Earlier this month, Klahoose Fisheries Guardian Ken Hanuse went to Toba Inlet to look at possible sites for a Klahoose fish hatchery. Fisheries consultant Dale Frame and Fisheries Biologist, John Ebell accompanied Ken and looked at sites in the Toba Valley.
"The traditional name of the area in the Klahoose language is called Yakhomen", says Elder Norman Harry Sr.

Jon Ebell, from Streamline Environmental Consulting Services spoke to Klahoose about the prospects of a hatchery in the Toba Valley:

“Salmon hatchery development is an ecologically complex and risky variable to add into areas of high wild salmon value like the Toba River. Luckily the homeland of the Klahoose Nation is diverse in its topography and resources allowing many sites and management strategies to be explored. The current reconnaissance project should provide some creative concepts for the band to consider.”

Dale Frame who has extensive experience building successful hatchery programs looks at these efforts as a community building experience, “What a hatchery program will do is build a sustainable, Klahoose managed program that trains and employs Klahoose members for years to come. Its more than just jobs, we are building depleted salmon stocks that effect the ecologically sensitive areas in the traditional Klahoose lands.”

Future ecotourism opportunities will benefit from the salmon enhancement program when the project is finalized by Chief and Council. Building salmon stocks and for a sustainable future is the priority on this important project.