Coho Off to Sea After Successful Salmon Leave Home Event

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It's off to see until you are three! We'll see you again when you are all grown, and return to make your little ones a home. – A resident poses with his four-legged friend in front of our selfie-station. (Photo: HSWS)

Thanks to those who came to our Freshwater Hoy School Graduation of our cohos of 2022!

Our Salmon Leave Home 2022 theme was Keeping Salmon Safe, focusing on the health and life-cycle of the salmon, as well as the health of the riparian area. The event took place at Hoy Creek Hatchery on May 14.

Visitors were able to sign a bon voyage card for the salmon, pledge stating what they could do to protect the fish, take a photo in front of a selfie station and play the Plinko game trying to get their salmon to saltwater safety. Coho fry were on display and Rodney Lee provided salmon education. Families learned about the hatchery and salmon life-cycle as well identification of invasive plants for Invasive Species Awareness Month.

Rodney Lee, HSWS Director provides salmon education. (Photo: HSWS)

The first 18 months of the life history of the coho salmon is spent in a freshwater stream environment. HSWS volunteers incubate coho eggs and rear fry to the smolt stage in our rearing pond. From the creek, the smolts begin their journey to the ocean: Hoy Creek → Scott Creek → Coquitlam River → Fraser River → Strait of Georgia / Pacific Ocean!

In alignment with our theme, Keeping Salmon Safe, we did not do our usual salmon release with buckets. Our coho had a tough winter and our aim is to reduce their stress.

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HSWS volunteer, Jo assists a Coquitlam family with the salmon Plinko game. (Photo: HSWS)

Coho Smolts Released to Hoy Creek

Following the Salmon Leave Home event, we were able to release our coho smolts from the rearing pond – a pure coincidence with the event! This took place by lifting the boards between the rearing pond and the creek channel.

“Our objective was to time the release with high water and steady flows to ensure the smolts could have a safe run out,” said hatchery manager, Tyler Storgaard. “The conditions on the day of the event were good.”

2740 smolts were released with an average weight of 18.9g. It takes the smolts anywhere from two to seven days to make it out to sea.

View more photos on our Facebook page.

2019 is the International Year of the Salmon

The International Year of the Salmon is a five-year outreach and research initiative of the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC) and the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization (NASCO), with a focal year in 2019. It aims to raise public awareness, gather stakeholders, stimulate science, and inspire action to protect salmon. The endeavour covers several dimensions, including understanding the present status of salmon, the natural and human factors that affect them, and the ways in which communities can contribute to sustaining salmon. It also strives to improve and develop technologies and data systems, allowing us to better collect and share information that can help manage salmon populations and their environments responsibly.

Throughout the year, the Government of Canada will participate in events, and take steps to protect salmon populations. Together with leading conservation organisations, academia, Indigenous peoples, other countries, and scientists from around the world, Fisheries and Oceans Canada is pleased to take part in protecting wild salmon for future generations.

Follow the conversation on social media at #YearoftheSalmon and visit International Year of the Salmon.

(The above information was taken from the Department of Fisheries)

Facebook page: International Year of the Salmon - North Pacific

Salmon Leave Home to be held Sunday, May 7th

Join the Hoy-Scott Watershed Society on Sunday, May 7th for Salmon Leave Home at the Hoy Creek Hatchery which is located in the woods behind Douglas College north of Guildford Way in Coquitlam.   Salmon Leave Home provides the community the opportunity to help release coho smolts into Hoy Creek.  The salmon are approximately 17 months old and can range in length from 4 to 8 inches. Since their incubation, they have been living in a freshwater stream environment at hatchery.

The annual event takes place from 11am to 2pm and will go 'rain or shine'.  Society volunteers will net and bucket the fish from the rearing pond, and children of all ages will carry the buckets a short distance to the creek to release the salmon.

From there, the smolts begin their journey to the sea via Hoy Creek, then Scott Creek, then Coquitlam River, then the Fraser River, and finally into the Strait of Georgia at the Pacific Ocean! 

This free family event will also offer educational activities, and music will be provided by 98.7 The Point.

The Hoy Creek Hatchery is located on Hoy Creek Trail, west of the City Centre Aquatic Complex at the corner of Pinetree and Guildford Way.

Hoy Trail has a several entrances:
- Walk in from Princess Crescent;
- Walk in from behind Douglas College;
- Walk in from Guildford Way (between Johnson and Pinetree);
- Walk in from Walton Avenue, or behind Walton Elementary;
- Walk in from the foot of Lasalle Place.

To find the exact location simply Google, "Hoy Creek Hatchery."

Stay notified via our Facebook page and be sure to invite your family and friends!  Our event hashtag is #salmonleavehome, so if you attend, feel free to tweet or share, and check out what others are posting with our event hashtag.

(Photos from last year)