Fish Ladder Practices

Today's question: My family and I were at the Whitehorse fishladder this past summer. Our kids loved it! At one point during our visit we noticed some employees netting fish out of the viewing tank. The personnel then proceeded to hit the salmon with a large club. Is there any reason that they are doing this, because as an animal rights activist I found the sight quite appalling and would like to know why it happened.

Thanks for the question. Obviously this is a sensitive issue, since it is difficult to see these beautiful creatures killed, especially in this manner. While I am not aware of this specific incident, I expect the fishladder staff were planning to collect eggs from this salmon, which are used at Yukon Energy's fish hatchery about a kilometre south of the fishladder. The eggs are incubated over the winter and then the young fish (fry) are released into local streams in the spring. This helps to maintain the Yukon River chinook salmon population.

It is a sad fact that females must be killed for their eggs to be collected. The manner in which they are taken at the fishladder is consistent with fish hatchery practices throughout North America. A quick death ensures the least amount of discomfort to the fish and the best egg quality (other methods such as letting them die from lack of oxygen would result in a longer death and damage to their eggs). Note that, in the wild, both the male and female chinook salmon die after depositing and fertilizing their eggs.