The Main Bay Hatchery is an ADF&G Hatchery that PWSAC operates under contract, located in Main Bay, Prince William Sound, approximately 40 southeast of Whittier. The hatchery was built in 1981 by the ADF&G Fisheries Rehabilitation, Enhancement and Development (FRED) Division as a chum salmon hatchery. ADF&G discontinued the chum program in 1986 and switched to a sockeye enhancement program with the goal of producing 20 million sockeye smolt annually. PWSAC assumed operational control of the hatchery in 1990. Main Bay was the first sockeye smolt producing hatchery in the world and with that comes lots of trials and errors. Up to six different sockeye salmon stocks have incubated and reared in the same hatchery building which lead to an incredible amount of hoops to jump through to adhere to the strict Alaska Disease Management Policy. PWSAC decided to discontinue the Eyak-early and Eshamy-late stocks to concentrate solely on the Coghill-mid stock in 1998. This decreased the risk of disease, improved fish culture, and may increase marine survival by a percentage or two. MBH currently produces eight million sockeye salmon.
Jason Myhrer is the MBH Hatchery Manager (left picture above) and leads a permanent staff of six on-site year-round, with a seasonal staff of 8 during the summer. Jason has worked with PWSAC since 2002 and background includes; A.S. in Aquaculture from the Alexandria Technical College.
All the Hatchery Managers enjoy giving tours, showing off their hatcheries and the fish, so stop by if you are in the area. All the hatcheries can be contacted on VHF 16 and SSB 2430.
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| 1986 | Coghill Lake | 441,100 | 330,025 | 10,421 | 3.16 % |
| 1987 | Coghill Lake | 4,904,786 | 3,923,829 | 637,460 | 16.25 % |
| 1988 | Coghill Lake | 3,270,622 | 2,616,498 | 419,862 | 16.05 % |
| 1989 | Coghill Lake | 5,368,880 | 1,928,361 | 143,503 | 7.44 % |
| 1989 | Eshamy Lake | 2,985,984 | 1,843,079 | 126,242 | 6.85 % |
| 1990 | Coghill Lake | 1,112,711 | 720,446 | 13,358 | 1.85 % |
| 1990 | Eshamy Lake | 2,977,270 | 2,068,501 | 304,531 | 14.72 % |
| 1990 | Eyak Lake | 65,636 | 47,500 | 560 | 1.18 % |
| 1990 | MBH/Coghill | 1,519,770 | 826,541 | 70,573 | 8.54 % |
| 1991 | Davis Lake | 1,658,388 | 806,218 | 61,062 | 7.57 % |
| 1991 | Eshamy Lake | 2,505,396 | 1,882,090 | 50,838 | 2.70 % |
| 1991 | Eyak Lake | 113,874 | 63,829 | 3,269 | 5.12 % |
| 1991 | MBH/Coghill | 4,871,201 | 3,298,689 | 160,756 | 4.87 % |
| 1992 | Coghill Lake | 1,032,165 | 889,158 | 180,578 | 20.31 % |
| 1992 | Eshamy Lake | 2,148,427 | 1,453,730 | 157,618 | 10.84 % |
| 1992 | MBH/Coghill | 3,180,773 | 2,400,666 | 445,890 | 18.57 % |
| 1993 | Coghill Lake | 448,584 | 330,296 | 10,198 | 3.09 % |
| 1993 | Eshamy Lake | 1,148,742 | 776,435 | 129,979 | 16.74 % |
| 1993 | Eyak Lake | 111,486 | 90,358 | 6,128 | 6.78 % |
| 1993 | MBH/Coghill | 5,905,099 | 3,719,567 | 629,009 | 16.91 % |
| 1993 | MBH/Eshamy | 1,248,663 | 769,575 | 104,987 | 13.64 % |
| 1994 | Coghill Lake | 1,301,525 | 865,020 | 897 | 0.10 % |
| 1994 | Eshamy Lake | 1,182,000 | 114,475 | 37,716 | 32.95 % |
| 1994 | MBH/Eyak | 159,976 | 82,514 | 6,733 | 8.16 % |
| 1994 | MBH/Coghill | 4,672,901 | 3,329,154 | 1,486 | 0.05 % |
| 1994 | MBH/Eshamy | 1,292,836 | 89,108 | 29,634 | 33.26 % |
| 1995 | MBH/Eyak | 2,651,472 | 131,503 | 1,150 | 0.87 % |
| 1995 | MBH/Coghill | 3,096,961 | 239,023 | 36,940 | 15.45 % |
| 1995 | MBH/Eshamy | 1,929,000 | 845,190 | 124,355 | 14.71 % |
| 1996 | Eyak Lake | 300,578 | 138,198 | 10,722 | 7.76 % |
| 1996 | MBH/Eyak | 92,962 | 42,742 | 3,428 | 7.76 % |
| 1996 | MBH/Eshamy | 2,829,641 | 2,485,204 | 322,161 | 12.96 % |
| 1997 | MBH/Eyak | 3,372,073 | 2,803,660 | 284,313 | 10.14 % |
| 1997 | MBH/Eshamy | 6,373,799 | 4,165,786 | 795,453 | 19.09 % |
| 1998 | MBH/Coghill | 9,249,583 | 8,181,502 | 1,488,465 | 18.19 % |
| 1999 | MBH/Coghill | 9,109,723 | 7,379,733 | 754,315 | 10.22 % |
| 2000 | MBH/Coghill | 10,040,419 | 7,858,190 | 819,128 | 10.42 % |
| 2001 | MBH/Eshamy | 10,870,366 | 6,320,515 | 180,777 | 2.86 % |
| 2002 | MBH/Coghill | 9,906,932 | 7,607,383 | 1,767,385 | 23.23 % |
| 2003 | MBH/Coghill | 9,744,784 | 7,641,728 | 748,113 | 9.79 % |
| 2004 | MBH/Coghill | 10,419,887 | 8,302,760 | 881,701 | 10.62 % |
| 2005 | MBH/Coghill | 10,868,642 | 9,150,000 | Age-4: 542,958 | 5.93 % |
| 2006 | MBH/Coghill | 10,100,000 | 8,520,000 | ||
| 2007 | MBH/Coghill | 10,400,000 | 8,340,000 | ||
| 2008 | MBH/Coghill | 10,500,000 | |||
| 2009 | MBH/Coghill | 10,100,000 |
RED indicates preliminary numbers
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