The 11th annual Smolt Festival was held at the Oldfield Creek Hatchery on May 4 and families from Prince Rupert headed to the creek to release smolt with the hope that one day they will return.
The annual fundraising event gives Rupertites the opportunity to learn about the life-cycle of salmon and then release small coho smolt into the Oldfield Creek.
READ MORE: VIDEO and STORY: Juveniles releasing juvenile… salmon
Mike McDowall, a volunteer at the Oldfield Creek Hatchery, said this is the best part of his year, adding there are lots of activities for the family to participate in.
Tina Cann, also a volunteer at the event, manned the salmon print art stand.
“It takes four years for them to come back this big and the kids learned how to tell the difference between male and female coho,” Cann said.
READ MORE: Smolt Festival releases thousands of smolts into Hays Creek
Lorelle Sunduk is the Vice President of the Prince Rupert Salmonid Enhancement Society and was at the event and said that this year, around 7200 coho smolt would be released into the creek.
“This is the 11th year running for the festival and we want to thank all the volunteers for making the event possible, ” Sunduk said.
gareth.millroy@thenorthernview.com
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