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Bumper Year at the Hatchery
Fall 2024 has seen a huge run of spawning salmon in the streams and rivers of Vancouver Island, and the creeks on campus have been no exception, a sign of the success of Shawnigan’s Mark Hobson Hatchery thus far, and a valuable educational resource for current students.
There are more coho salmon spawning in Hartl Creek (which crosses the Shawnigan campus) than anyone can remember from previous years, said Hatchery Lead Mr. Louis Chancellor, and environmental science classes have been studying them to see exactly how many and where they are spawning. Some are no doubt salmon that were released as fry by past students and are returning to spawn as adults, while others are salmon who spawned in other creeks and are coming to fill available space in Hartl Creek, something that salmon are known to do when habitat is available.
A few of the fish have been used as broodstock for egg takes at the hatchery. Eight classes have harvested eggs and sperm from selected fish and combined them to begin the fertilization process, a great example of hands-on experiential learning at the School. It has been a productive year in the hatchery, with about 25,000 eggs taken. Once fertilized, they will be left alone until the classes revisit them in January to see how they have been developing.
Youngsters from the Shawnigan Montessori Preschool on campus have also visited the hatchery to see the fish and learn about their life cycles and how they are as parents, investing all their energy into offspring they will never meet.
The fish propagated in the hatchery will be released in late spring. With so many wild spawning fish this fall, the students can expect to see a lot of wild juveniles in the creeks when they release the hatchery-raised fry.
An art project arranged by Mr. Chancellor along with art teacher Mrs. Rainbow Bartlett honoured the salmon who were used for the egg takes. Students learned to apply ink to a fish, then apply paper to create an exact print of the fish. The format is based on the traditional Japanese method gyotaku, which was originally used by fishermen to record particularly interesting or noteworthy catches, and has since evolved into an artform of its own. This was the first time Mr. Chancellor has tried the project with an art class, although he did it with the Enviro Club 360 last year. The results turned out great, and there will be an exhibition at the School in December.
“They liked it,” Mr. Chancellor said. “Working with a dead animal is messy and smelly, but they enjoyed it. It was a fun class.”
We acknowledge with respect the Coast Salish Peoples on whose traditional lands and waterways we live, learn and play. We are grateful for the opportunity to share in this beautiful region, and we aspire to healthy and respectful relationships with those who have lived on and cared for these lands for millennia.
Shawnigan Lake School is an independent co-educational boarding school for ages 13 –18 on Canada’s beautiful West Coast. Our diverse, interdisciplinary and innovative programming helps shape the next generation of global leaders.
