Enhancement f Newslett‹., din i Vol .1V No.1 1979 FISHER1Eg AND OCEANS

- Small PÉCHE Fry At Big Qualicum Small fry at a fish hatchery are not always the finny kind found in the rear- ing ponds. Kids by the thousands traipse through each year, shephered by teach- ers who have discovered the high inter- est a field trip can arouse in human ment of a salmonid from egg to spawn- How do the kids react to it all? The "small fry". ing adult. The Big Qualicum Project is, pictures that decorate this article (on as Dick Harvey says, "something more page 2) were drawn after a visit to Big Youngsters fortunate enough to visit than a hatchery", combining controlled Qaulicum by children from elementary Big Qualicum Project on Vancouver Is- flow of the river, naturalized rearing schools in the Nanaimo, Courtenay, and land are likely to be guided by project ponds, spawning channels, and natural Port Alberni areas. Their thank-you manager Dick Harvey himself. Before spawning areas, along with the usual letters to the hatchery are even more they leave they will have received a hatchery facilities. There is a lot to be revealing. (Spelling and grammar are short, graphic course in the develop- seen there. the kids' own.) Continued on page 2 see "DEAR MR. HARVEY"

EmbleyFishway The Ladder of Success The salmon milled about the mouth of the spawning run - succumbed, un- of the stream, pushing into the heavy spawned. Out of all that multitude only water where it spilled from between seven thousand fish won through to the rock walls and spread out into the salt spawning beds to seed the gravel for the water of the lagoon. Some, exerting all next generation. their strength, fought their way into the turbulence, propelled by an internal ur- That was the scene at Embley Lagoon gency to get through to the spawning in 1976, as it had been in varying grounds that lay beyond. Many fell degrees for all the years the pink salmon back, battered and exhausted, dying or run there had been observed. In 1954 dead, after being flung back into the sea only seventy-five hundred fish out of an time and again by the unrelenting estimated total run of 37,500 succeeded violence of the river. Their limp gray in ascending the Embley River. There carcasses drifted aimlessly and were have been smaller losses in many other washed against the shore by waves and years. Yet there have been times -- as tide. When the tide dropped there was recently as 1970 and 1972 -- when no relief for the living, the recession of Embley River pink runs numbered the salt water only added height to the 100,000 fish, and all, or nearly all, got dimensions of the barrier at the stream through to the spawning grounds. When mouth. conditions are right the stream is a The struggle went on day after day, major producer, but it has not been a and in the end nearly forty thousand Continued on page 3 The fishway channel was cut through pink salmon - more than eighty per cent see "EMBLEY FISHWAY" bedrock by drilling and blasting. Dear In frl/dy) Continued from page 1 Still, the feeding operation was not Equally frank was Grant, a born statis- "I liked everything and I hope I can everybody's favourite. "We enjoyed feed- tician with an eye for the grotesque. "I come again one day it was all so interest- ing the fishes, but I like the observation had a nice time at the fish hatcheries," he ing," Diane K. wrote, defying punctua- room the most because I got a chance to wrote, "There was a dead fish laying on tion in her enthusiasm. Hers was the look at the fish in the wild habitat and the road his eyes were out and he had common reaction, though where was one beastly world!" A short walk upstream two holes in his body. There were e7 jaded 10-year-old who seemed to feel a got Gail H. even closer to that "wild dead fish." Tracy D. strove to be gracious walking tour of the complex was not habitat and beastly world". A keen in her assessment of the atmosphere sur- essential, "The best thing I liked there observer, she wrote, "Thank you for rounding the spawning grounds. "Maybe was the ride there. We have books about showing us were the spawning grounds things don't smell very nice but every- the fish hatchery." He was an exception. are. I saw some eggs on a rock three were thing is well taken care of," said Tracey. Most of the youngsters were greatly im- fertilize and one wasn't. I had lots of fun pressed, especially by the numbers of fry watching the fish swim up strim. I was Death, birth, growth and regeneration and fingerlings in the rearing channels. planing on meating a bear." are all vibrantly visible at a fish produc- tion complex like the Big Qualicum Pro- "I couldn't beleive that there was If Gail was disappointed not to ject, and the kids miss none of it. Though 800,000 but I know it's true, "April B. "meat a bear", think of the chagrin of each one sees it a little differently, per- conceded. Steven C. was even more Charlene P., who said she found a salmon haps they all begin to get some under- astounded: "I think you sure have a lot egg and was going to put it in some water standing of the unending cycle of life. of fish 800,000 