The Salmon Return Home To the Shuswap River

Every fall the Coho, Spring, Sockeye, and Kokanee salmon return to their spawning grounds east of Enderby in the Shuswap River gravel beds. The 360 degree panorama viewed below shows hundreds of salmon photographed at the confluence of Cooke Creek and the Shuswap River. The numbers of returning salmon were on a steady decline until, in 1981, the Kingfisher Community club supported the concept of a hatchery and environmental interpretive centre to address the problem.

The hatchery conducts one of the most successful Salmon Enhancement programs in the country. About 500,000 fry are raised in incubators until they reach the Alvin stage, then they are released into the Shuswap to begin their journey to the Pacific.

The Kingfisher Hatchery is located on six hectares just beyond the Cooke Creek Recreation Site, about 26 km east from Enderby, BC on Mabel Lake Road.

Click on the image below to activate the virtual tour.