Priest Rapids Hatchery Operations and Maintenance Annual Report: July 1, 2012 to June 30, 2013

Priest Rapids Hatchery (PRH) was designed as a mitigation facility for fall Chinook after Priest Rapids and Wanapum Dams were constructed, and is funded by the Grant County Public Utility District (GCPUD) and by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) for the John Day Mitigation (JDM) portion of the production. It has been in continuous operation since September 1963, and is operated by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). It is part of the WDFW’s Priest Rapids Hatchery Complex, which also includes the Ringold, Meseberg, Naches and Columbia Basin hatcheries.

The annual release goal for GCPUD in 2013 is 5.0 million sub-yearling smolts (at a target size of 50 fish per pound) or 100,000 pounds. All of the trapping, spawning and rearing take place at Priest Rapids Hatchery. Beginning in 1992, 1.7 million sub-yearling fall Chinook smolts have also been reared and released at Priest Rapids Hatchery (50 fish per pound) as part of USACE John Day Mitigation. Up to 15 million eggs are taken annually to meet all PRH production goals and for other programs, including the 3.5 million sub-yearling smolt release program at Ringold Hatchery.

PRH is staffed with three full-time hatchery specialists, one career-seasonal (9-month) hatchery specialist, and three career-seasonal hatchery technicians (see attached organization chart). The seasonal staff are utilized during trapping, spawning, and rearing to handle heavy workloads. These seasonal employees are also required to live in the PRH bunkroom during egg and sac-fry incubation when assigned to emergency standby. This allows them to provide an immediate response to alarms, as housing for full-time employees on standby is located twenty minutes from the hatchery. Temporary security positions are also filled annually during the time when fall Chinook are coming into the trap.

Trapping of returning fall Chinook salmon takes place approximately one mile south of the main facility, and fish are transported by truck to two of five channel ponds for holding. Spawning occurs adjacent to the holding ponds, and eggs are transferred by vehicle to be incubated in the main hatchery building. After hatch, fish are transferred by truck to vinyl raceways, where they are introduced to feed. Ten to fourteen days later they are transferred to the five channel ponds for final rearing culminating in a June release.

In addition to the incubation room, the main building is comprised of two offices, a bathroom and kitchen, boot room, storage room, and bunkroom. Other buildings on station include a walkin freezer and utility room for feed storage, a large shop with two semi-open covered bays for storage and enclosed shop area, six wells providing 6,650 gallons per minute of pathogen-free well water, a river-water intake, three degassing towers, and a multitude of other plumbing and electrical buildings. Eight raceways and two holding areas used by the PUD for rearing of study fish in the base of the old adult holding pond may possibly be utilized by WDFW in the future.