you have the most fish and try to hatch it, "but someone sat on Certainly they gain some appreciation of I've seen in my life", he exploded in a it." And one wonders about Willa's gour- salmon and trout as fascinating living single burst of awe. The youngsters en- met friend -- the one who "...let the eggs creatures."You gave us lots of, informa- joyed feeding the coho fry by hand, but dry and is going to eat them." tion," Sherry J assured Dick Harvey and they had some reservations. Nick, grade his staff. "I leamed how the fish spawn 4, was not happy with the personal con- The egg-take operation engendered a and how the egg forms into a salmon," sequences of hand feeding, "I liked feed- variety of reactions. There was Johnny, said Teddy B. "Make sure the fish are an ing the finger lings but when you smelled who "was surprised when the man got the right," Randy J. admonished. "The Sock- your hands they stunk," Nick advised. He fish up with a net and the other man hit eye were clobered I think." probably preferred the automatic feeders the fish on the head with a club." Nick that intermittently swirl food pellets over thought it as "crule" and Rodney agreed When the Small Fry take over our the surface of the rearing ponds, "going but knew that "they die anyway". And adult world, let's hope they remember so fast I could berly see it", as Eddy D. then there was Oscar, downright enthus- their day at Big Qualicum and strive to reported. When the feeders were on iastic: "I like how they bang the fish and see that none of the salmonid species are "...the fish jumped so fast that it looked get the eggs out", "...like tomato juise", ever "clobered" beyond recovery. like rain drops", Johnny B. observed. as Cheryl put it. ward the ocean, and after some eighteen Embley Fishway months of rapid growth in salt water, the adult pink salmon migrate back to their Continued from page 1 home stream, there to spawn and die. Un- like other Pacific consistent producer, for nature designed salmon, all the fish in a poorly, from a fisheries point of view, run of pink salmon spawners are fish that when she assembled the Embley water- have hatched in the same year: there is no shed. overlap between year-classes. Thus the odd and even year stocks of pinks run- Huaskin Lake, the prime element in ning to the same river are as distinct and the watershed, is a 10-square mile body separate races as if they had originated in of fresh water on the British Columbia widley separated streams. mainland, about 30 miles northeast of the Vancouver Island community of Port EVEN YEARS BEST far Hardy, and 25 miles north of Alert Bay. On the Embley, the even-year run The lake has two outlets. Huaskin Creek surpasses the odd-year stock. In the odd- flows westward in its brief course, to numbered years from 1957 to 1975 the drop into Actaeon Sound in a precipitous pink run averaged only 80 fish, while over fallà always impassable to fish. The sec- the same length of time (1958-1976), ond outlet, the Embley River, flows even-year spawners averaged 33,850. southeasterly for 31/4 miles from Huaskin Lake to saltwater at Embley Lagoon in The obstruction problem at Embley Mackenzie Sound. At certain tide levels Lagoon has been known for a long time. the Embley too is impassable to pink sal- Records of the even-year spawning runs mon because of the drop into the sea. over a period of two-and-a-half decades Embley River outlet and a portion of the show that in six out of thirteen even fishway at Embley Lagoon. The natural VELOCITY DEFEATS FISH years a significant portion (ranging up to river mouth is to the left of the fishway. When heavy rains raise the level of 83%) of the pinks failed to get through Huaskin Lake, both the volume and the the rock chute to the spawning beds. The velocity of the water flooding through potential of the river to produce salmon ed past the velocity barrier. Rothery the two outlet streams increase tremen- consistently if the obstruction could be placed a block of logs, trees, branches and dously. On the Embley River the entire overcome has also been appreciated for boards in the chute, diverting a quarter of flow must funnel through a rock chute many years. Fisheries Service biologists the flow to one side, and the pinks im- that offers a channel only 31/2 feet wide in who surveyed the river nearly twenty mediately moved upstream in the reduced moderate flows, widening to no more years ago found that the Embley provid- flow. than eight or nine feet at the water's sur- ed excellent spawning beds for more than face when the volume of discharge is two-thirds of its length, and about fifteen Although it was realized that a fishway greatest. In the length of the chute, 160 years ago Fisheries Officer T. Rothery installation would reduce the violence of feet from top end to tidewater, the demonstrated that salmon could be assist- the outflow just as Rothery's t,emporary stream falls 141/2 feet. That gradient alone Continued back page does not deter the fish. It is the torrent of water forced through the narrow chute at high velocity which blocks the pink sal- mons' passage upstream.

