Bucket after bucket was carried from the hatchery to Hoy Creek just south of the hatchery for release.

Not even a month in Hoy Creek Hatchery’s Capilano trough, 23,500 chum fry made an earlier than expected exit into Hoy Creek on March 20.

The chum had to make way for the coho fry which were ready to leave the incubation stack.

The last time the Society raised and released chum fry was in 2017, and before that, the society had not raised chum salmon since the mid-90s.

The hatchery Capilano trough now houses around 10,500 coho and the outdoor rearing pond holds approximately 2,800 soon-to-be smolts that will be released in May.