Nitinat Hatchery

[Flatlander]

Had an exploratory visit above Lake Cowichan today. Is this ever a nice area
of the island and a special river. Had a quick tour of the hatchery and boy
are they ever efficient with what they have to work with...certainly a worthwhile stop if you are ever up that way. Things are obviously slow right now with only some native cuts in the river. They are expecting an average steelhead return this summer and then it is full steam ahead for the fall.

Worth the trip.

Cheers
flatlander

[SalaR]

The Nitinat River is one of the most abused Rivers on the Island.... that was once a great river indeed. Today, we see too much habitat destruction from Logging interests , too many fishing abuses come Salmon Season and unfortunately the Steelhead Hatchery Program was cut a few years ago along with several other Rivers including the Conuma and the Seymour (North VAn') Rivers. The employees at the Nitinat are very comitted to Steelhead but have had their hands slapped .
So,basically,The Nitinat is a Chum rearing River, a good run of Chinook and last years Coho run was disasterous..
To hear numbers like 50 Steelhead and lower should indicate the poor State of the entire system.
Being close to the San Juan,Gordon,Cowichan and Harris Creek has benefited the few fish by not being targeted too much.
Welcome to the Island...
C