Pinks develop rapidly toward final ma- turity as they approach their spawning stream. They cannot delay at the river mouth for more than a few weeks or they will die unspawned. Moreover the exer- tion of fighting against a physical barrier can quickly dissipate their limited re- serve of energy. When a cascade of rush- ing water persists for long periods during and after heavy rains in the Embley River watershed, thousands of potential spawn- ers fail to complete their mission. In fact in 1978, had nothing been done to allevi- ate the situation, the abundant even-year run of pinks might have been wiped out leaving only the very sparce odd-year run.

RIGID CYCLE The pinks have a rigid, two-year life cycle. From the time their spawn is laid in the river bed about six months pass while the eggs hatch and develop through the alevin stage to become fully formed One half of a two-piece, precast, rein forc- Water flowing through vertical slots in little fish. When the fry emerge from the ed concrete baffle is lowered into place, the completed fishway allows fish easy gravel they drift almost immediately to- then bolted to the channels rock walls. access to spawning grounds above.

"EMBLEY FISHWAY" brought in, and fewer men were needed and Sam Charlie were also on the crew. Continued from page 3 at the remote location. A further saving Chief Councillor Fred Williams was very was made by cutting the channel for the helpful, and his wife, Elsie, who is Band rough weir had done, and would also fishway out of the bedrock adjacent to manager, worked hard as contract co- solve the low flow problem, construction the stream. A technique called pre-shear- ordinator. Mistrust and suspicion turned of a concrete fishway in the remote wild- ing was employed. Two parallel lines of to mutual respect and growing under- erness of Embley Lagoon promised to be holes, six feet apart, were drilled in the standing between the Indians and the a very expensive project. The area is sur- rock at two-foot intervals, the entire 180- "outsiders" as the project proceeded. rounded by mountains, glaciers, fiords, foot length of the fishway. Explosives set forest and rushing streams. The closest in the holes and touched off simulta- land road access connecting to civiliza- neously made two continuous cracks in RACING AGAINST TIME tion is a hundred miles away as the crow the rock. Further drilling and blasting was The project had to be completed and flies. The only practical access to the area then used to break up the material be- ready for this year's pink run, because the is by water or air. Moreover good gravel is tween the cracks, and removal of the high loss of fish in 1976, if repeated, essential to making concrete, and there is rubble created a channel through the could have meant the complete loss of none available in the vicinity. All in all natural rock into which the concrete the even-year run, or at best a very slow the costs and physical problems attendant baffles were set. Steel bolts anchored in recovery of numbers. The Embley pink on shipping in materials and heavy mach- the rock sides and bottom of the chan- salmon were expected to arrive about inery and sustaining the large crew need- nel and bolted into plates preset in the August 15. On-site work began May 23. ed to fabricate a concrete structure on baffles hold the partitions in place. The crew worked long hours on a sched- the site, forced postponement for many Grouting between the baffles and the ule of ten-days-on, four-days-off, in order years of any action to solve the Embley rock walls on either side completes the to complete the fishway on time. Resi- problem. installation. The rock that was part of dent engineer Tom Ho regularly spent his the obstruction problem has become an own days "off" flying back and forth to SEP INCENTIVE integral part of the solution. Vancouver to line up materials and make This summer the incentive and re- certain everything was available as needed. sources provided by the Salmonid Enhan- No matter how much money is avail- cement Program, combined with an imag- able or how good the design, success of a THE FISH WERE WAITING inative application of technology and project of this kind depends on the