Mossom Creek Egg-Take

Since 1976, The Mossom Creek Salmon Enhancement Project has been running with the help of Centennial School science teachers, Rod MacVicar and Ruth Foster.

"We wanted to encourage students to be involved in the environment. Making a difference in the community is what it's all about," says Foster.

Located off of Ioco Road in Port Moody, the Mossom Creek Salmon Hatchery is protected from flooding and siltation, making the site ideal for the return of fish.

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Every year, the Centennial Salmon Club, consisting of a small group of students, do their part to make sure that the salmon come back to spawn over the years. Each fall, the Centennial Salmon Club, the local DFO fisheries advisor, and curious students, head down to the mouth of Mossom Creek to do the annual egg-take. About 1000 Chum spawners return each year. A number that is very close to record levels.

"When we first started the program there were no fish. We brought eggs from a different hatchery and incubated them at Mossom Creek," says Foster. "Now we have approximately 1000 fish returning every year."

Students eagerly await with nets in the hopes to catch a few slow swimming fish. With backup nets set up down-stream, the numbers of fish getting away are minimal. Once a fish is caught, they are securely held and brought back to shore where they are then knocked unconscious. "I try to stay as far away as possible when the fish are being knocked out. It's something I don't really like watching," says grade 12 student, Shelley Kuromi.

After the fish is dead they are tested for sperm or eggs. The sperm is squeezed out of the male salmon and placed into a clean bag. The students have to be sure that the bag is free of water, or the sperm will be contaminated and die. The female salmon are cut and the eggs are removed from her. The average female will carry about 2000 eggs. The eggs are placed in a sterilized container to make sure that no other substances are mixed in, as well. The sperm and eggs are taken back to the hatchery where they are mixed for fertilization to occur. The whole process must be done quickly, or the eggs and sperm can only live for about 24 hours. The fertilized eggs are then placed in plastic trays, called heath trays, through which running water is constantly flowing. There are about 10 egg take days, and on average about 150,000 eggs are collected all together.

The eggs develop through the winter, until they hatch in the early months of the new year. The young salmon develop into the stages of alevin and then fry. In the early simmer the salmon are mature enough to be released into the wild. The hatchery has a 90% survival rate from fertilization to fry, compared with less than 10% in nature.

Aside from the benefits to the salmon, the hatchery also enhanced the surrounding ecosystem, providing food for seals and bears. Recently the hatchery worked together with the Centennial School construction class to build a bridge for the creek. The bridge provides shelter to the fish, and also protection from birds and other wildlife. The Mossom Creek hatchery provides students interested in pursuing a career in biology, a chance to gain experience. It serves as a learning environment that is interesting and fun.

A great deal of work and time is required to keep the Mossom Creek hatchery project running. Without the help of volunteers and students, the hatchery would not be running today, and the well deserved reputation it receives would not be known.

The Mossom Creek Salmon Hatchery is an institution where students, staff, and numerous volunteers, can come together in an environment where saving nature is the number one priority. A priority that more people need to be involved in.