Noons Creek salmon hatchery is a 100% volunteer operated facility. We raise Coho and Chum salmon from eggs to fingerlings (young fish) before releasing them during the Fingerling Festival each May for their four-year journey in the Pacific Ocean.
The hatchery aims to be a welcoming community center and we encourage families to bring their children to visit, learn about the cycle of life, feed the fish, and maybe even join our volunteers!
History
The streams of this area once teemed with salmon and trout. We know from Indigenous Oral Histories that this area was once a favourite fishing ground, and we can still see Middens left by local communities at the mouth of Noons Creek.
The loss of the original salmon runs here reflects the decline of salmon stocks on countless similar small creeks along the entire Pacific coast, largely caused by habitat degradation and urbanization resulting from colonization of the land.
By working to enhance salmonid stocks and protecting riparian habitat, we also help many other species. The population of harbour seals in the Inlet increases each fall as salmon return to spawn, as do otter, minx, bears, bald eagles, coyotes, bobcats, American dippers, ospreys, and great blue herons - to list just a few. We often see these animals throughout the year both at the hatchery and in the surrounding park.
The parkland the hatchery is located on is leased from the City of Port Moody.
