ODFW is looking for volunteers to help with the fall Chinook program at Salmon River Hatchery this fall. Shifts are available starting October 1, and help may be needed through the end of November.

In 2017, volunteers helped distribute 1189 adult Chinook salmon totaling 14562 pounds to 9 Oregon food share organizations and helped process and/or pass 2023 Chinook, 480 Coho, 6 Chum and 4 Summer Steelhead at the Salmon River Hatchery adult trap.

Salmon River Hatchery releases 200,000 adipose-marked and coded wire tagged 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 Hatchery fall Chinook are the indicator stock to estimate the exploitation rate for all fall Chinook on the North Oregon coast. 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.

Visit https://midcoaststep.ivolunteer.com for more information, or to sign-up for a volunteer shift. For questions, contact Christine Clapp at christine.m.clapp@state.or.us or (541) 961-6386. The Salmon River Hatchery is located at 575 N. North Bank Rd. Otis, Oregon. Hatchery supervisor Michelle Viss can be reached at (541) 994-8606.