DOWN ON THE FARM

In a unique partnership, 40,000 “Jumpstart Project” winter Chinook are being reared at Mt. Lassen Trout Farm. The young fish receive food throughout the day from belt feeders over each of six raceways at the private facility that is helping to restore the endangered salmon stock in the Battle Creek system. (LAURA MAHONEY/USFWS)

FISH FARMERS AND BIOLOGISTS TEAM UP IN SALMON, RESTORATION EFFORTS

By Laura Mahoney

When you think of a private fish farm, you don’t typically think of conservation, but that is changing through a new partnership.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Coleman National Fish Hatchery and Mt. Lassen Trout Farm have come together to raise endangered Sacramento River winter Chinook salmon and release them into Battle Creek as part of the “Jumpstart Project” aimed at reintroducing winter kings to the watershed. A NEW APPROACH

Phil Mackey has been raising trout for nearly 50 years at the trout farm, so when biologists approached him about using one of their hatcheries as a location to rear endangered winter Chinook, he didn’t hesitate.

Mt. Lassen Trout Farm is a private aquaculture facility that is primarily known for raising trout that are used in stocking lakes and ponds, and providing food fish to restaurants around the state of California. Mackey and his daughter, Katie Harris, are co-owners of the farm and take great pride in the fish that are raised at their facility.

“Wow, it would be such an honor to play even a small role in the restoration of the Battle Creek watershed,” Harris said when she learned that the farm would be used for raising winter salmon. “This is something very unique, and we are extremely proud to have the opportunity be involved in this ambitious endeavor."

Mackey and Harris both said that they have never heard of any other private hatchery working with government agencies for conservation related to an

WILD CALIFORNIA Along with those reared at the trout farm, another 120,000 winter kings are being raised at Coleman

endangered species. National Fish Hatchery. Both

“The reaction from the private aquaculture industry has been extremely batches will be tagged to study their relative survival and spawning success. (JAKE SISCO/USFWS) positive,” Harris said. “Folks I work with through the U.S. Trout Farmers Association and National Aquaculture Association always ask how the project is doing.

They are rooting for the success of this as much as anyone because they recognize what a big deal this partnership is.”

SHORT HISTORY, BIG IMPACT

Hydroelectric development on Battle Creek in the early 1900s resulted in winter Chinook being completely excluded from their historic spawning habitat within the creek and extirpation from the watershed. Until recently, there has only been a single spawning population of winter fish that exists, which is downstream of Keswick Dam in the Sacramento River – completely outside of their historic spawning range.

However, that all began to change in 2017 when the National Marine Fisheries Service, California Department of Fish and Wildlife and USFWS decided to jump-start the reintroduction efforts of winter kings in Battle Creek, today’s

Brett Galyean (right), project leader at Coleman and Phil Mackey, president of Mt. Lassen Trout Farms, discuss raising the Jumpstart salmon. The Chinook are housed in a building with strict fish health protocols that require all boots and gear entering the building to be disinfected. (LAURA MAHONEY/USFWS)

Jumpstart Project. Between March and April 2018, over 220,000 juvenile winter kings were released into North Fork Battle Creek.

The juvenile fish released into the creek were the progeny of captive broodstock spawned at Livingston Stone National Fish Hatchery, USFWS’s winter-run hatchery that’s located at the base of Shasta Dam. After spawning, the juvenile fish were transferred to Coleman, where they were raised for a few months to imprint on the water, and then were released.

Coleman is a federally owned and operated hatchery on Battle Creek and has successfully raised salmon for decades. However, the water used at Coleman is a mixture from both North Fork and South Fork Battle Creek. Biologists are concerned that this mixing of water may result in adult salmon imprinting on

and returning to South Fork Battle Creek, where water temperatures are often too high for spawning winter fish. So, they needed a way to increase the imprinting on North Fork Battle Creek.

Multiple agencies and partners, including CDFW, Bureau of Reclamation, Pacific Gas & Electric, USFWS and NMFS collaborated to come up with alternative locations on North Fork Battle Creek where winter Chinook could be raised for the reintroduction efforts.

