A devastatingly low chum salmon return at Goldstream Park is rippling damage across restoration projects

The return was, at best, one-tenth of the anticipated numbers said Peter McCully, a technical advisor for the volunteer-run Goldstream Hatchery who also works with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

The lowest anticipated return of chum salmon was in the 22,000 to 23,000 range.

B次元官网网址淎t best there may have been about 3,000,B次元官网网址� McCully said. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 the worst return I have seen and I have been involved with the Goldstream Hatchery since 1975.B次元官网网址�

This yearB次元官网网址檚 remarkably low return even beats out 2021, when 20,000 chum were predicted to return to the river. Instead, it saw about 4,000. The next year Goldstream saw the salmon return nearly double its target B次元官网网址� with an estimated more than 30,000 chum.

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B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 not the end of the line for chum salmon, theyB次元官网网址檝e adapted to come back as three, four-, five- or sometimes six-year-old fish,B次元官网网址� McCully said. B次元官网网址淚f itB次元官网网址檚 repeated next year and the year after that weB次元官网网址檙e in serious shape. ItB次元官网网址檚 not a happy picture.B次元官网网址�

While he canB次元官网网址檛 conclude he feels several recent weather events may have had an impact.

Those factors include serious flooding in 2020 and the atmospheric river of 2021. Those events scour river bottoms and churn the gravel stirring up the fertilized eggs and killing them, he said. Then there was the heat dome of 2021.

B次元官网网址淲e have a situation the last few years where sea surface temperatures have been a lot higher than they normally are, and itB次元官网网址檚 this upper portion of the sea that produces the food these little salmon rely on when they go out to sea,B次元官网网址� he said.

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The local waterway is not alone, the low 2023 chum returns span the coast of B.C. into Alaska, he said.

B次元官网网址�(Chum) are the ones that draw the crowds and theyB次元官网网址檙e the ones the Goldstream is famous for,B次元官网网址� McCully said. B次元官网网址淭hese runs support so many creatures and flora and fauna B次元官网网址� the ripple effect is huge.B次元官网网址�

Usually, the Goldstream Hatchery team is able to harvest and fertilize eggs to support community salmon return initiatives in waterways such as Bowker Creek; Lyall Creek on Saturna Island; Hope Bay Stream on Pender Island; Douglas (PKOLS) Creek in Saanich and Wsikem (Tseycum) Creek on the Saanich Peninsula. TheyB次元官网网址檙e among several small creeks that have lost their salmon because of urban development B次元官网网址� for example, significant portions of Bowker Creek are paved over B次元官网网址� and in the case of Wsikem historical airport activities.

B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檝e been able to provide eggs to all those initiatives B次元官网网址� this is the first year we wonB次元官网网址檛,B次元官网网址� McCully said. B次元官网网址淲e normally take 400,000 to 500,000 chum eggs. This year we got 5,000. ItB次元官网网址檚 just a disaster.B次元官网网址�

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Each of the past two years, Friends of Bowker Creek received more than 30,000 eggs to place in its streamed incubator as part of its salmon recovery project.

While itB次元官网网址檚 unfortunate that cycle will be interrupted, they have other important work to keep them busy, society chair Gerald Harris said.

B次元官网网址淲e now have to keep getting ready for next year which weB次元官网网址檙e actually still doing,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e in the process of constructing some new incubation boxes that wouldnB次元官网网址檛 have been ready for this year anyway. So weB次元官网网址檙e taking it as a regrettable little setback and weB次元官网网址檙e confident in continued support from the DFO.B次元官网网址�

TheyB次元官网网址檙e B次元官网网址渙ddly excitedB次元官网网址� about the new endeavour. The new incubation boxes are a remarkably different design from the single gravel site in the stream bed used previously.

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In use elsewhere on the Island, the new boxes are smaller and rather than being buried in the gravel, sit on top. With the successful work creating shoreline safe spaces. The prior work in the shoreline riparian area provides a few good sites for the smaller boxes, Harris said.

B次元官网网址淭hatB次元官网网址檚 whatB次元官网网址檚 allowing us to move into a different approach to egg incubation because there are now good little spots along the creek where we can nestle in smaller incubation boxes that will use existing habitat.B次元官网网址�

Volunteers also plan to do in-stream work, to create optimal habitat for fry.

B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e understanding again more than we did before that these little fry are not as likely as we thought to just come out of the gravel and just shoot down the stream,B次元官网网址� Harris said, adding fry may hang out for two weeks to a month. B次元官网网址淚n that time they need to be protected from our voracious Bowker Creek mallards B次元官网网址� plus other predators that pretty quickly find out there are new little defenceless fish in the creek.B次元官网网址�

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Despite the low chum return, some fry will make their way into streams up and down the Island, as the Goldstream Hatchery team did harvest and fertilize enough chum eggs to support its massive classroom program. The hatchery provides small batches of eggs to about 100 classroom incubators for students to learn while hatching their fry. Kids subsequently release surviving fry into their local creeks each spring.