Ottawa spending $50M to build three B.C. salmon hatcheries

Ottawa has allocated over $50 million to build three salmon hatcheries in British Columbia, aimed at conserving the species. The largest contract, worth $38 million, is for the Upper Fraser River Salmon Conservation Hatchery near Prince George, B.C., within the Lheidli T'enneh First Nation territory. Two additional contracts of approximately $7.5 million each will fund a hatchery near Hanceville, B.C., to be operated by the Tŝilhqot'in First Nation on traditional territory, and the next phase of the Wilp’Ho Dix Hatchery in the Skeena River system, also operated by the Tŝilhqot'in.

Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson stated that the federal government will own and operate the Upper Fraser hatchery, while Gitanyow First Nation will share operations of the Wilp’Ho Dix Hatchery. The combined capacity of the three facilities is expected to raise more than one million juvenile Chinook and sockeye salmon annually.