Upgrades to the Puyallup Tribe of Indians’ Clarks Creek Hatchery will boost the tribe’s mission to raise and protect salmon.
A grant from the Bureau of Indian Affairs and additional funding from the state funded the upgrades.
With the improvements, automatic crowders will lift salmon out of the ponds onto sorting tables, limiting the number of times staffers have to handle the fish. A new abatement pond that drains through the bottom will be more efficient, freeing staff from having to empty out silt and other materials throughout the year.
New electronics, variable speed drives, and five new vertical turbine pumps will modernize the hatchery further. New flow meters will measure water use. New cement walkways between raceways will be easier to maintain.
“It’s definitely a major upgrade,” said Blake Smith, the tribe’s fisheries enhancement chief.
Another change: trees around the acclimation ponds were logged so the tribe could add fencing and netting to protect against blue herons.
“There are two rookeries nearby,” Smith said. “They’d sit on the buildings and wait for us to leave for the day so they could eat (the fish).”
The upgrade work began last spring and is ongoing.
Clarks Creek isn’t the only tribal facility to see upgrades. The tribe’s Wilkeson Creek Hatchery purchased an air burst system similar to one in place at Clarks Creek. It’ll blow sand and debris from grating to ensure adequate flow to the fish in rearing ponds during high water events.
Puyallup Tribe of Indians fisheries enhancement chief Blake Smith inspects vertical turbine pumps, a new addition to the tribe’s Clarks Creek Hatchery. Photo and story: Trevor Pyle
