NY's Salmon River Fish Hatchery: How a New Generation of Salmon is Spawned

Ask any resident of New York's Oswego County what has had the most impact on the economy there, and they will answer FISHING. In fact, if you Google "Oswego County NY", the vast majority of the search results will be fishing-related.

Why? Because Oswego County, and the Pulaski NY (pronounced Puh-lask-eye) area in particular, has become synonymous with great fishing. Each year, hundreds of thousands of Chinook and Coho salmon leave Lake Ontario and return to the river where they were spawned. The salmon run is not only spectacular for fishermen- even if you don't fish, watching someone fight one of these huge fish on sportfishing tackle will get your adrenaline pumping. It is not uncommon for a fisherman to land a 30 lb. (or larger) salmon on the Salmon River or the area around the mouth of the river in Lake Ontario.

 But Mother Nature isn't able to perpetuate this annual pilgrimage of the salmon by herself.  Since 1980, the Salmon River Fish Hatchery, located in Altmar, NY, has been stocking these salmon into the Salmon River after collecting their eggs and raising the fry. The hatchery also handles the spawning and stocking of Skamania steelhead, brown trout, and landlocked salmon.  It is situated on a small Salmon River tributary, giving it access to the main river for collection and stocking. Each year, the hatchery is responsible for raising and stocking about 2,000,000 fingerlings (4 to 5 inches long) and about 1,000,000 yearling fish. The fingerling salmon that are stocked into the Salmon River migrate downstream to Lake Ontario, where they grow quickly on the abundant food sources there.

The river was originally populated with Atlantic Salmon. Today, Chinook and Coho salmon are the most prolific Salmon River spawners, although an ambitious campaign has been launched to re-introduce the native Atlantic salmon as well.  

 At the Salmon River Fish Hatchery in Altmar,water is supplied from several sources; the river itself, wells, and creeks. The hatchery estimates the flow of water through the fish ladder and it's extensive array of holding tanks at about 10,000 gallons per minute.

A "fish ladder" has been constructed to enable the salmon to follow their natural instinct...the instinct to swim upstream to their original place of birth to do their spawning. The ladder is a succession of low concrete barriers with a constant flow of water. The fish jump each barrier on it's way "upstream".  The flowing water mimics the river itself, directing the fish into holding tanks at the top of the fish ladder.

From the holding tanks, the fish are then directed inside the hatchery building through a tube system.
Once inside, the fish are sorted by sex, size and other factors. Females are stripped of their eggs through an incision in their belly. Each female salmon contains between 2,500 and 7,000 eggs, depending upon the species. Chinook salmon are the larger variety, so of course they contain more eggs. The eggs are placed in trays awaiting fertilization after stripping them from the female salmon. Each translucent, orange-colored egg is about the size of a small pea.

 Next: the boys step up to the plate. Sperm is taken from the male salmon by a milking process. One hatchery worker manipulates the abdomen of the fish to push the sperm out while another holds a collection bottle. Of course, only one microscopic sperm is required to fertilize each egg, so the volume of sperm collected from the males is much less than the volume of eggs collected from the females.

Once the eggs and sperm are collected, it's time for fertilization. The sperm from the males is deposited into the tray containing the female's eggs. Rumor has it that the tray used to be stirred with a turkey feather to mix them together, which presumably was a more gentle method of mixing the eggs and sperm - however on my visits to the hatchery, the hatchery workers stirred the mixture with their hands.

After fertilization, the trays are placed on a vertical rack system with many other trays of fertilized eggs. Again, the system is set up with flowing water to mimic the natural water flow in the river; water enters the top tray, and as it fills and overflows, it fills the next lower tray, and so on. I assume, although I'm not sure, that the water containing the sperm is re-circulated through these trays to assure that the eggs become fertilized.

The temperature of this flowing water is what determines how long it takes the eggs to develop.

The newly-hatched emergents are called sac fry, and are fed at first by the yolk-sac protruding from their abdomen.

After the yolk sac is absorbed by the growing fry, they are started on a diet of dry food. As they grow, the size of the dry food is increased to meet the dietary needs of the fry. Fry and fingerlings at the hatchery are hand-fed several times a day, and the yearling fish are sometimes fed with an automatic feeder system.


The fish are re-introduced to the river at various stages of development. Fingerling Coho salmon are stocked in the fall when they are around 4 to 5 inches long. The Chinook salmon fingerlings are stocked in the spring, and they average about 3 inches in length. Some fish are released directly from the hatchery's holding tanks into the Salmon River.

Once in the river, the young fish make their way downstream to Lake Ontario, where they will grow to adulthood. And when they're ready to spawn, guess where they will go? That's right....they'll make their way back up the Salmon River from the lake to reproduce in the same place where they were spawned. Their homing instinct is well-honed indeed- how a salmon is able to return to ONE particular Lake Ontario tributary among thousands is one of the wonders of nature.

 As I mentioned before, the Salmon River Fish Hatchery has put places like New York's Oswego County and Pulaski, NY on the map.

Pulaski is now known as "The Salmon Capitol of the Northeast", and rightly so. Located a mere 15 minutes from the mouth of the Salmon River at Port Ontario, it's the ideal location to land a trophy salmon. Thousands of fishermen descend upon Pulaski each fall to wade the river and claim their bragging fish. The local economy is geared toward accommodating the influx of visitors; hotels, motels, and bed & breakfasts are everywhere, offering fishermen every option. Tackle shops in Pulaski will set you up with everything from hip waders to hooks...catering to the salmon run crowd is their livelihood, and they treat their customers accordingly. If you stop at a tackle shop in Pulaski, plan on spending some time getting tips from the locals. They're eager to share the best techniques for landing a salmon, where to have your fish fileted or smoked, and where to get the best steak in town.

To sum it up, for a fall fishing vacation or a day trip, you can't go wrong with a trip to the Salmon River and the Salmon River Fish Hatchery. Bring your camera...it will be an experience to remember!

The Salmon River Fish Hatchery is located on County Route 22, one mile northeast of the Village of Altmar, Oswego County. The Hatchery is open to the public from April 1st (weather permitting) to November 30th, 8:30 am to 3:30 pm daily (these are new hours starting in 2010). Tours for organized groups may be arranged in advance by contacting the hatchery manager at 315-298-5051.