The fishway was completed on August hard work, made a solution possible. The people who carry it through. Project engi- 9, almost a week ahead of schedule. Embley fishway project, which has the neer Jim Wild speaks of the Embley River Things had gone extremely well. The pink potential to bring about sustained pro- crew with pride and admiration. Some of salmon could not be expected to arrive, duction of at least 100,000 pink salmon them were members of the Kwa-Waincuk normally, until the middle of the month. every second year, fits right into the en- Indian Band of Sullivan Bay, who live at But when the plywood and 2 x 4's block- hancement philosophy. SEP made money Hopetown village, a half-hour away from ing the fishway entrance were removed, available for the project, about half the the mouth of the Embley by boat. It is the pinks were already there. They too $250 thousand cost coming directly out their land on which the fishway was built. were a week ahead of schedule, and of Salmonid Enhancement Program funds A lease between the Fisheries Service and almost as the first fresh water gushed and half from the Economic Growth the Band had to be arranged before work through the entrance slot into the lagoon, Fund supplied through the Employment on the fishway could start, and it took the first humpbacked spawners shoulder- & Immigration Commission. Innovative some time, Wild recalls. There was some ed their way into the fishway. Thousands thinking on the part of the engineers who suspicion and perhaps a little apprehen- followed. The new route to the spawning designed the project reduced the difficul- sion on both sides in the bargaining be- beds upriver was accepted without hesita- ties of logistics and the overall cost. tween the people from the isolated com- tion, and at least 15,000 migrants passed munity and the men from the distant upstream. A vertical slot fishway was decided city. But in tirne agreement was reached upon. It consists of a series of baffles set and the Band contracted to supply work- When next a hundred thousand pink in the stream at right angles to the flow. ers for the project. Band member Henry salmon approach the Embley River, their Each baffle or partition has a vertical slot Speck was employed throughout the pro- way to the spawning beds will be clear in it, through which water and fish can ject as a carpenter, and Charlie Williams and easy. pass at almost any level of the stream. On the Embley River each of seventeen baffles is set to provide a drop of nine inches to its neighbour downstream. The E 1 2:■"' result is that the force of the rushing • ki g-F Salmonid Enhancement Newsletter Bulk rEFoble m 1090 thlrd t Wee water is dissipated in a series of stepped, O @ci-e"g West Pender Street class c ase 0 b. • 0 4-, Vancouver, B.C. V6E 2P1 eddying pools. The salmon pass through 4001 CV C -(2 •be Return Postage the slots in water that is travelling a frac- CC ZZ E Guaranteed tion of the speed the unchecked stream d CD a 0 g would attain, and the fish can rest behind g 2 c 608551 the baffles at each step upstream. 8 03 >2:1 DEPT. OF FISHERIES w e CAROL ROBERTS PRECAST BAFFLES - The concrete baffles for the Embley • C 1). FISHERIES LIBRARY fishway were precast in Vancouver in two — 240 SPARKS ST. E 'EL-Erf. 8T1-i FLOOR pieces, overcoming the problem of lack of 2 To Le d- ut-Q) ONTARIO gravel at the site, and providing much OTTAWA, better quality control at the saine time. ne KIA 01V) Precasting also meant that much less aaom raw material and equipment had to be MI 0 E :e), (Enhancement Newslett Salmonid Vol.IV No.2 1979 te 1.10, ete, ,sge s moi,c ct‘, Hurrah! Now it's e ercial! It finally happened! After years of talking and planning, the official Federal- Provincial Salmonid Enhancement Pro- gram agreement was signed in March. Co-signatories to the formal document were the Hon. Romeo LeBlanc, Minister for Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and the Hon. Rafe Mair, British Columbia's Minister of the Environment.

The federal government has allot- ted $150 million for the initial seven- year phase of the program and the prov- incial government, another $7.5 million (mostly for the enhancement of two sea-run trout species).

