Spring Creek National Fish Hatchery Mass Marks
15.1 Million Salmon

A substantial level of planning and coordination has been conducted for the Columbia River in order to prepare for the implementation of the Congressional mandate to mass mark all federally funded hatchery fish produced for harvest and will initiate the largest marking operation ever attempted. For the second year, Spring Creek National Fish Hatchery (NFH) will mass mark the 15.1 million tule fall Chinook salmon raised to mitigate for losses from dams in accordance with U.S. v. Oregon release goals. This operation will require daily handling of about 264,000 fish in 16 hour days from late January to early April. In the past, only 450,000 fish (66,000 to 88,000 per day) were marked and tagged with coded-wire, requiring fewer than 14 eight hour days.