The Pallant Creek hatchery is humming with activity this month as thousands of chum and coho salmon return, ready to spawn. Right now the crew is busy intercepting mature chum and collecting their eggs and milt. The average female chum is loaded with 1,500 to 2,000 eggs - the hatchery is trying to collect 25-million eggs over the next few weeks! The eggs and milt are mixed in buckets at the hatchery, then set to grow in fresh water-fed metal boxes. Coho are expected to start showing up later in the month. The hatchery is run by the Haida Fisheries Program.