"The thing that pleases me most about this project is the very high level of joint planning and co-operative work between provincial and federal officials that has been in evidence right from the beginning," noted LeBlanc in his speech. Romeo LeBlanc, Minister for Fisheries & Oceans Canada, and Rafe Mair, Minister of Environment for B.C., sign the Salmonid Enhancement Agreements, assisted by fed- "Another thing that pleases me eral Deputy Minister Donald Tansley and provincial SEP Special Advisor Ed Vernon. about SEP is the interest and involve- ment of the public. The people of Brit- ish Columbia consider this great salmon resource with almost a kind of reverence, that from time to time there must be Co-ordinating all phases of the pro- which I don't think is paralleled any- tradeoffs and that environmental sacri- gram is the twelve-member SEP Manage- where else in the country. fices must be made. It is also important ment Board. Comprising three federal, that we recognize that just as the envir- two provincial and seven private sector . Today it is abundantly clear onment must sometimes give way, so in- representatives, the board reports reg- that the ordinary citizens . . . as well as deed must economic considerations. ularly to both the Provincial and Federal those involved in this resource recognize ministers as well as offering advice and that they have a right as well as a respon- "There's not much sense in mak- direction for program activities. sibility to preserve this salmonid heritage ing a substantial investment in a Sal- — using it wisely with due conservation monid Enhancement Program only to The board in turn, is assisted by and preservation for those who follow destroy the cradle of a given run with the British Columbia Task Group whose us." some other activity." membership re flects all fishing interests and a cross section of the community at LeBlanc's Provincial counterpart, large. Rafe Mair, an avid fly fisherman, com- Both ministers touched on the mented in his presentation, "It is a cur- need for integrated resource manage- Projects begun under the Salmonid ious paradox that every one of us here, ment, emphasizing the fact that SEP is Enhancement Program are of course not all concerned often to the point of frus- not simply a fish production program. It the first efforts to increase stocks. En- tration with the damage mankind does is a program for people designed to pro- hancement techniques have been used in to his environment, with equal fe rvor vide economic and social benefits for British Columbia since the turn of the insist upon using the fruits of that des- British Columbia and Canada's popula- century. But heavy fishing and the en- truction for ourselves. tion — jobs, recreation, dollars to stim- croachment of civilization on the natural ulate the economy, a food fishery and habitat of the salmonid necessitated a . . . Most of us want to find careers for the native people and an program which provided remedial action some middle ground, some compromise awareness and appreciation of the nat- in all areas where the survival of the sal- with which we can all live. We recognize ural environment. monid was affected. want to come out and watch the salmon This spawn, I'll know I've helped a little. The men involved represented a var- iety of occupations, all sharing a common Stream interest and concern for their local fish stocks. They included a self-employed electrician, a commissionaire, a book binder, two hospital workers, a teacher, Has Many a surveyor, a draftsman and a garage oper- ator. Commercial fishermen have been Friends known to pitch in as well. The Thursday night side channel work party is only a small part of the Goldstream Creek, near Victoria, community effort in the Goldstream B.C., is the focus of one of the oldest project. most vigorous public involvement pro- jects, a volunteer effort which predates the Salmonid Enhancement Program by From May to October, about 150 several years. students from two local high schools, Es- quimalt Secondary School and Belmont Its initiator, Howard English, a re- High School, feed fry along two miles of tired farmer, persuaded the Amalgamated stream, six nights a week. The food has Howard English stocks an incubation been donated each year by Fish Conservation Society to begin a coho fry the and box with salmonid eggs. Wildlife Branch of the Provincial feeding project in 1971. (ACS represents Ministry of Environment. fourteen conservation-minded clubs.

