Story and photos by Chris Walton
Posted: December 6, 2024
On Thursday, a team of Sound Salmon Solutions volunteers processed this year’s batch of coho salmon eggs at the Edmonds Fish Hatchery located at the foot of Pine Street in Edmonds.
In May, the eggs will hatch into baby fry salmon, which will eventually be released into local streams (Shell Creek, Willow Creek, Shellabarger Creek, Perrinville Creek, North Stream Creek and Meadowdale Park Creek).
This annual event is a wonderful opportunity for volunteers of all ages to learn about the salmon life cycle and to provide much-needed help with this important local salmon restoration project.
Kaelie Spencer, Edmonds Fish Hatchery manager, receives 85,000 coho salmon eggs at the state hatchery in Issaquah. Spencer and Joe Scordino of the Edmonds Stream Team then transported the eggs to the Edmonds Fish Hatchery. (Photo by Joe Scordino) 
Volunteers scoop eggs into net bags, which will then be soaked in an iodine solution for 10 minutes. 
Kaelie Spencer instructs volunteers on proper egg handling. 
Eggs are weighed to determine exact incubation tray quantities. 
Weighed eggs are then carefully poured into incubation trays. 
Trays are finally placed in the hatchery’s water bath storage system which receives fresh cool water from Willow Creek. Now we wait!