During the week of October 20, Pittsford National Fish Hatchery staff, with the assistance from other Service personnel and cooperators, vaccinated and fin clipped 102,000 Atlantic salmon. These salmon will be released as smolts (two year-old immature fish) in the spring of 2004 as part of the Connecticut River Atlantic Salmon Restoration Program.

The incidence of some diseases has affected the number of adults returning to the Connecticut River. To combat this, the salmon were individually injected with a multivalent vaccine to protect against infection from two bacterial pathogens for their remaining time at the hatchery and after release. The vaccine lasts for two years and will protect fish during their migration from the Connecticut River and during much of their time in the Atlantic Ocean. Atlantic salmon are reared at Pittsford for two years before being released into the Connecticut River and typically spend two years maturing in the ocean before returning to spawn.

Each fish was given an adipose fin clip to identify it, if captured as an adult, as originating at Pittsford National Fish Hatchery. The clips are used to identify returning adults as former hatchery smolts and will help provide information about the effectiveness of the vaccine. The vaccination and fin clipping were accomplished through the cooperative efforts of five U.S. Fish and Wildlife field offices, including the Lamar Fish Health Unit, Lake Champlain Fish and Wildlife Resources Office, Connecticut River Coordinator, Sunderland Office of Fishery Assistance and White River National Fish Hatchery. Also, staff from the Green Mountain National Forest, Vermont Fish and Wildlife, Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection and the Vermont Institute of Natural Science provided assistance. In all, cooperators provided the hatchery staff with 43 work days. They completed the clipping and vaccinating in four days.

NORTHEAST REGION, U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE -- Conserving the Nature of the Northeast