The O’Connor Lake Pen Facility
The O’Connor Lake Net Pens facility is truly the jewel to NVISEA’s juvenile rearing facilities. The O’Connor lake pen system has twelve 145 square meter individual pens protected by a predator net.
The system is operated from September, when fry are transferred from the hatchery, In May smolts are released to natal streams. NVISEA’s current O’Connor production is 150,000 Coho smolts.
The advantages of lake pen rearing is primarily associated with reduced costs as no electricity is required. Solar powered automated feeders are on site.
Juvenile Enumeration
For our O’Connor Lake Net Pen site NVISEA operates a fence on the lakes outlet stream, serving a dual purpose of enumerating the O’Connor Lake contribution to Keogh River out migrants and acting as safeguard capturing hatchery – clipped escapees. NVISEA also conducts presence / absence surveys, species identification and distribution surveys and fry salvage / removal projects. NVISEA utilizes electrofishers, minnow traps and juvenile seine and isolation nets to perform these tasks.