North Canterbury crowd turns out for salmon release

On Sunday a crowd of around 400 people gathered to farewell 60,000 young salmon raised at the Fish & Game hatchery. Children were given bucket loads of salmon to release into Montrose Stream, a tributary of the Rakaia River.

“Watching the salmon being released is a highlight of the year for hatchery staff and volunteers. Although there are always fish at different life stages in the hatchery, the release is a milestone for us and an opportunity to celebrate. The public really got behind us on the open day, and the kids had a great time,” said Fish & Game Officer Emily Moore.

Fish and Game North Canterbury have two salmon and trout rearing facilities where annually around 250,000 fish are grown for release into the wild. Next week Fish & Game will be releasing salmon from their Peacock Spring facility into the Otukaikino River (the south branch of the Waimakariri).

The enhancement work supplements other Fish & Game initiatives to enhance fish populations, including work to restore degraded habitats and Resource Management Act advocacy.