A narrow trickle of water passes amdist the rocks of an almost dried up creek and makes its way to the ocean

Salmon Runs in the midst of a West Coast Drought

The drought conditions settling throughout the West Coast are another example of what Fisheries and Oceans Canada has identified as the #1 threat to BC’s endangered salmon population.

“While there are many stressors that affect Pacific salmon survival, climate change is rapidly superseding these threats,” DFO media spokesperson Lara Sloan emailed Cortes Currents.

Interaction between a feasting Bald Eagle and what appears to be an angry Chum Salmon – by Gillfoto (Own Work) via Wikimedia  Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International License

A recent twitter video shows thousands of dead salmon spread out across the bottom of an almost dried up creek. Their corpses are so thick that you cannot take a step without treading on them (see video below). 

Sloan explained, “On October 4, 2022, the Heiltsuk First Nation identified the death of approximately 63,000 adult Pink and Chum salmon in Neekas Creek which is located approximately 25 km north of Bella Bella.” 

On Wednesday, October 5, the City of Nanaimo released water from its reservoir to help the Chinook run stranded in the tidal portion of the Nanaimo River. The augmented flow will enable them to reach their spawning grounds. It will taper off on the weekend of October 8-9.

It may be a little early for the Chum to return to Basil Creek on Cortes Island. They seem to have arrived towards the end of the month last year. In 2020 Christine Robinson wrote they ‘began to come into the creek on October 17.’ 

There were no signs of any fish, when I walked along the bank this morning. To my untrained eye, it is difficult to imagine salmon passing through the immense bed of rocks at the creek’s mouth. There is only a narrow trickle of water.   

An almost  imperceivable trickle of water pushes through the rocks of the almost dry bed of Basil Creek – Photo by Roy L Hales

“Vancouver Island has been experiencing an extended period of dry weather.  Coupled with warmer water temperatures, current conditions for salmon in smaller river systems are generally poor, and there is unlikely to be sufficient rain to improve conditions in the next week to 10 days,” wrote Sloan.

“A small number of river systems where water flow is controlled are experiencing water levels more typical for this time of year (e.g. Cowichan, Campbell, Qualicum and Stamp Rivers…).”

(Rochelle Baker of the National Observer recently donned a wetsuit to swim among the abundant Pink Salmon run in the Campbell River.)

Sloan warned that it may become necessary to reduce the flows of these less effected rivers, if drought conditions persist.

“In general, we are not seeing fish moving into systems in the area, rather they are staging in front of rivers, or in deep pools in rivers where accessible.  Some species have commenced spawning (e.g. Pink Salmon or early-timed populations of Chum and Chinook Salmon), but their eggs are likely safe, provided they remain moist through groundwater or subsurface flows,” she wrote.

A Chum Salmon heading for the Puntledge River, in Courtenay, in 2015 – Photo by marneejill via Flickr (CC BY SA, 2.0 License)

“The planet is warming, and the most recent five years have been the warmest on record. In Canada, the rate of warming has been twice the global average and is even greater at northern latitudes.  Stemming historic declines and rebuilding key Pacific salmon populations are the overarching goals of the historic $647 million Pacific Salmon Strategy Initiative (PSSI) launched in June 2021. PSSI represents the largest-ever Government of Canada investment to save Pacific salmon. We need to take action toward stemming the declines now, while helping to rebuild adaptable populations over the longer term.”

Top image credit: Looking out across the dried up bed of Basil Creek – Photo by Roy L Hales

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