Brood Stock Development
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Frank Thrower
Fishery Research Biologist
(907) 789-6055
Frank.Thrower@noaa.gov
Cooperative research with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game was
initiated in 1976 to develop wild chinook salmon brood stocks at
Little Port Walter (LPW), to evaluate their potential
for use in commercial and sport fishery enhancement in Southeast Alaska.
As part of this research, excess egg production from returning adult
salmon to LPW was used to establish certain stocks of fish at specific
hatcheries approved to receive the eggs. Since 1981 when the first adult
female salmon from this research began returning, approximately 20
million chinook salmon eggs from LPW have been sent to other hatcheries. Eggs from these brood lines, developed from three different wild
Southeast Alaskan chinook stocks, have been distributed to seven
enhancement facilities to initiate, supplement, or change their brood
stocks. This increased production has supplemented the harvests of both
commercial and sport fisheries with more than 100,000 adult fish
worth millions of dollars.
Brood stock development work has also been done with coho salmon at
Little Port Walter. Currently, three large-scale production
programs producing more than 100,000 adults annually use the Sashin
Creek coho salmon stock developed at LPW.
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