Spring at Glenwood: Marking and Tagging Coho and Chinook for Selective Fishing

Glenwood Springs Hatchery provides sport and commercial fishing opportunities in northern Puget Sound and southern Georgia Strait through its Chinook and coho programs. Marking and tagging these fish is a key operational aspect of Glenwood Hatchery. We began our 2010 marking and tagging season in late April and will continue through mid-May.

All Chinook and coho reared and released from Glenwood Springs are “marked” by having their adipose fins clipped. This enables fishers to identify them as being from a hatchery, and therefore okay to keep.

“This year to-date, we have released 140,000 coho from Glenwood Springs,” reports Hatchery Manager Mike O'Connell. “In late May/early June, we will release approximately 550,000 fall Chinook.”

100,000 of those Chinook will be 'tagged' with tiny coded-wires that indicate the specific hatchery from which they came, as well as other information like their release date.

Mike notes: “The data ultimately collected from the wire tags allows us to better understand their contribution to harvest and determine whether the adult fish that are supposed to return to the hatchery are 'straying' and commingling with wild fish in streams where they are not supposed to end up.”

Chinook tagging is made possible by the generous support of Northwest Marine Technology, which donates coded wire tags, the injector units, and the quality control detectors (to make sure the tags were injected properly) that we use every year to complete the tagging.