The public is invited to discuss the Salmon River Hatchery fall Chinook program at a public meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 16 at 6 p.m. at the Otis Fire Hall (381 N Old Scenic Highway 101).

ODFW staff from the Coastal Chinook Research and Monitoring Program, Salmon River Hatchery and Mid-Coast Fish District will be on site to provide information about 2015 operations, plans for this season and to answer any questions. Contact Shannon Richardson, Shannon.Richardson@oregonstate.edu or 541-757-5121 for more information.

ODFW staff will also discuss volunteer recruitment and training plans for this fall. In 2015, Salmon and Trout Enhancement Program volunteers contributed over 500 hours at the Salmon River Hatchery and were responsible for the distribution of almost 6,000 adult Chinook salmon to food share organizations. Thirteen food share organizations in Oregon received fish from this program.

Volunteer training is scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 18, 10 a.m. at the Salmon River Hatchery located at 575 N. North Bank Rd. Otis. Additional information about the volunteer program can be obtained at https://midcoaststep.ivolunteer.com or by contacting Christine Clapp at 541-265-8306×253 or christine.m.clapp@state.or.us.

Salmon River Hatchery releases 200,000 fall Chinook salmon smolts each year to support a popular in-river recreational fishery, supplement ocean recreational and commercial fisheries, and provide information for the Pacific Salmon Treaty. Salmon River fall Chinook are the indicator stock to estimate the exploitation rate for all fall Chinook on the North Oregon coast.

Hatchery fish are adipose fin-clipped and coded wire tagged. The recoveries of these fish in the commercial and sport fisheries in Alaska, British Columbia, Washington and Oregon, along with recoveries at the hatchery and on the spawning grounds, are used to represent the harvest rate of Oregon’s coastal fall Chinook in these fisheries.