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The Salmon River Fish Hatchery

The Salmon River fish hatchery is one of the nation's most modern facilities.  It supplies New York with chinook, coho, and steelhead for both Lake Erie and Ontario.  It is operated with water from the Salmon River (and wells), which travels through the hatchery and empties via a fish ladder into Beaverdam Brook.  The fish ladder also serves to allow the fish to swim directly into the hatchery as they migrate up through Beaverdam Brook.  The hatchery attracts more than 500,000 visitors annually, many of whom come to watch egg collections from steelhead, coho salmon and chinook salmon returning to the hatchery.  For those of you who haven't visited it, listed below are several pictures of the facility.


The layout of the major parts of the Salmon River hatchery.  The exact position of each item and their sizes are estimations and are not drawn to scale.
 
 


Salmon trying to get past the pipe weir on Beaverdam Brook (which diverts fish into the fish ladder) and salmon waiting there turn to go up the fish ladder or try their hand at getting past the weir.

 Fish ladder leading fish into the hatchery.

Salmon in the ladder and jumping one of the steps.
 

Holding raceway at the top of the fish ladder (with salmon waiting to get in) and more adult holding raceways.
 

Outside raceways for juvenile rearing.

Inside raceways for newly hatched trout and salmon and spawning room.  



 
 
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