You Tube Of Salmon Hatchery

[J0nny Ling0]

Okay. There is a guy who is a summertime temporary where I work who likes to make videos with sound. And, he made a video of a particular phase of our operations here at the salmon hatchery. This phase is of when the little salmon, after being hatched out in our incubators and their yolk sacks are used up, are then transferred to out side places. This process is what we call "ponding". Some of them go into a tanker truck and then to our seaside remote site "net pens" for further growth before release. Others go into long concrete runs called "raceways". Others go into the hold of a commercial "seine boat" for a ride to more remote net pen sites. The crew seen in the video is not what I do there. These people are known as "fish culturists". Some of them are temps, and some are permanent employees year round. Two of the more prominent workers in the video are my friends Shawn and Cody. The fat blonde kid is Hans, whom we call Hansy Baby, or, Baby Huey. My job there is to "fix the things" that get busted up. You can see that there is a lot of aluminum there, and so, there lots of aluminum welding when it comes to repairs. That's just a little of what I do. We pump millions of gallons of water through the place for the sake of the wee fishies, and there is lots of maintenance on that end as well. If any of you can turn the You Tube link into an actual "click link" then please do! And turn your sound on, because it plays kind of like a "rock video". Also, it starts out kind of dark for the purposes of "art" I guess. But it gets lighter shortly after it goes on, so be a little patient. And so, enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDUYFg-lNiI

Edited May 3, 2007 by Jonny Lingo

[Belle]

I can't look at it right now, Jonny, but I will. Thanks for sharing with us!

[Bluzeman]

[J0nny Ling0]

Thanks Rick!

[likeaneagle]

Very cool Johnny!!

He actualy did a good job taping..The music was a little distracting..:)

What a cool job for a Alaskan..and a person who appreciates enviroment and the ecosystems..

I can see you really loving this job..

[J0nny Ling0]

Yeah, it is a way cool job. The next step for those little salmon is for them to be released into the sea where they can begin their four year journey that will miraculously bring them back to our fish ladder where we can harvest them, get their eggs, and start the process all over again. And, the next video this guy will do is this summer when the "returnees" from the batch four years ago show up at "harvest time" as we call it. That'll be a cool one, because, they (the salmon) will be between eight and twelve pounds! And they show up by the millions! Yeah, I love the job. I have always loved critturs, had lots of aquariums full of tropicals, locals, amphibians and reptiles ever since I was a kid. I got away from all of that during my stoner years, and then when I got in The Way, didn't mess with it much. And so now, I have a way cool job, good money, and lots of interesting things to deal with every day. In fact, today, I checked my mink trap, and there the little culprit was! The little sonzabitches steal our baby salmon all springtime long. And so, we trap 'em and take 'em at least three miles away and let 'em go so they can predate on other sources of food besides our precious crop of wee fishies...

P.S.

I didn't dig the tunes too much either.

Edited May 3, 2007 by Jonny Lingo

[doojable]

Yeah, it is a way cool job. The next step for those little salmon is for them to be released into the sea where they can begin their four year journey that will miraculously bring them back to our fish ladder where we can harvest them, get their eggs, and start the process all over again. And, the next video this guy will do is this summer when the "returnees" from the batch four years ago show up at "harvest time" as we call it. That'll be a cool one, because, they (the salmon) will be between eight and twelve pounds! And they show up by the millions! Yeah, I love the job. I have always loved critturs, had lots of aquariums full of tropicals, locals, amphibians and reptiles ever since I was a kid. I got away from all of that during my stoner years, and then when I got in The Way, didn't mess with it much. And so now, I have a way cool job, good money, and lots of interesting things to deal with every day. In fact, today, I checked my mink trap, and there the little culprit was! The little sonzabitches steal our baby salmon all springtime long. And so, we trap 'em and take 'em at least three miles away and let 'em go so they can predate on other sources of food besides our precious crop of wee fishies...

P.S.

I didn't dig the tunes too much either.

Jonny - are the considered "farm raised" or "wild"?

And did you already say what kind of salmon these were??

[J0nny Ling0]

They are not farm raised, they are wild. The only "non wild" part of their existance is the brief period of time they are in our incubators as eggs and then as "alevin". And then an even briefer time in our net pens as "fry" until we release them in June. After that, they roam the ocean seas as far away as Japan in the North Pacific, and eat all of the wild stuff that God has supplied for them, just like stocks that hatch out in rivers and then go to sea. Actually, fish farming is illegal in Alaska, and we take great pride in our salmon being wild. The words "farmed fish" are anathema to most Alaskans, and particularly to we at the hatchery. But your question is perfectly a fine one to ask, fer sher! :)

We have bumper stickers up here that say; "Friends Don't Let Friends Eat Farmed Fish". And, these in the video are Chum Salmon, and are also known as "Dog Salmon", their "slang name". They have been called this, because when they are mature, they have what looks like big old canine teeth right at the front part of their mouths.

http://http://www.flickr.com/photos/klevis/119448736/

Edited May 4, 2007 by Jonny Lingo

[J0nny Ling0]

"Bump"

[Bolshevik]

Cool video Jonny Lingo. Thanks for sharing. Job looks like alotta fun.