The Goldstream is a cold canyon Three school groups hauled gravel creek with high walls which limit its ex- "Without volunteer help, we're not using buckets, to improve one spawning area posure to sunlight. The water tempera- going to save Goldstream," he states. of Goldstream. They formed a "bucket down ture and lack of light slow the photosyn- brigade" the steep bank, thetic process through which plankton, a A crew of seven to 14 men worked the boys with full buckets going down hill, with major source of nourishment for juvenile every Thursday night throughout the the girls the empty buckets salmonids, is created. By providing an summer and well into October construct- going up. additional food source for the young fish ing the side channel. Through the gather- Students at Esquimalt High School English hoped to increase the stream's sal- ing dusk, knee deep in the Goldstream monid populations. they sorted large rocks and cleaned gravel. have also built fry fences and traps, and for three years have counted fry at the older side channel. Perhaps because "We started with a completely vol- It was wet work, in cold water — of unteer group because it's so much trouble but the team turned up faithfully each this heavy school involvement, vandalism has been slight. to get grants," says English, and in fact, week. "I like to catch a few fish, so this is 1978 was the first year that they received my way of giving back," explained one Greater any money for work on Goldstream — dedicated rock picker. Another added, The Victoria Water Board, with whom English admits to having "dis- $600 from materials to build "I don't fish the Goldstream — I'm not SEP for a cussions" has side channel. much of a salmon fisherman — but if I dug, at no charge, a holding pond for spawners near the incubation boxes — ACS has built three. "We get a lot of co-operation you know," English smiles.What began as a fry feeding has ex- panded to include more projects and more people each year. English points out the need for a technical advisor to public involvement projects, based regionally, who could offer expertise and take what is becoming an increasing "burden" from the local fishery officers who must of necessity view fisheries management and enforce- ment as their priorities. (In fact a pilot program involving community advisors, (CA's) has been established. There is a CA in Victoria, Prince Rupert, Nanaimo and New Westminster. "A lot of people express concern, but that concern will evaporate unless you make it possible for them to do some- Incubation boxes are only one of the enhancement techniques employed by the Amalga- thing," declares English. mated Conservation Society to augment the sahnonid populations of Goldstream Creek. Variations on a Japanese theme

The new chum hatcheries at Tlupana Inlet on Vancouver Island, Snootli Creek in the Bella Coola Valley, and Pallant Creek in the Queen Charlotte Islands can aptly be described as three variations on a Japanese theme.

Belying a past reputation as bor- rowers and imitators of other nations' technology the Japanese have been highly original in developing hatchery produc- tion of chum salmon. Chums have not been considered good subjects for hatch- ery rearing in North America.

In the normal course of their life cycle chum fry migrate to sea very soon after they emerge from the spawning beds. Consequently, efforts to improve their survival have generally involved techniques such as incubation boxes and spawning channels which leave these young salmon- ids to find their own way in the wild after they have emerged from the alevin stage. It would not make good sense to provide Bella Coola chum hatchery under construction last fall. Finishing touches are put on the a standard hatchery with longer term self-supporting steel keeper pond structure, while workmen remove forms from the rearing facilities for the here-to-day-gone open concrete rearing ponds. tomorrow chum fry.

