Visiting Bonneville Fish Hatchery in Oregon

The Bonneville Fish Hatchery is a great place to stop during your travels along 1-84. It sits on Tanner Creek, close to where it empties into the Columbia River. The grounds are lovely to walk around and have a picnic, as well as explore the hatchery.

This hatchery is Oregon’s largest and has been around for over 100 years. Hatched here are Coho Salmon and Chinook Salmon for release in the Columbia River. Some young fish are also sent to other hatcheries.

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The gates open to Bonneville Fish Hatchery at 7:30am each day. There is no fee to visit and you can explore at your leisure as the tour is self guided. Take a little time to see interpretive displays, rainbow trout, Herman the sturgeon, and find a little something in the gift shop.

REARING PONDS

The rearing ponds are used for coho salmon and fall Chinook, and other fish as needed.

SPAWNING BUILDING

Spawning takes place during the fall. If you visit during other times of year, not much is happening in the building. But, you can watch a video on the spawning process at the hatchery. The video is a bit graphic, but very informative. The part that I remember most is fertilization of the salmon egg. Many eggs from females are held in a bucket. The sperm from the males have been collected in a cup. The sperm cup is then dumped into the bucket of eggs. Voilà, fertilized fish eggs.

STURGEON VIEWING & INTERPRETIVE CENTER

Inside a little white building is an underwater viewing area where you can watch fish doing fish things. There are trout and sturgeon, including 500 pound Herman the Sturgeon.