By May, the Bell-Irving Hatchery is down to a “mere” 110,000 coho fry and juveniles. The (up to) 80,000 coho fry are in the Capilano Troughs, continuing to be fed and grow, and 30,000 juveniles are in the rearing ponds. From mid-May to the end of the month, the roughly 15,000 coho in Pond 1 are transported by DFO to the Brunette River watershed for release. Even though these fish were born and raised in Kanaka waters, they “imprint” on their release streams and will find their way back to those streams to spawn, typically 18 months after release. Once the last of the coho juveniles have been released, the rearing ponds are drained to allow the sun to sanitize the ground. The coho smolts are typically 25-30g in weight when released.
