Pictured are Faith Matthew's children, Ryan and Hannah. Matthews was a student in Biology Instructor Amanda Gunn's Microbiology course last quarter. Matthews became a regular volunteer at the Fish Lab. Matthew's children are seen sorting the eggs for
The Grays Harbor College Fish Lab, which last year brought an abandoned building back to life and released its first crop of coho salmon into Alder Creek in Grays Harbor, is now slated to begin it's 2016/2017 season.
This year students and volunteers from the community will be raising 5,000 coho and 5,000 chum salmon for release into Alder Creek. The lab received its 5,000 coho and 5,000 chum salmon eggs and will begin raising the two species.
The two different species provides an opportunity to compare differences in development, something that students weren't necessarily able to do within the last program. The new chum salmon mature much more quickly than their counterparts and will become smolt and be ready for release by late winter or early spring.
Raising the chum salmon will help to maintain Alder Creek as a healthy habitat. Chum salmon are found to be good for the environment because they plow upstream and can physically clean up the bottom of creeks, helping to create a healthier habitat for a variety of other aquatic species.