The Water of Leith is teeming with baby salmon following the latest release from the Dunedin Community Salmon Hatchery on the weekend.
The fish, all 40,000 of them, were raised by the hatchery and purchased by the Dunedin Salmon Anglers Association.
Hatchery trust chairman Brett Bensemann said the fish came from eggs and milt sourced throughout the South Island so there was a good mix of genetics.
''A lot of work has gone on to get to this stage.''
The fish were content to hang around the area where they had been released which was good news because it meant they would remember it and return to spawn in about four years.
One local salmon was caught in the trap this year, probably because it went in too late in the season, but it contributed about 1000 eggs to the 110,000 already at the hatchery.
There were three large tanks for the juvenile fish and the trust was investigating using a fourth tank on the site for growing salmon to maturity. Dunedin Salmon Anglers Association chairman Wayne Olsen said the salmon project had the support of several fishing clubs, the Dunedin City Council and Otago Fish and Game.
Mr Bensemann said they were gradually developing the hatchery, having initially started on a very small budget.
Because of the limitations on the local spawning grounds, the Dunedin Harbour salmon fishery was heavily reliant on the re-stocking programme.