The Japanese, however, have defied North American hatchery convention and The basic components of a Japan- chery fry, even though held over for feed- have developed hatcheries for chum sal- ese-style hatchery are: some form of con- ing for several weeks, can still be released mon that are economical, and highly tainer with water flowing through, for the to migrate to salt water at the same time successful at making more chums available initial incubation of the eggs; "keeper as wild chum fry. Careful timing of the for harvest. ponds"; and rearing ponds. The first and release seems to be another important last items are common to all hatcheries; factor in the Japanese success with hatch- ery THE JAPANESE CHUM HATCHERY keeper ponds are unique to the Japanese production of chums. system. Chum salmon fry, the Japanese What has been described above have shown, can advantageously be fed in In conventional hatcheries the larval might be called the 'classic' Japanese fresh water for a short time (four to eight fish or alevins, sustained by a yolk sac at- chum hatchery system. Even in Japan weeks). The greater size of the hatchery tached to their bodies, remain in the incu- there are many variations on the basic fry at release, compared to wild chum fry bation containers where they have hatched theme, and in Canada each of the Japan- when they migrate to the ocean, results in until they become fry, capable of feeding ese-style hatcheries is being adapted to much higher proportion of the a hatchery independently. serve local conditions and Canadian ob- fish surviving to adulthood. So feeding is jectives. The hatchery at Tlupana Inlet one factor in the success of the Japanese In the Japanese-style hatchery, how- on the West Coast of Vancouver Island chum hatchery. ever, the eggs are moved to keeper ponds is a good example. just before they are ready to hatch. An Another is simplicity of engineering. INLET HATCHERY inch or two of gravel bottom TLUPANA Wherever possible, groundwater is used on the of in the ponds helps the yolk-encumbered Several salmon spawning streams the hatcheries. This lessens likelihood the alevins to hold their position in the flow- empty into Tlupana Inlet, including the that disease, siltation or algae growth will ing water, saving their energy for growth, Tlupana-Nesook River, the Sucowa River, become problems, and reduces need the and helping to prevent abnormal develop- Canton Creek and Deserted River. The to invest in equipment required to deal ment of the little fish. hatchery constructed this past year is sited with them. on a fifth stream, the Conuma River. The groundwater used in these hat- Chum stocks from all five streams will be NOW AVAILABLE cheries generally fluctuates less in temper- incubated in this one central hatchery. ature than surface water, and usually is "Japanese Chum Hatchery Tech- warmer than adjacent stream water dur- But while it is efficient to enhance niques" — Salmonid Fact Sheet ing the winter months when the spawn is the Tlupana Inlet chum salmon as though Number ‘5. Write: Information developing. The result is that the eggs and they were all one stock, biologically it is Branch, Fisheries and Oceans, alevin in a groundwater-fed hatchery (or desirable to retain the separate genetic 1090 West Pender St.,Vancouver, one in which the water is heated) develop identity of each wild chum race belong- B.C., V6E 2P1 Tel: 666-1384 more rapidly than they would in a natural ing to each individual stream. neeenamegefflormingemeemetztum meow» stream in the same locality. Thus the hat- Continued on back page . . . Continued from page 3. . Chum salmon spawn collected from all the streams are brought to the Con- Do's And Don'ts uma River site and incubated there until.. F the fryfry are ready to leave the keeper ' or Stream Improvement_ ponds. At that stage fry that have origina- ted from Conuma River stock will be released into rearing channels at the lieiwatershed can endure the care- restore a salmonid population to that ekse'Cèneroaclirhént of civilization foreter. ,.rivër.- Approval of the federal-provincial hatchery, there to be fed and later releas- - ed into the Conuma River. The extehow_ network of streams and committee on fishery egg transplants is rivers which hoideekour juvenile, migrat- required. Diseases must not be introduced All the others will be transported ing and spawning salmonids needs to be to the recipient stream. by tank truck back to the streams where maintained and upgraded. There are tech- z the eggs were spawned. There the fry may niques available to minister to this habitat Occasionaly a new species is intro- be kept for a short time in improved nat- — but these techniques can have negative duced to a stream which has a resident ural side channels, or in man-made earthen as well as positive effects when interrelat- fish population. The new species should rearing ponds or in one instance in a net ing factors are overlooked. not be one which competes with the pen suspended in a headwater lake. native salmonid for food and space. For Clearing log jams and forest debris this reason it might be considered unwise Each race of fry will emigrate from is a good example. It can be beneficial if to introduce coho into a stream that al- its home stream to the ocean, and as fish which were previously prevented ready supports a steelhead or cutthroat adults will return to this stream to spawn from migrating upstream are then able to population valuable to the sports fisher- — even though all began their develop- reach additional spawning areas. man. ment at the hatchery on Conuma River. However, removing a log jam may Genetic traits have to be consider- To begin the hatchery program in increase the speed of water flow and wash ed as well. If a summer run chinook race 1978 one million chum salmon eggs from away spawning gravel from the stream were introduced to a stream which has a Conuma River fish and 500,000 from bed. Often logs act as weirs, creating native fall chinook run, fish from the end Sucowa Creek stock were placed in the gentle pools and protected hiding places of the summer run might interbreed with central incubation facility. Eventually at where juvenile salmonids can rear and the early fall spawners. full production, annual returns from the grow. hatchery system are expected to reach Diverting part of a stream's flow 315,000 adult chum salmon and 25,000 Stream bank vegetation is essential into a side channel can open up new chinook. Capital investment for the to the health of young salmonids. It spawning and rearing areas. But detailed whole Tulpana Inlet hatchery system attracts insects, an important food source. studies of the stream must be made have been projected to be $1,600,000. As well, decaying leaves and twigs add beforehand to avoid possible pitfalls. nutrients which form an important part Although a stream might seem robust in OTHER VARIATIONS of the food chain in the stream. Shrubs the spring, in summer there might not be The Bella Coola Hatchery at Snootli and trees provide shade and cover for the enough water to support both a side Creek operates on the same principles as fish. When water temperatures are too channel and the natural stream. If not Tlupana except that it was constructed low, removal of some vegetation allow- properly planned, a sudden rise in the along traditional Japanese space-saving ing sunlight to warm the stream — may be water level could cause the stream to lines. desirable. Or improved access for anglers, either desert its original bed or bypass stream technicians and fish enumerators the side channel leaving spawning beds It is anticipated that when the com- may be required. exposed and possibly damaging property. plete system is in operation over seven million chum fry will be turned out ann- When a stream with good spawning All possible effects must be con- ually making 100,000 additional chums potential is barren or has had its natural sidered when an enhancement technique available for the harvest. Capital cost for stocks decimated, transplanting eggs from is chosen. the entire system will total $1,050,000. another stream may be the only way to

