Oyster River Enhancement Society - Volunteer run hatchery.

Cool! Projects such as this certainly add up, and very much make a positive influence!
There are a couple small scale operations like this in the Alberni area.
Good On those who help!! Great way of "Giving Back"!!

Cheers,
Nog
 
Now if they would only let us fish. :)
With all them volunteers you would think they would clip them coho so that a sportsman could take a fish home for dinner.
 
there are other hatcheries around that do clip fish, and will continue to clip fish even know DFO are not going to be clipping after this year.
 
Anyone have any info on the nine pound cutty hooked in the Oyster?

I read about it in one of our local papers, but I'm somewhat skeptical.

Anyone???


Take care.
 
gilwell said:
Well maybe they get fish from Marine Harvest, look it up they are connected!
Click to expand...

Yes they might get some dough from the fish farms but lots of small operations do it.
You have to get money somewhere to run as we don't get much from the government.
The choice is up to each operation. The one I belong to will not accept funds from fish farms.
But we are lucky because we have core funding and we get money from other sources.

Yup they don't clip and that's there choice by vote of the members.
We clip because our members voted to do so. That's our choice.
It takes a lot of effort to put on a clipping day and I would rather clip for hatchery purposes.
I hear that they may change the rules and let us start keeping unmarked hatchery coho.
When the rules change we will clip a lot less fish too.

gilwell you want to come out and give me a hand?
I was out all morning out planting feed fry with just one other guy.
It goes a lot better with four.

Don't slag these guys they are doing some excellent work.
Look at the graphs on there website.
They had next to nothing for fish and have built the runs back up.
I have respect for them even if they don't clip their coho.
Wish they did but it's their choice.

GLG
 
Although you can't retain the unclipped Coho that you catch here on ECVI, there are still enhanced Chinook, Pinks and Chum that are available for harvesting.

The point of the video is their need for new members to help fund the work that is ongoing at the hatchery, such as habitat rehabilitation, educational programs and salmon enhancement. Keep in mind their annual budget is $60,000, which is a very small fraction of government run hatcheries and arguably better results. All of the salmon species that are enhanced at ORES, are some of the same salmon that are sport/commercially caught on the East Coast of VI adding greatly to our local ocean, beach and river fisheries in the spring, summer and fall.

~ Ian
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Just a historical blurb but I worked at the Puntledge River hatchery under Harry Genoe in the late 70's and early 80's. This was in my opinion the hey day of the hatchery enhancement on the Puntledge as the Federal money for the most part seemed endless for projects. We were able to hire a couple of kids and the Federal program paid, if I remember correctly, approximately $7.35 an hour, give or take a few pennies, for the wages of the two kids (one of Pierre Elliots little known positive programs). I think minimum wage ran bewteen $2.35 and $3.25 an hour during that period. While the fin clipping was under way we only clipped a portion of the fish to be released. Yes the money was there but just think about fin clipping all those hatchery reared fish. Labour intensive and even with the money there, a partial clipp was all we did. It was my personal experience that no full time Vancouver Island Federally funded hatchery clipped 100% of the fish they released. It was just related to the shear numbers of fish vs time vs the available staff.

Anyone remember the low water fry recovery program on Rosewall Creek and Cook Creek that had assistance from the Courtenay Rod and Gun Club in the same time period as noted above??
 
I am out there helping!

Im not slaging them, I just chose not to suport the fish farms in way shape or form!

also a few years back I was going to join their program, but charging members 10 bucks a year? And now hearing that management gets a wage?

Awesome hatchery they do run there, its all off the grid... yes I have been there

GLG said:
Yes they might get some dough from the fish farms but lots of small operations do it.
You have to get money somewhere to run as we don't get much from the government.
The choice is up to each operation. The one I belong to will not accept funds from fish farms.
But we are lucky because we have core funding and we get money from other sources.

Yup they don't clip and that's there choice by vote of the members.
We clip because our members voted to do so. That's our choice.
It takes a lot of effort to put on a clipping day and I would rather clip for hatchery purposes.
I hear that they may change the rules and let us start keeping unmarked hatchery coho.
When the rules change we will clip a lot less fish too.

gilwell you want to come out and give me a hand?
I was out all morning out planting feed fry with just one other guy.
It goes a lot better with four.

Don't slag these guys they are doing some excellent work.
Look at the graphs on there website.
They had next to nothing for fish and have built the runs back up.
I have respect for them even if they don't clip their coho.
Wish they did but it's their choice.

GLG
Click to expand...
 
Red Carey said:
Just a historical blurb but I worked at the Puntledge River hatchery under Harry Genoe in the late 70's and early 80's. This was in my opinion the hey day of the hatchery enhancement on the Puntledge as the Federal money for the most part seemed endless for projects. We were able to hire a couple of kids and the Federal program paid, if I remember correctly, approximately $7.35 an hour, give or take a few pennies, for the wages of the two kids (one of Pierre Elliots little known positive programs). I think minimum wage ran bewteen $2.35 and $3.25 an hour during that period. While the fin clipping was under way we only clipped a portion of the fish to be released. Yes the money was there but just think about fin clipping all those hatchery reared fish. Labour intensive and even with the money there, a partial clipp was all we did. It was my personal experience that no full time Vancouver Island Federally funded hatchery clipped 100% of the fish they released. It was just related to the shear numbers of fish vs time vs the available staff.

Anyone remember the low water fry recovery program on Rosewall Creek and Cook Creek that had assistance from the Courtenay Rod and Gun Club in the same time period as noted above??
Click to expand...

Since the formation of the Fanny Bay Enhancement Society by Jim Ackinclose in the 90s, the society has done fry salvage in the early summer on most of the Fanny Bay area streams if they start to dry out. The fish are brought back to the Rosewall hatchery were the volunteers use part of the DFO research hatchery for their programs, including keeping the fry until the fall when the water levels have risen. In some years they have smolted the fish before they release them back into the donor stream. In other cases they release them as parr to tough it out during the winter.
More info here: http://www.fbses.ca/

All these volunteer programs in the province that work with salmon have seen their core funding from DFO keep slipping away, forcing them to get donations from where ever they can. With the announced DFO budget cuts announced in Ottawa, there is a real probability that even more cuts are coming....
 
gilwell said:
I am out there helping!

Im not slaging them, I just chose not to suport the fish farms in way shape or form!

also a few years back I was going to join their program, but charging members 10 bucks a year? And now hearing that management gets a wage?

Awesome hatchery they do run there, its all off the grid... yes I have been there
Click to expand...

Good to see you say you are helping...... But it's not helping to link them to the fish farms like they are somehow one and the same.

As for your excuse, I'll pay for your membership if that's what holding you back.

Yup they pay for a Hatchery manager. Big deal, perhaps there was nobody stepping up to do the lions share of the work. I can tell you from experience that after many years of doing only a small portion of the work I'm getting burned out. That operation is a lot larger then the one we have and to tell the truth I envy them with their paid Hatchery Manager. Someone to call the shots and make the decisions. Organize the people. Keep the paperwork and the water flowing. Go to endless meetings and see no results year after year.... Yea I like doing that for no money. Not.

Yea you can say "Im not slaging them" and think you are not, or try to convince people you are not, but we can read and we can see.

GLG
Some people do and some people watch. I prefer to do.
 
The hatchery manager is paid 1/2 time. That operation requires someone to be at the hatchery everyday, the hatchery manager works 1/2 the time and the other 1/2 is worked by volunteers.
 
Thanks for that update and the link CL.

It is frustrating about the lack of funding especially when there are people willing to volunteer their time.
 
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