The fish were grown from eggs spawned in November 2002 and will be stocked into the Connecticut River in March 2005. The fish were injected with a multivalent vaccine to protect them against furunculosis and vibrio diseases for up to two years in the wild. They were also marked by removal of the adipose fin to identify them when they return to the Connecticut River in 2007.

To process them, the fish are crowded in their rearing units (or raceways) and netted into a central tank in a specially outfitted trailer. The fish are anesthetized to minimize stress, clipped, injected, and then put into pipes that carry them back to the raceway. They recover from the anesthetic within about three minutes. Finally, a trace amount of salt is run through their water to help heal the skin heal and regenerate the protective slime layer, which can be rubbed off by netting and handling.

The Connecticut River Restoration Plan calls for the production and distribution of 250,000 smolts per year, but this has never been attempted. Pittsford National Fish Hatchery has raised as many as 100,000 smolts and was responsible for the record salmon run of 1981. Smolt production was eliminated entirely in later years, until recently being resumed. It is expected that when Pittsford-raised smolts complete their oceanic life stage, numbers of adults returning to the Connecticut River will increase.