Okanagan Nation Alliance happy to receive thousands of salmon eggs at Penticton facility

Salmon eggs make it safely

Photo: Contributed

Salmon eggs safely delivered.

The Okanagan Nation Alliance is celebrating the successful arrival of thousands of salmon eggs at the hatchery in Penticton.

"Last week, 6,236 eyed ntytyix (Chinook) salmon eggs from Chief Joseph Hatchery [in Washington] arrived safely," reads an update from the ONA.

"Our team carefully transported the eggs by vehicle in a temperature-controlled cooler. Crossing the border required multiple permits, and every egg successfully passed disease screening and visual inspection by an aquatic veterinarian."

The eggs are part of ongoing collaboration throughout the Columbia River basin, both north and south of the border, and the ONA is grateful for the ongoing partnership.

"While the transport itself took only hours, its significance stretches back generations and far beyond this single moment, it is one small part of a much larger story," they stated.

Eggs are raised in incubation rooms at the ONA facility and strategically released in May/June when the fry are large enough to be viable in local waterways.

For more information about the hatchery and work to restore the local salmon run, click here.