Programs
Glenwood Hatchery Programs
Glenwood Springs Hatchery provides commercial and sport fishing opportunities to fishers in the north Puget Sound through its chinook and coho programs. Additionally, Glenwood Springs' facilities and staff are valuable resources for the research community and for local educators. Read more about Glenwood Springs programs by clicking on the links below.
Chinook Rearing
Glenwood Springs' first program, begun privately in 1978 by LLTK Board Chairman Jim Youngren soon after he acquired the property, was an experimental attempt to generate a chinook run where none had previously existed. Working with Washington State Department of Fisheries staff, Youngren used chinook eggs from the state's Samish River Hatchery to rear and release approximately 150,000 chinook annually for the next three years.
When the first adults returned in 1982, hatchery staff took eggs from these fish, and the run has been propagated from returning fish ever since. When Long Live the Kings was founded in 1985, the organization took over management of Glenwood Springs Hatchery. Since that time LLTK has mass-marked, reared, and released 500,000+ "zero-age" fall chinook (so called because they are released before they are one year old) in May and June each year. Of these, 100,000 have a coded-wire tag injected into their snouts.
Because there are no wild chinook originating in the area, Glenwood Springs provides a unique opportunity support commercial and sports fisheries while posing no threat to imperiled fish.
All chinook eventually are allowed to migrate out of the freshwater rearing ponds over a three week period (called a "volitional release"), rather than being forced out all at one time. A saltwater mixing pond, which mimics an estuary environment, is located at the mouth of Glenwood Springs' short stream course and gives juvenile fish a chance to adjust to saltwater, before they reach the higher salt concentrations of Eastsound Bay.
Adult survival is an important measure of the success of any hatchery program. At Glenwood it is measured by how many fish return to the hatchery and how many are caught. Returns to the hatchery vary from year to year; however, the average from 1983 to 2003 is approximately 740 annually, more than enough to sustain the run. Tagging Glenwood fish (see "Marking and Tagging" below) allows LLTK to track survival and contribution to harvest.
Coho Rearing
A coho program was successfully initiated at Glenwood in 1997, using Nooksack River eggs. Since then, LLTK has reared, and released 125,000+ yearling Coho annually in one of Glenwood's natural lakes. As a result of this program, there is a popular coho sportfishery in East Sound, where the returning adults congregate each fall. These fish are also mass marked, to allow for selective fishing (see "Marking and Tagging" below).
Marking and Tagging
Marking and Tagging fish is a key aspect of Glenwood Springs' operations. Marking the fish, by clipping their adipose fin, distinguishes them from wild fish. This serves to inform fishermen that they are hatchery fish, not of wild origin, and that the angler can keep that fish if it's of legal size. Over the years Glenwood Springs Hatchery has relied on paid helpers and local volunteers to complete the time-consuming task of manually clipping each fish's adipose fin.
Tagging 100,000 of our 550,000+ Chinook with a coded wire tag eventually tells us where they were caught, by whom, their contribution to both sport and commercial fisheries as well as overall survival. This work is made possible by the generous support of Northwest Marine Technology, which donates coded wire tags, the Mark IV injector units and the quality control detectors ( to make sure the tags was injected properly) that we use every year to complete the tagging.
Other Glenwood Springs Projects
Along with programs that directly increase the number of salmon available for sustainable fisheries, Glenwood Springs' facilities and staff are resources for the research community and for local educators.
