Nechako salmon hatchery hailed as major step toward rebuilding struggling stocks

Thompson said the project reflects a long-term commitment to protecting and rebuilding wild Pacific salmon populations that have experienced years of decline across British Columbia.

“This is a plan to conserve and rebuild wild Pacific salmon and the ecosystems that depend on it,” Thompson said. “It’s hard work. It’s rooted in partnership, persistence, passion and environmental sustainability.”

The hatchery represents one of three new salmon enhancement facilities planned for the region as governments, First Nations and community partners work to address declining salmon returns.

For the Lheidli T’enneh First Nation, the project carries both cultural and environmental significance.

Chief Dolleen Logan said local First Nations have experienced firsthand the impacts of diminishing salmon populations, particularly following the 2019 Big Bar landslide on the Fraser River, which severely disrupted fish migration routes and led to years of restricted fishing opportunities.

“Remember the Big Bar slide?” Logan said. “We’ve been trying to recover from that and it has been horrible. We’ve had five years where we couldn’t fish in our rivers, where we have fished for thousands of years.”

The hatchery is being designed as a conservation-focused operation rather than a traditional production hatchery aimed primarily at supporting commercial harvests.

Officials say the facility will initially have the capacity to raise approximately 400,000 juvenile Chinook salmon each year. The design also allows for future expansion, including increased Chinook production or enhancement programs for other species such as sockeye salmon.

Once fully operational, the facility is expected to contribute thousands of additional returning adult salmon annually.

Lee McCabe, a project engineer with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, explained that the hatchery will provide a carefully controlled environment to maximize survival rates during the vulnerable early stages of salmon development.

“The eggs then hatch in the hatchery in a controlled environment where we manage water flow and temperature for optimum survival,” McCabe said. “The fish are then moved to different tanks and larger tanks as they grow larger, where they’re reared for up to a year in freshwater before being released back into the wild to go to the ocean and then return again as adults.”

The project will include three major buildings and utilize a phased construction approach. Workers are currently completing Phase 2 of what is expected to be a four-phase development.

Construction is scheduled to continue through 2027, with the final phase expected to wrap up in the spring of 2028.

Even after the hatchery begins operations, residents will need to be patient before seeing measurable returns in local waterways.

“The salmon return in different cycles, but typically it’s about four years,” McCabe explained.

Because of those natural life cycles, the first generation of fish raised at the facility may not return as mature adults until several years after they are released.

The announcement also comes as Fisheries and Oceans Canada faces staffing challenges in some regions. However, department officials insist the federal government is committed to ensuring long-term success for the operation.

Steve Gotch, Senior Director of Operations with DFO, said resources have been redirected to support the new facility and ongoing recruitment efforts are underway.

“The department has reprofiled our resources to ensure that we have the personnel and the capacity to facilitate the long-term success of these facilities,” Gotch said.

“So as far as the long-term vision for this project, the commitment from the Government of Canada and the department is strong, and we have the personnel in place and will be doing some recruitment with the Lheidli T’enneh.”

Employment and training opportunities are expected to become a major component of the project.

McCabe noted that members of the Lheidli T’enneh community, particularly younger generations, are already participating in educational programs connected to hatchery operations.

“They’ve been doing training sessions on how to run and work in this hatchery,” he said.

The conservation-based approach is intended to support multiple salmon populations throughout the watershed without negatively affecting naturally occurring wild fish stocks.

“It’s conservation based, which is different and newer from your traditional hatchery where you’re producing fish for harvest,” McCabe added. “This is intended to enhance multiple stocks for multiple different watersheds throughout the region and do it in a way that’s sustainable and not impacting the wild fish.”

Officials say balancing intervention with ecosystem protection has been a guiding principle in the planning process.

The Lheidli T’enneh describe the project as an opportunity to strengthen stewardship efforts while helping restore salmon populations that are critical to Indigenous communities, local ecosystems and recreational, commercial and food fisheries throughout the Fraser River system.

The hatchery is being developed through a government-to-government partnership, with a focus on maintaining biodiversity and ensuring future generations can continue to benefit from healthy salmon populations.

While construction crews continue their work on the riverbank, project partners acknowledge that salmon recovery is a long-term undertaking that will require patience and continued collaboration.

Still, federal officials, First Nations leaders and project engineers all expressed optimism that the hatchery will become a key tool in rebuilding declining salmon stocks and restoring one of the region’s most important natural resources.

by Cheryl Jahn

Nechako salmon hatchery hailed as major step toward rebuilding struggling stocks

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