it back to Timberwest

Bring gloves

See you Saturday @ 8:30 at the Butler gate (if open go to the hatchery)

Bryan

May 15th: Folks,

We just received the new keys for Butler main gate so tomorrow Bill wants a work party.

First we’ll meet at the new hatchery at 8:30 am, unload the hatchery truck and trailer and then head up to the old hatchery.

See you tomorrow Saturday May 16 at 8:30am.

Take care and stay safe.

Bryan  

May 12th: Folks

I just received this email from Bill (Hatchery Manager)- hatchery report for May 2020.

Bryan

With a lot of work by Rob, he got the Chiller across the Border and unloaded on site by Apr 21. Randy was able to dismantle the shipping crate and the unit (Chiller) sits inside, on the floor, in front of the truck, waiting to be tested for operation.

Elida worked every day on the rest of the paper work needed by Apr 30.

We ordered a list of Alum materials needed to start on the towers, it arrived on site, May 3---the guys--Gord, Bryan, Ian and Gerry, got it unloaded ( over a ton).

Water Bd. was out and cleaned some screens and set the flows to keep Charters flowing for the summer. Parks was out to cut some hazardous trees along the creek banks.

May 8-- the chiller tested Ok, waiting for bits and pieces to get it ready to put in the incubator room.

Some of the Alum parts are being built now for the individual aeration stacks/towers/boxes (same as the aeration stack on trough 15 - the one single aeration tower idea has been scrapped for individual stacks/towers/boxes). Randy got the crate sides set up as work stations on the troughs.

We are close to being ready to trailer the 2 x 8's and roofing from the old hatchery. Butler gate lock box has been changed, so we are waiting for the new key cards.

Rob's taking care of the ordering and transporting the freight truck full of the rings, for inside of the towers.

When we get set up to build some of these aluminum boxes, we will ask for a group to help, when the rings show up we will need more help for that part of the job.

With the way things are today, we all know how long it takes to get a small simple item, so the jobs are going to be short and irregular to schedule for this stage.

Stay safe.

Bill

April 4th: Folks,

Yesterday and today intrepid volunteers emptied the hatchery.This is 6 weeks prior to what we had planned but you know about mice and men.

All in all it has been a successful “year” with the release of over 600,000 coho and chinook fry into the Sooke River System. Hats off to you volunteers!!!

The directors have cancelled all SSES events (derby, general monthly meetings, Grand opening, seapen, etc) until further notice.

So stay apart, stay together and stay safe.

Bryan

April 3rd: Folks,

In light of the conditions we’ll be moving fish in tomorrow, bring gloves and masks if you have them. Sheringham Distillers have donated bottles of hand sanitizer to the society for use at the hatchery.

See you at 8:30am. Stay safe,

Bryan

April 2nd: Folks,

Bill : Who knows what's ahead for the next weeks ?  

Because of our dedicated volunteer base, and the fact that no one has contracted this virus yet,  if any one of us has to go into a 14 day quarantine period, that would mean that most of us would be out of our work force. 

The directors have agreed with Bill about emptying the hatchery.  

Thus we are going to move out our fish and close the hatchery until what ever comes down the road, before it happens. So Saturday morning at 8:30 at the hatchery we’ll start.  How long we’ll be at it will be decided Saturday morning

- for your info, last Saturday March 28 we made 5 trips to the Sooke River and emptied tanks 13 & 14 and thinned out all the troughs except the coho. That took from 8:30 until noon with 9 volunteers.

And yes we practiced our physical distancing.

See you Saturday

Bryan

March 26th: Folks,

We are running out of water (down to 460GPM) so …....shut down tanks 13 & 14 (the two big green tanks) and thin elsewhere possibly 3 to 4 trips.

See you Saturday March 28 at 8:30 am

Bryan

March 21st: Folks,

President Roger Praud and the directors have cancelled the 2020 derby (due to the Covid-19 virus). A notifying letter to our sponsors will be sent out to them. If you have collected any prizes please return them to the donor.

Further the sea pen has been cancelled for this year.

Bryan

March 17th: Folks,

Our water supply is dwindling - we were almost 600 IGM and today we are down to 510 IPM and the fish at growing > 1.5 g.

On Wednesday (March 18) morning at 8:30 we’ll meet at the hatchery and be ready to move about 120,000 fry out (7 or 8 trips).

See you there, Bryan

January 8th: Folks,

An open house is planned for April 26 (a Sunday) in order to thank our sponsors and volunteers who gave their time and money to making the new Sooke River Jack Brooks Hatchery possible.

A committee with Elida and Bill has started but they require more people to help. Decisions have to be made on:

• sponsor board - location, plaques, dollar categories, etc
• other ways the donations and volunteers can be recognized
• and other function details

Rather than have only two people making decisions, members of the SSES need to make their feelings known. So …. should you want to participate (3 or 4 meeting are envisioned) please respond back to me by Wednesday January 15.

Thank you for your consideration

Bryan

Letter Published in Sooke News January 22nd 2020

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