What We Do
The Little White Salmon National Fish Hatchery produces 1.4 million spring Chinook and 4.5 million upriver bright fall Chinook salmon for on-site release and another 1.1 million upriver brights for marking and transfer to the Yakama Nation Prosser Hatchery. We also collect eggs for various other federal, state, and tribal programs, bringing our annual egg take up around 16.5 million. Our annual production fulfills tribal trust responsibilities, and mitigates for tribal, sport, and commercial fishery losses associated with the operation of hydroelectric dams on the Columbia River.
Purpose & Authorizing Legislation: Little White Salmon National Fish Hatchery was established in 1898 to address the decline of tule fall Chinook, the native salmon stock that returned to the Little White Salmon River. In the 1930s, the hatchery began receiving Mitchell Act funds to mitigate for habitat loss due to the completion of Bonneville Dam. The oldest hatchery on the Columbia River, it provides salmon to fulfill Tribal trust responsibilities, mitigate for lost habitat due to hydro-electric projects on the Columbia River and provide salmon for commercial and sport fisheries.
Funding: Funding is primarily provided though the Mitchell Act, administered by NOAA Fisheries. Additional funding is provided by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as part of the John Day/The Dalles Dam Mitigation program, and the hatchery also receives funding to produce salmon for the benefit of southern resident killer whales via the Pacific Salmon Treaty.
Fish Produced: Little White Salmon produces 1.4 million spring Chinook and 4.5 million upriver bright fall Chinook salmon for on-site release and another 1.1 million upriver brights for marking and transfer to the Yakama Nation Prosser Hatchery. Little White National Fish Hatchery also collects eggs for various federal, state, and Tribal programs, bringing the annual egg numbers to around 16.5 million.
Hatchery Life Cycle
Fall: Adult up-river bright fall Chinook (brights) return and spawning begins in mid-October. Over 16 million eggs are taken for the Little White Salmon and Willard National Fish Hatcheries and several other programs.
Winter: Eggs for both springers and brights eye up and hatch. Button-up fry are moved to raceways and fed. One year old springers start to smolt (prepare for ocean migration).
Spring: Yearling spring Chinook are released in mid-April. Young brights have their adipose fins clipped and are coded-wire tagged to provide detailed information in the marine fisheries. The fish ladder opens for adult springers about May 1.
Summer: Brights are released. Fingerling springers are fed and adult springers can be viewed in our Visitor Center while being held until spawning in late August.