A Simple Isolation Incubator for Specialized Rearing of Salmonid Eggs and First-Feeding Fry

Abstract The construction of an isolation incubator for small-scale fish culture and research is described. The simple, inexpensive (US$5) isolation incubator is routinely used to incubate as many as 100 green eggs of sockeye salmon Oncorhynchus nerka and Chinook salmon O. tshawytscha through the first-feeding fry stage of development at the Idaho Department of Fish and Game's Eagle Fish Hatchery. The incubator is small (2.5-L volume) and portable, requires a small amount of water per individual unit (500–1,200 mL/min), and provides a way to incubate multiple rearing groups in a quarantine environment through the early stages of fish development. Although these incubators have been used exclusively for incubation of salmonid eggs and fry, we expect this design can be used to successfully incubate eggs of other fish species.