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Since 2004, NSEDC has been developing a new technique to increase salmon returns and to restore salmon to useable habitats where they are no longer found. The process of mist incubation and eyed-egg planting involves gathering eggs from female salmon when they are ready to spawn. The eggs are then fertilized and raised in incubators where they are kept moist with a constant spray of mist. When they reach the “eyed-egg” stage and are almost ready to hatch, the eggs are planted in un-utilized or under-utilized reaches of a river or stream. The idea behind this process is that when the planted eggs reach maturity, the fish will return to these targeted rivers to spawn. Our first experimental plantings in 2004 took place with chum salmon on Hastings Creek, a small drainage that flows directly into Norton Sound. The possibility of failure was very real, but in 2008 and 2009 chum salmon returned to Hastings Creek—an initial success in a challenging location. Since that initial planting, NSEDC has expanded the chum program to include plantings on the Nome, Snake and Solomon rivers. NSEDC’s first Coho egg-takes occurred in the Snake River with the eggs planted on Anvil Creek. A tributary to the Snake River in the Nome area, the creek has been degraded by a great deal of mining activity. We have done several years of egg-plants on Anvil Creek, often with the participation of students from Nome Public Schools. As of 2010 we have planted more than 280,000 Coho salmon eggs on Anvil Creek. The return of hundreds of Cohos to Anvil Creek in 2009 and 2010 are an indication of the success of this effort. Our work with local schools on this project includes students from Nome Elementary School, the Anvil City Science Academy and Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps cadets from Nome-Beltz High School. The Anvil City Science Academy has won awards and grants based on NSEDC’s cooperation with the eyed-egg planting projects. In the summer of 2011 we are planning egg-takes and plantings on the Solomon and Snake rivers. NSEDC is currently exploring the possibility of extending this technology to Chinook salmon. We are identifying under-utilized Chinook habitat and taking year-round temperature measurements with remote data loggers to identify possible planting sites.
For more information contact:
Norton Sound Economic Development Corporation
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