Close to 50,000 juvenile Chinook salmon will be released during the Nicomekl Enhancement Society (NES) open house in 91原创 on Saturday, April 26, running from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Nigel Easton, society president, issued an invitation to members of the public to help get the tiny smolts into the river that runs through the society hatchery at 5263 232 St.
"We look forward to seeing everybody," Easton said.
Each weighing about 5 grams, the tiny fish will be transferred in buckets from the hatchery to the waterway.
"These are the endangered Boundary Bay Chinook salmon that the orcas love to feed on."
There will be a live band, a concession stand, and BC Wildlife Federation is putting on a scavenger hunt
The society recently finished some upgrades, including a new well and a new refrigeration system to keep the water at the ideal temperature, funded with a Fisheries and Oceans Canada grant, Easton explained.
"We now don't have to recirculate the water, which could create a disease problem," Easton said, adding the hatchery has never had a disease problem, but the improvements will make it even less likely.
He said the volunteer non-profit society is looking for "new, young members" and invites people to find out more by visiting their website .
NES volunteers restore salmon habitat in the summer, collecting brood stock in the fall, rear juveniles through winter and release them in the spring.
The hatchery also stocks some of the tributaries that flow into the Nicomekl 鈥� Anderson, Chantrel, Pleasantdale, Murray, McClellan, Logan and Elgin.
The society got its start in 1989, when the 91原创 Rod and Gun Club hosted a public meeting to organize a group of 91原创 area volunteers willing to work on restoring and enhancing the troubled Nicomekl River watershed.
First known as Fish for your Future, and later as the Nicomekl Enhancement Society, the all-volunteer organization has released hundreds of thousands of salmon fry into the Nicomekl River, which originates in the Township of 91原创 and flows east to west through the City of 91原创 and Surrey to Mud Bay at Blackie鈥檚 Spit.
