Burnett Inlet Hatchery is located on Etolin Island, approximately 30 air miles from the City of Wrangell. The hatchery was built by the Alaska Aquaculture Corporation (AAC) in the 1970s to produce pink and chum salmon. Following AAC’s bankruptcy in the mid-1990s, SSRAA assumed operation of the facility in 1995. Since then, SSRAA has significantly expanded the hatchery’s incubation capacity and, at times, raised sockeye and coho salmon in addition to chum salmon. Currently, Burnett Inlet Hatchery produces only chum salmon, and there are no plans at this time to incubate or rear other species at the facility.
Current production:
- Up to 31 million summer chum for release at Burnett Inlet.
- Up to 25 million summer chum for release at Anita Bay.
- Up to 27.5 million summer chum for release at Port Asumcion.
- Up to 10 million fall chum eggs for release at Burnett Inlet.
Returning adults are harvested in common property fisheries and provide broodstock for Burnett Inlet as well as cost recovery for SSRAA.