Courses / Wrapping Up the Season

Course Content

Coordinating with Farmers 
Provide Frequent Updates Optimal Outplanting Conditions Score Spools Prepare Invoices
Transporting Spools
How to Transport Spools
Wrapping Up
Closing the Hatchery Reflecting on the Season
Resources & Tools
Kelp Spool Quality Rating System
Download file
Spool Outplanting Tracker
Download file
Lesson 3 Wrapping Up

Back to: Wrapping Up the Season

Closing the Hatchery

Congratulations! At this point you’ve made it through an entire hatchery season. Make the beginning of your next hatchery season easier on yourself by neatly closing down your hatchery and prepping your gear and equipment for the coming year.  

Do any outstanding maintenance

Now is the time to take care of what you weren’t able to get to during the busyness of the season. While everything is fresh in your head, and before the hatchery is completely shut down, you should address any maintenance issues. Fix leaky pipes, patch broken equipment, address any rust or corrosion, and deep clean your space. 

Use the time after the end of the hatchery season to fix any broken plumbing before you disassemble your system.  

Receive empty spools

Once the farmers have outplanted their spools, coordinate how to get your spools back. Ask the farmers to deliver the PVC spools and any containers you may have provided for spool transportation.

To receive your empty spools, send out reminder emails or give farmers a call. This is also a great time to connect with your customer and learn how your spools were received. Ask how outplanting went, what they thought of the spools, and how their lines are looking.

Make sure to collect your spools from farmers before too much time has passed. 
Industry Tip

One way to encourage farmers to return your spools is to include a deposit when paying for spools. Once they return their spool, you can return their deposit. When setting the cost of a spool deposit, consider the cost of materials and labor hours in creating the replacement.

Take inventory

Take inventory of all of your equipment. This will help you identify purchases for the following season and provide documentation for where your equipment is being stored.

Make itemized lists of all the hatchery equipment still in good working order so you know what to order for next season. 

Cleaning and storage

Before putting it away, scrub and bleach all of your equipment. Make sure that everything you used and will use in the future is cleaned, bleached, dried, and stored, so that nothing grows on it in the off season. Keep your equipment in lidded totes, and label each tote clearly with what it contains and the quantity, if applicable. This will help with inventory and next year’s hatchery setup.

Once the next season comes up, you will have clean and ready equipment. For items that cannot easily fit in a storage container, such as tanks, you can use cling wrap for temporary sealing. When the beginning of the season comes around next year, be sure to give this equipment extra cleaning. 

Lidded plastic totes make a useful storage system.

Check that any sensitive equipment is being stored properly during the off-season. This could include adding a storage solution to your filters, keeping chemicals refrigerated, or covering and protecting your microscope.