When I first met Mary King, I arrived early at her Soldatna's office doorstep thinking we would talk about fisheries management techniques. But Mary was getting ready to strip eggs from Salmon at the Crooked Creek containment area for the enhancement project. The Chinooks had started their late return and the eggs were ready to be stripped. Mary invited us along and we followed with cameras in tow.

Enhancement is a term used by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to describe stocking programs; enhancement programs are used on a very limited basis by the Department. With Alaska's abundance of natural spawning grounds, the Department finds it more effective to manage the wild stocks for maximum sustained yield - a term I explained in my previous post.

Click photo for YouTube video of Enhancement Projects

When we arrived at the Crooked Creek containment area, Chinook Salmon were already contained in the holding area and the staff was getting ready to enter the holding pens and hand select Salmon that were mature and ready for their eggs to be stripped and fertilized. The eggs are first stripped from the returning wild stock of female fish and then fertilized. The process is very involved and requires the a number of staff members. But this is not all that is taking place.

Click photo for YouTube Egg Take video

The Department also wants to insure that stocked fish are not straying to other streams and river systems. So, when stocked fish are released they are embedded with a coded wire tag in their snout. Stocked fish also marked by having their adipose fin clipped. This fin clip identifies the Salmon as a stocked fish. The stocked salmon that are returning to the stream are then retrieved by staff members for recovery of their coded wire tags. This process gives the Department information of where the Salmon was released from and what "year class" it was.

The scene at the Crooked Creek containment area is very hectic. Fish are being recovered and stripped of their eggs. Eggs are being fertilized and "hardened off" in preparation for their trip to Elmendorf hatchery. Stocked fish are being recovered and preparations are being made for the recovery of the codded wire tag embedded in them.

Click photo for YouTube Coded Wire Tag video

Our filming of this event could not of been planned. We just happened to be in the right place at the right time. The fish were returning and they had matured enough for there eggs to be stripped. What a wonderful adventure it was to take a peek at the science, facilities and staff activities involved in managing a great river system such as the Kenai.

I want to thank the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Mary King and associated staff members for making this opportunity available for filming.

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