Issaquah Salmon Hatchery
 
For 60 years the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery has been instrumental in the lives of millions of salmon. Built in 1935 with government funds, the hatchery has struggled in the past to obtain money to keep it running. This year the hatchery received $1.5 million for operating, capital and research costs.
Keeping the hatchery operational has been a major interest for many local residents. The major support group is Friends of the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery (FISH), which is dedicated to the preservation of the hatchery, its salmon and area waters.
Visitors of the hatchery, located at 125 E. Sunset Way, can do a self-guided tour by reading signs that explain the life cycle of salmon. During the spawning season, which begins in the fall, adult Chinook and Coho salmon swim up Issaquah Creek to the hatchery. There they are killed, but their eggs and sperm are collected for incubation. After two months, the eggs hatch into fingerlings, which are released into rearing ponds.
The fish start arriving in early September, with the Chinook coming through late October. Coho arrive in mid-October through about the first of December. The Issaquah Salmon Days Festival, which will be held Oct. 7 and 8, celebrates salmon each year with more than 200,000 visitors. Most of these people then visit the hatchery, adding to its approximately 10,000 adult visitors each year.
About 1 million juvenile salmon are put out in Issaquah Creek in the spring. From there, they swim into Lake Sammamish, then lakes Washington and Union, with the Pacific Ocean being their ultimate destination. The other salmon are given to local school children to raise.
Self-guided tours are permitted during daylight hours.
See also: Issaquah Salmon Hatchery page at F.I.S.H.
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