Broodstock
“Broodstock” refers to mature fish that are specifically selected for breeding in a hatchery environment. These fish are used to produce eggs and sperm (milt) to raise the next generation of young fish, known as fry.
Under their kł cp̓əlk̓ stim̓ hatchery initiative, the ONA collects adult sockeye and chinook salmon from the Okanagan River. These mature fish (broodstock) are held just long enough to harvest eggs and milt, which are then fertilized for rearing in the hatchery.
Goals
- Collect eggs and milt from 900 – 4000 ripe female and male Sockeye salmon (1-5 million eggs)
- Follow best practices to maximize egg survival
- Collect ovarian fluid and kidney tissue for disease testing and screening
- Biosample 400 adults for fork length, sex, DNA, and hatchery marks
The ONA’s broodstock program is the backbone of their sockeye salmon restoration work—collecting millions of eggs and milt annually, incubating and raising fry in a modern hatchery, and releasing them to rebuild sockeye and chinook populations to their traditional waters. It merges scientific methods with Indigenous leadership, culture, and values to restore a keystone species and secure food sovereignty for the Syilx/Okanagan people.
As part of the kł cp̓əlk̓ stim̓ initiative, ONA has been beach-seining and collecting eggs and milt from adult Sockeye in the Okanagan River for rearing and release into Skaha Lake. Since 2004, ONA has stocked Skaha and Osyoyoos Lake with hatchery-reared fry and monitored their growth, survival, and impacts on the Skaha Lake food-web and effects on kokanee populations. Results so far have been very promising; the program has been a success story. As of 2014, ONA has been rearing the fry in the new kł cp̓əlk̓ stim̓ Hatchery.
By fall of 2024, following decades of habitat work for salmon restoration habitat, the Okanagan Nation Alliance announced a major accomplishment — a chinook salmon made it back into Okanagan Lake. The first ever confirmed ntytyix, an adult Okanagan Summer Chinook, passed the Penticton Dam fish ladder and migrated into the Lake. This marked yet another triumphant success story for the ONA in their work towards kł cp̓əlk̓ stim̓ (cause to come back).
The ONA works in partnership with regulating agencies (Federal and Provincial) and they are aware of all our projects. ONA is a founding member of the Canadian Okanagan Basin Technical Working Group (COBTWG), which provides technical and management recommendations for the Reintroduction Program. The Syilx Okanagan Nation has never signed treaties, nor relinquished our right to harvest and manage the fishery. Ultimately, ONA is working to study, manage, and rehabilitate the native fish community and aquatic resource as whole.
See Also
Suggested Resources
ntytyix Chief Salmon
Fish in Schools (FinS)
