Salmon Rearing Program

This is a “restart” of the salmon rearing program at the Oak Harbor Marina. The Marina reared Coho and Chinook salmon from 1982 - 2012. During that period, the Marina released nearly 1,000,000 salmon into Oak Harbor Bay. the program stopped in 2013 due to Washington State budget constraints. 

City staff spent two and a half years working with Washington State to restart the program. The City recently received approval to receive 30,000 Coho salmon in December 2021. The Coho salmon will be put into two net pens to grow until early May and then released into Oak Harbor Bay. Staff anticipates that 10% of these salmon will return to Oak Harbor Bay in three years. 

Continuing the Program for the Future

The program is coming back to the Oak Harbor Marina because of 12 volunteers building the pens and the receipt of several donations to help offset the startup costs of the program. 

There are three goals for this project. Each goal includes its own distinct outcome. The goals are to provide an outdoor classroom for students to learn about salmon, revive fishing in the Oak Harbor area, and assist with Governor Inslee's Salmon task force recommendations. The goals are:

  1. Create an "outdoor" classroom where students from Oak Harbor Public Schools will be part of the entire salmon rearing program to gain "hands-on" experience with the salmon, learning about how they live and grow. Students will participate in the arrival, feeding, and release.
  2. Revive a once-thriving salmon fishery in this area and aid tourism in Oak Harbor. A thriving fishery once existed in this area and this will create a desire for more fishing in this area.
  3. Support the "Southern Orca Recovery Task Force" recommendations and aid with providing food for the orcas. 
  •  Sustain the priority focus with increasing salmon abundance through habitat protection and restoration, increasing hatchery production while maximizing competition wild stocks and decreased predation. 
  • Prepare an implementation strategy to reestablish salmon runs above existing dams, increasing prey availability for Southern Resident orcas.

Fish Feedings are Tuesdays, Thursdays & Saturdays at 9:00 am. 

By Main walkway and D dock

Coho Release Flyer 2026
Additional Information about the Program

Learn about the Salmon Rearing Program from Marina staff