Ferndale High School aquaculture students are getting a close-up look at the salmon lifecycle through a partnership with Lummi Nation’s Skookum Creek Hatchery.
Last fall, students spawned coho salmon at the hatchery with the help of staff, then fertilized the eggs in their classroom hatchery. Fish began hatching in January.
“This is the first time we’ve hatched salmon eggs here in this incubator,” said teacher Nicole Perry.
Students gathered around Perry as she extended one of the incubator trays from its holding deck. A few students shined lights from their cellphones into the water, illuminating a collection of orange coho eggs.
The room buzzed with excitement as students noticed a few of the salmon had hatched from the confines of their eggs, stretching into oblong alevin not quite ready to swim.
Bill Finkbonner, who retired from a 47-year career at the hatchery, fielded questions from students and is helping the class troubleshoot how to best care for the salmon in the school facility.
“I really enjoy coming in and helping these kids,” Finkbonner said. “It’s good to get them in here so they can actually see what working with fish is like.”
The goals of the class include teaching students skills applicable to jobs in fisheries, environmental science and natural resources management. Staffing those roles at tribes, as well as across other government sectors and organizations, is critical to sustaining salmon and Northwest ecosystems for the future.
“There are so many job opportunities in fisheries: stream monitoring, tagging, enforcement,” Finkbonner said.
For Lummi tribal members and juniors Russel Covington and Emilio Little Brave, the class is shedding light on the kind of work some of their relatives do in hatcheries in Whatcom County and in other areas of the state.
The boys—both accustomed to seeing adult salmon in the Nooksack River caught by tribal fishers and smoked to perfection— said they hadn’t expected to see the early life stages of salmon unfold in their classroom.
“I’m pretty stoked,” Little Brave said. “It actually got me thinking about working at a hatchery because I like being out on the river.”
The class also is tending to goldfish and other species held in fish tanks. Each student is tasked with keeping the water quality healthy in their designated tank. They learn to monitor and manage water chemistry and are graded on how well they keep it in balance.
“There’s a lot to learn from the tanks about water quality and the nitrogen cycle that they will need if they’re ever going to work in the fisheries industry,” Perry said.
Graduates have taken jobs at Lummi’s hatchery and natural resources department. The class runs all school year, is open to all grades, and is offered in beginning and advanced levels.
Surrounded by students, Nicole Perry, who teaches aquaculture at Ferndale High School, shines a light on coho eggs and hatchlings in student care through a partnership with Lummi Nation’s Skookum Creek Fish Hatchery. Photos and story by Kimberly Cauvel
