Bow Habitat Station – Sam Livingston Fish Hatchery

Bow Habitat Station is comprised of both Pearce Estate Park Interpretive Wetland and Sam Livingston Fish Hatchery located at 1440 17A St SE, Calgary, AB

The actual hatchery was really informative as you’re able to see the entire raising of the fish from egg to adulthood. In this particular hatchery, they raise 6 species which are:

    Rainbow Trout, oncorhynchus mykiss
    Brook Trout, salvelinus fontinalis
    Brown Trout, salmo trutta
    Cutthrat Trout, oncorcynchus clarki
    Bull Trout, salvelinus confluentus
    Artic Grayling, thymallus arcticus

At the time we went, they were raising mostly Rainbow trout, and here are the steps before they get pumped to lakes for civilians to fish in the summer.

  • Sam Livingston Fish Hatchery - Entrance
  • Sam Livingston Fish Hatchery - Incubation Sorter
  • Sam Livingston Fish Hatchery - Incubation Room
  • Sam Livingston Fish Hatchery - Stages of growth of eggs
  • Sam Livingston Fish Hatchery - Rainbow Trout Fingerlings
  • Sam Livingston Fish Hatchery - Early Rearing
  • Sam Livingston Fish Hatchery - Rainbow Trout
  • Sam Livingston Fish Hatchery - Rainbow Trout Feed
  • Sam Livingston Fish Hatchery  - Final Burrows Pond in Hatchery for the Rainbow Trout

The first step in this Hatchery is to collect the eggs, which are collected either in the wild while or from the Raven or Allison Creek brood trout rearing stations where the brood stations raise adult trout specifically to supply fertilized eggs to the hatcheries. They raise these eggs in the incubation tray.

Alevin to Fly – after the eggs hatch, they have a phase where they have a little yolk sac, at this stage, they are alevins. Once the yolk sac is gone, they become fingerlings. They will move these fingerlings into tanks where they become large enough to get transported to the Burrows pond. In the final burrows pond, the rainbow trouts are about 23cm long and about 14 months old.