In the Spring of 2017 the City of Ukiah partnered with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to test a Remote Spawning Incubator (RSI) at the site of the historic Gibson Creek Hatchery. These systems are relatively small and easy to implement in tributary streams. They use the stream’s natural water flow to provide a protected, clean water environment where the fish can develop in preparation for exiting into the wild. The systems have been used for many years in Washington and Oregon to help bolster fish populations; however, California has been slow to adopt the systems.
For the Gibson Creek installation a spring box was installed upstream and connected to a secondary filter barrel which fed into an incubator barrel housing the 6300+ steelhead trout eggs from Warm Springs Hatchery in Geyserville. Once hatched the fry developed in the incubator until they were large enough to swim to the top and exit through the outflow pipe into Gibson Creek.
