STEELIES/26c3
10-12-2014, 11:51 PM
FROM THE NIMBUS HATCHERY FACEBOOK PAGE:
To answer some of the questions coming in, here's a little more detail on how the fish ladder works:
On the 31st of October, hatchery staff will open the valves to allow water to flood the ladder. This will wash out dirt and detritus that has built up over the summer, allow the staff to check that everything is working properly, and give the salmon time to find this new "channel" of the river.
On Nov. 3rd, at around 10 or 10:30 am (I will post a more specific time once it has been determined), the staff will open the gate at the foot of the fish ladder, allowing salmon to enter and to begin to climb up. The staff will count the fish as they enter, and once they judge that several hundred have entered (which takes a matter of minutes, not hours!) they will close the gate. This is to prevent overcrowding in the holding tank at the top of the ladder.
From then on, the ladder will be "open" in the sense that water is flowing through it at all times, but the gate at the foot of the ladder will only be opened AS NEEDED to allow more fish to enter once the ones already waiting at the top have been brought into the hatchery and spawned. The opening of this gate is NOT on a set schedule, and when it is opened, it's usually not open for long--again, to prevent overcrowding. This is why we typically don't announce when the gate is being opened on Facebook--by the time people see the announcement and come over, it's closed again.
The fish make their way up at their own pace, so whether you will see fish jumping the ladder on any given visit is largely a matter of luck--think of it like seeing a shooting star!
You can, however, see the fish that have gathered at the top anytime the hatchery is open (currently 9am-3 pm).
Finally, we anticipate having trout in the raceways at the American River Trout Hatchery next door once they have completed installation of the new chillers and have successfully brought the water temperatures in their raceways down to healthy levels--sometime in mid-November.
To answer some of the questions coming in, here's a little more detail on how the fish ladder works:
On the 31st of October, hatchery staff will open the valves to allow water to flood the ladder. This will wash out dirt and detritus that has built up over the summer, allow the staff to check that everything is working properly, and give the salmon time to find this new "channel" of the river.
On Nov. 3rd, at around 10 or 10:30 am (I will post a more specific time once it has been determined), the staff will open the gate at the foot of the fish ladder, allowing salmon to enter and to begin to climb up. The staff will count the fish as they enter, and once they judge that several hundred have entered (which takes a matter of minutes, not hours!) they will close the gate. This is to prevent overcrowding in the holding tank at the top of the ladder.
From then on, the ladder will be "open" in the sense that water is flowing through it at all times, but the gate at the foot of the ladder will only be opened AS NEEDED to allow more fish to enter once the ones already waiting at the top have been brought into the hatchery and spawned. The opening of this gate is NOT on a set schedule, and when it is opened, it's usually not open for long--again, to prevent overcrowding. This is why we typically don't announce when the gate is being opened on Facebook--by the time people see the announcement and come over, it's closed again.
The fish make their way up at their own pace, so whether you will see fish jumping the ladder on any given visit is largely a matter of luck--think of it like seeing a shooting star!
You can, however, see the fish that have gathered at the top anytime the hatchery is open (currently 9am-3 pm).
Finally, we anticipate having trout in the raceways at the American River Trout Hatchery next door once they have completed installation of the new chillers and have successfully brought the water temperatures in their raceways down to healthy levels--sometime in mid-November.