qathet Living, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Lee George stands on the bank of the Tla’amin Creek, his baseball cap dampening in the light July rain. The ground he stands on is muddy. He scans the river, looking for coho fry.
Just a few inches of water flow
over the rocky creek.
A few tiny fish swim by.
Lee, who has managed this hatchery since about 1990, is worried about the level of the water, the heat. What will it do to this year’s salmon?
Continue reading Worry for our Watersthe Discourse, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Nestled into the head of the Hathhayim [Von Donlop] Park Trail on Cortes Island, B.C, a forest of hemlock, fir and alder wraps around a small clearing recently levelled and fenced.
Soft water sounds come from a building with an open door. Inside, K’all-K’all Tina Wesley is leaning into a salmon incubator box.
She’s checking on 70,000 Chum eggs, removing any that died. As fisheries manager for Klahoose First Nation (KFN), Wesley does this at the community’s salmon hatchery every morning.
Continue reading Rebuilding salmon stocks on Cortes IslandWhen the Chum salmon returned to Cortes Island four years ago, they entered every creek. Approximately 1,050 swam up Basil Creek this year, but the numbers were far lower everywhere else. Some Whaletown residents saw Chum in their creek, these did not make it to the official tally – which is zero. Despite the disappointing returns, Streamkeeper Cec Robinson describes 2020 as a year in which steps were taken to ensure future Chum runs.
Continue reading Cortes Streamkeepers: to ensure future Chum runs
Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
With just a little bit of arm flailing and much nonchalance, Frank Gleeson regains his balance after slipping on a wet rock lodged in a steep embankment along Village Bay Creek.
Gleeson and his buddy, Pete Calverley, continue to clamber over and under trees, scramble up slopes and wade through underbrush in their search for spawning salmon.
Gleeson and Calverley, aged 71 and 78, descend into a clearing at the creek’s edge and excitedly point out about 45 chum salmon milling not far from shore.
Continue reading Quadra Island Streamkeepers protect wild salmonNational Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Drought conditions are continuing to put salmon and fish habitat at risk in streams and rivers on Vancouver Island.
Continue reading Drought conditions put fish habitat at risk
