Tag Archives: Chum Returns

DFO: Chum runs are looking much better throughout most of our area

There are more Chum swimming up Basil Creek than we’ve seen for years. According to Matthew Clarke of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), Cortes Island isn’t the only place where the Chum run is good this year. 

“As a general rule this year things are looking much better for Chum than they have looked, albeit with a couple of places that are not quite as strong as we would have hoped to see,”  he explained.

Continue reading DFO: Chum runs are looking much better throughout most of our area

The Chum Return to Basil Creek

The Chum started returning to Basil Creek a week ago. To an inexperienced eye, the water levels seemed too low on the 16th, but dozens of large salmon were progressing upstream beyond the culvert. Christine Robinson said that she and her husband Cec had seen them the previous day. That was when we agreed to do this interview. 

“We know it’s the big year in their four year cycle. Chum primarily have a four year cycle, a few of them three, and a few of them five, but the majority have a four year cycle.  In 2020, four years ago, approximately 1100 fish came back to Basil Creek. Four years prior to that, in 2016, there were about 1100. We’re not alone in this. All the creeks are in a similar cycle. Basil Creek, of course, is the main stream on Cortes for salmon return. So we’re optimistic that it should be a big year this time,” explained Cec Robinson, one of the principal Streamkeepers on Cortes Island.

Continue reading The Chum Return to Basil Creek

How the Salmon Run: Streamkeepers weigh in on latest salmon returns

By Kim Paulley, CKTZ News, through an LJI grant from Canada-info.ca

The latest salmon returns are in for 2023 and two streamkeepers from the region have made observations about the different populations. A great year for Pink Salmon was the good news. Poor returns for Chum were noted by both streamkeepers.

Continue reading How the Salmon Run: Streamkeepers weigh in on latest salmon returns

Pink Salmon return to Cortes after 8 years, but water levels are too low

Part 2 of a series, click here for part 1.

Cortes Currents was mistaken in the original version of this story. The Chum run did not come into Basil Creek early this year – these are Pinks.

According to Cortes Island Streamkeeper Christine Robinson there have not been any Pink runs on Cortes since 2015 (when most of them perished in front of the culvert in Squirrel Cove), but there was a huge surplus this year.  Pinks are known to stray and find creeks other than their natal streams, and this may be an explanation for their presence on Cortes Island. They started to turn up in Squirrel Cove Creek two to three weeks ago, and Basil Creek and Chris’ Lagoon around Sept 28, but there does not appear to be enough water in the creeks for them.

Continue reading Pink Salmon return to Cortes after 8 years, but water levels are too low

Will the heavy rains come in time for this year’s Chum run in Basil Creek?

Part 1 in a series of articles about the Fall 2023 Salmon runs; Click here for Part 2.

Very little water is trickling through Basil Creek, where Cortes Island’s principal Chum run occurs in late October. There have been few days of rain on Cortes since May, and some of the area’s shallow wells stopped producing in July. Only about 10 Chum were seen in Basil Creek during the 2022 drought. Unless water levels rise, this may be the second year in a row when there is not a significant creek for the Chum return. 

According to the Pacific Salmon Foundation, BC is going through ‘one of the most extreme periods of drought in recorded history.’ 

Continue reading Will the heavy rains come in time for this year’s Chum run in Basil Creek?