December 22, 2021, by admin

An end of the year tradition for the Hatchery Crew is to use the last week of the semester’s aquaculture courses, for students and staff to make holiday gifts for friends and family… with a twist. We made pink tail ornaments and fish prints! It wouldn’t be from the hatchery if it wasn’t fish themed or a little unique.

Fish printing is a traditional form of Japanese art that began over 100 years ago as a way for fishermen to keep a record of the fish they caught. In its most basic form, paint is applied to the fish and paper is pressed on to imprint the body, scales, and other detail. Additionally, earlier in the year the crew cut and saved the tails from pink salmon with the intention of baking dry and turning them into festive ornaments and decorations. One of the key identifiers for a pink salmon is its heavily spotted tail which we think just looks beautiful hanging from a tree. These activities are looked forward to year-round and promote the usage of the entire fish, tail and all.

We want to wish everyone a warm Coho ho and humpy holidays from all of us here at the Sheldon Jackson Hatchery!