Yesterday 62 pairs of kokanee have been spawned at Moran Creek, which means a total of 182 were caught for spawning at the Moran Creek Hatchery.

The spawning process at the hatchery involves combining the male sperm with the female eggs and washing them with cold water to help solidify the process. There has been at least three pounds of salmon eggs collected.

The salmon that come in tonight will be allowed to naturally spawn. Islanders are invited to come watch the spawning at 5:30 p.m. tonight by the pedestrian bridge at the day-use area.

The hatchery

Fish Hatchery operations have taken place at Cascade Lake intermittently since the 1960s. In 2007 the park decided to convert the structure next to Moran Creek into the current hatchery.  Friends of Moran raised funding for the conversion which included tanks, rearing troughs, plumbing components, viewing tank and more. The hatchery is accessible for viewing by park visitors, which provides Friends and state parks an opportunity to make visitors aware of hatchery operations and why the hatchery and Kokanee are important to the park and lake ecology. Nearly 72,000 gallons of water travel from Moran Creek through the hatchery and into Cascade lake in a 24 hour period.