Tag Archives: Basil Creek

Rivers & Oceans

Low seasonal return of chum salmon to spawning grounds ‘a mystery,’ say local monitors

By Greg Osoba, CKTZ News, through an LJI grant from Canada-info.ca

So far, monitoring of creeks and streams on Cortes Island indicates a very poor return of chum salmon to their spawning grounds this year, according to Christine and Cec Robinson. They’re longtime members of the local stream keepers project, overseen by the conservation and stewardship organization Friends of Cortes Island (FOCI). Monitoring of the chum return occurs from mid-September to early December each year.

Continue reading Low seasonal return of chum salmon to spawning grounds ‘a mystery,’ say local monitors →
Rivers & Oceans

No Chum in Basil Creek yet, but the outlook for salmon may be improving

It is November 26 and there are still no Chum Salmon in Basil Creek. Normally they would have returned a month ago, but there was a prolonged drought this year. While the water level has risen, there are still no fish.

“It’s getting to be late for Chum, but we’re seeing other populations come in late. We might see Chum return into the next few weeks, it’s very possible. This year is definitely characterized by a lot of weird conditions,” said Matthew Clarke, DFO’s Head for stock assessment in North Vancouver Island, from Black Creek to Cape Caution (which is actually on the Mainland). His area also includes Cortes and Quadra Islands.    

Continue reading No Chum in Basil Creek yet, but the outlook for salmon may be improving →
Rivers & Oceans

Pink Salmon Run Looks Good for 2022  

Large numbers of pink salmon are returning to our area this summer. 

“I am seeing these pink salmon return – their numbers appear huge, they are leaping everywhere, finning along the surface for hundreds of kilometers,” emailed independant biologist Alexandra Morton.

Lara Sloan, a communications advisor with Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), wrote they are expecting a strong return to the Campbell River, based on the strong outmigration from the 2020 brood, cooler ocean temperatures and better food. 

Continue reading Pink Salmon Run Looks Good for 2022   →
Rivers & Oceans

The difference using hatchery fry made to Basil Creek’s gene pool

It has been almost a month since 5,000 hatchery raised Chum fry were released back into Basil Creek, in Squirrel Cove. They were the survivors of 20,000 eggs harvested from wild salmon and later placed inside ‘in-stream incubation boxes.’ Most of their siblings perished when the rising creek waters silted up their boxes. This remnant were taken back to the Klahoose hatchery for a month, before being returned to the creek. Someone asked if using fry from the hatchery weakens the local gene pool? Cortes Currents passed the question on to Stacey Larsen, DFO’s Community advisor for our area. 

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Forests

Cortes Island tree-lovers prepare to tussle with logging giant

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Click here for ‘Mosaic visits Cortes Island: A community meeting and forest walk‘

National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Lisa Ferentinos wades through underbrush and clambers up a rock bluff before descending into a small ravine dominated by a cluster of old-growth cedars cloaked in moss and lichen.

The Cortes Island resident surveys the small stand of West Coast giants and sighs. 

“I get sad thinking they might be gone soon,” Ferentinos said. “But then I decide that’s just not going to happen.”

Continue reading Cortes Island tree-lovers prepare to tussle with logging giant →