Thinking of Volunteering? Or just wondering what we do?
Interested in learning and teaching others the importance of restoring and maintaining our Pacific Salmon population? Want to gain some valuable hands-on experience to pursue a career in the ecological field? Volunteer at the Tynehead Hatchery!
Volunteers have a very important job, as the entire hatchery is volunteer-operated! Most volunteers choose not only to give their time freely but also to pay membership dues to support the Serpentine Enhancement Society. The tasks they perform include teaching classes of elementary school students, running workshops for citizens, and of course participating in egg takes and the raising/releasing of salmon fry, as well as work and feeding shifts.
This is how our years goes. This may assist you in looking at what you may be interested in:
Late September to Mid-November – collection of brood stock salmon from the river occurs days and evenings/7 day a week during the rains. The brood stock donates their eggs and milt so we can raise their young in the Hatchery. We like to have minimum of two men work together on this in shifts.
Mid October to late November – egg collection/fertilization from our brood stock occurs as the salmon “ripen” and ready for egg taking. Usually a 24 to 48 hour notice is sent out by e-mail to all volunteers. This can occur on any day of the week.
November to April – egg picking twice weekly. This consists of picking the dead eggs from the trays of salmon eggs that are on incubation. This is done to prevent infection of the healthy eggs. This usually occurs on Wednesday and Saturday mornings.
January through end of May – daily cleaning and feeding of the salmon fry within the salmon troughs inside the main building. This is where the fry salmon grow large enough for release. We need two people for every day of the week for the whole time the fry salmon are in the troughs. This usually takes two hours first thing in the morning.
Fall and Spring – Classes for children/scouts etc. on Wednesday and Thursday run in the fall and then again in the Spring. We use a minimum of four volunteers each of these days as we break the groups into at least three groups to tour.
May – Salmon Sendoff/Open House on the Saturday before Mother’s Day. This is our largest donation collection event. All hand on deck before and after. Good organizers an asset! All sorts of events including trout fishing, face painting, fishing for pearls, crafts for children, concession and much more!
June – All our salmon have been released back into the river. So this is the time for cleaning of fish tanks and incubator shelves
July – September – maintenance if needed plus major maintenance/project work – hatchery is basically closed.
We are also looking for people with experience /interest in fund-raising, bookkeeping, assisting with our website and maintenance skills (plumber, electrician, etc.
Volunteer Form
For more information on volunteering, stop by the hatchery or Email us