Laurie Earley, a USFWS supervisory fish biologist, has worked on fish conservation efforts in Battle Creek for close to 15 years and is the lead biologist from the Red Bluff Fish and Wildlife Office for the Jumpstart Project. She said the group worked for many years to assess locations for rearing and to obtain support. Finally, in June 2019 funding was provided by CDFW and in September 2020 an agreement was finalized with the farm.

“There were a lot of people that assisted in getting this project up and running. From project development to the final cooperative agreement, it truly was a team effort,” Earley said. “Working with partners like Phil and Katie, who are invested and passionate about the success – not only of this project but the restoration and reintroduction efforts in Battle Creek – has strengthened the collaborative nature of the project.”

As the project enters the fourth year of releasing fish in Battle Creek, the hard work is paying off. During the 2020 return year, over 1,000 adult winter kings returned to Battle Creek (California Sportsman, November 2020). These fish were released in 2018 and 2019 and completed their journey to the Pacific Ocean and back to what is expected to be the natal spawning grounds for Battle Creek winter salmon. For the first time in decades, biologists were able to document these fish spawning in Battle Creek and North Fork Battle Creek. They

Katie Harris and Phil Mackey from Mt. Lassen Trout Farms, and Laurie Earley and Brett Galyean from USFWS discuss the Jumpstart Project winter Chinook at Mt. Lassen Trout Farm. They meet frequently to discuss the different steps associated with raising, tagging and releasing the fish. (LAURA MAHONEY/USFWS)

even captured some juveniles in a rotary screw trap in lower Battle Creek, showing that the spawning was a success.

LOOKING AHEAD

This year 40,000 winter Chinook are being raised at the farm, with 120,000 more reared at Coleman. Brett Galyean, project leader at Coleman, communicates often with Mackey and Harris to discuss the growth, care and feeding of

An adult winter Chinook that returned to Coleman in February 2020. This female was part of the very first release of salmon into North Fork Battle Creek in 2018. “There were a lot of people that assisted in getting this project up and running. … It truly was a team effort,” biologist Laurie Earley said of the collaboration.

(LAURA MAHONEY/USFWS)

As the salmon grow, they are moved from the indoor rearing facility to this larger outdoor raceway where they will remain until they are released. This outdoor raceway is surrounded by an electric fence to prevent predators, like bears, from entering the area and preying on the young fish. (LAURA MAHONEY/USFWS)

the fish at both facilities.

“Katie, Phil and the staff at the Mt. Lassen Trout Farm have done a great job observing and learning the subtle differences in rearing and feeding winter Chinook salmon than other salmonids,” said Galyean.

The fish from both the farm and Coleman will be released together into North Fork Battle Creek in the spring of 2021. Using a combination of coded-wire tags and acoustic tags, biologists will monitor the two groups of fish after release. The acoustic tags allow for real-time tracking of fish when they are released into the creek and coded-wire tags will be used for long-term monitoring of fish when they are captured as adults. This information will be used to help biologists compare the survival and, eventual, spawning success of the two groups.

This new approach to tackling conservation’s challenges has brought about a partnership between unlikely partners.

“I have appreciated the mutual respect between everyone involved with this project,” Harris said. “The collaboration and support we have received from all of the agencies involved has been tremendous.”

Galyean added, “I look forward to working with them on this project for the next few years.” CS

Editor’s note: Laura Mahoney is an information and education specialist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (fws.gov/ cno). For more on Mt. Lassen Trout Farm, go to mtlassentrout.com.

Built for Adventure!

THUNDER JET • BOULTON • FISH-RITE

With our factory-trained technicians for Yamaha, Suzuki, Mercury, Tohatsu and Honda motors, we can handle any project from electronic installs to complete boat and motor overhauls.

Need a new motor for your current boat? Best prices around on Repowers! MAXXUM MARINE

Toll Free 877-4-Maxxum