July 7, 2023, by Lisa Teas Conaway

After listing both the Mill Building and the Spawn Shed on our Master Plan to rehabilitate and upgrade we are pleased to announce that they are done!

Our Spawning Platform and Incubation Facility (SPIFy) is newly completed and has updated 70’s-era equipment. We now have a 1,825 square foot steel building that will be home to our salmon eggs for many generations to come. The facility sports a newly designed fish ladder, raceways and a winch making the collection of brood stock for each season so much easier and more efficient for both our staff and students. Ready just in time for this years spawners! We are so pleased to be able to celebrate this milestone, and excitedly look forward to our future!

The Mill Building was originally built in 1940 as part of the Sheldon Jackson Training School. It cut it’s first lumber in January of 1941, and was later retrofitted to become a training facility for the first salmon hatchery ever permitted in the State of Alaska in 1976. The Sitka Sound Science Center purchased the property in 2010 and designs were drawn up to once again change the Mill, this time to better serve our scientists. After laboriously disassembling the building board by board, it was labeled and stored onsite while a new foundation was laid. Though the exterior is all new, nearly 90% of the original wood was salvaged. This intensive rehabilitation project was completed in 2020 and took about a year from start to finish. Unfortunately, due to the state of the world at that time we were unable to give it a proper opening but are gratified to be able to celebrate this monumental success along with our new Spawning Platform.

This project was supported by the Rasmuson Foundation, Murdock Trust, Northern Fund of the Pacific Salmon Treaty, State of Alaska Loan Fund for Fisheries Enhancement, CBC Construction, Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association, Inc., Silver Bay Seafoods, Douglas Island Pink and Chum Inc., Cargill Inc. and the USDA.