Pallant Creek on Moresby Island in the Queen Charlottes incorporated more radical variations. The water supply Salmonid Enhancement Newsletter Bulk En nombre comes from a headwater lake. Keeper third troisième tu 1090 West Pender Street ciess classe ponds are filled with alternating layers of • • 0 • c CD > Vancouver, B.C. V6E 2P1 4001 gravel and eggs to a depth of about twelve C C CC 92 8 2 Return Postage inches. Rearing ponds have been eliminat- c 0. Guaranteed o • cL. ed although some chum fry are fed for 0 o co 1D.E.> about six weeks in net pens set up in C C C co En-fn tu tu estuary waters. .É 2 >13 E «cr le 8 ge e As well as chums, coho are being -0 . C) enhanced at Pallant. The coho fry will be o trucked to streams to rear naturally.When OLE 0...— fully developed the %Bent Creek project e, CI is expected to add over 100,000 adult CC ô chum salmon to the fishery, plus 5,000 E C o. 0. 0 cp adult coho. Total capital investment O E will be $1,720,000. Ilerthancement Nevelet ter( _Salmon id VoLIV 1■pIceetî 1979 il eee e7' - Commun ityAdvisors etee,;,,,ç›ït*„dee .kett) n ïàl Aid To Volunteer Projgctse- Although the streams of B.C. and Program. "But most importantly, the the Yukon have survived for centuries in majority don't really care what species spite of the encroachment of civilization of salmonids they work on, the public many have suffered injury from urbani- is simply excited about being involved zation, industrialization, overfishing and in working with the resource, and put- the like. Some of the 1,600 odd salmon- ting back into nature what has been id streams, particularly those in heavily taken out for so many years." industrialized areas, need to be nursed back to health. The assistance of a Lastly, they will feedback local specialist who can assess what is needed concerns about the enhancement pro- to rehabilitate a stream and predict the gram to SEP, facilitating a two-way positive as well as the negative results of communication process which assists any efforts is now recognized by many SEP management in planning and imple- to be essential. menting enhancement activities.

Wildlife groups, schools, Rod and It is expected that because of the Gun Clubs and environmentally con- large geographical area to be covered, cerned individuals — a numer of whom the Community Advisors will be ex- have already been involved in stream im- tremely busy. Next year, after the provements such as restoring spawning wrinkles have been ironed out of the areas, completing environmental and program, it is hoped that the number of biological inventories and operating in- Community Advisors will be increased.. cubation boxes — have been clamouring for technically experienced local re- Supplementary to helping volun- source persons. In response to these teer groups tackle small-scale stream im- demands, the Public Involvement Unit provement or enhancement projects, the of the Salmonid Enhancement Program Community Advisors will also provide will be establishing a pilot program information to the public in their area Assisting the biologists of the future is involving four Community Advisors, on the Salmonid Enhancement Program. one task of the Community Advisors. beginning this summer.

The Community Advisors (CA's) will be stationed in Prince Rupert, Nanaimo, Victoria and New West- minster, serving that section of the province in which they live.

Their primary responsiblity is to give the public information on the kind of projects which are feasible; to assist groups in preparing applications for funding for equipment and materials from SEP and also to provide the tech- nical back-up needed to carry out a successful project.

"Some of the various volunteers want to produce sports fish species so that they can ensure that more sports fish stocks are available, not necessarily to the stream being worked on but to sportsmen in general", says James Boland, Head of the Public Involvement They spawned on the existing gravel which Marshall and Finnigan correctly Side Channel Salmon predicted would be cleaned by the com- bined action of running water and the manoeuvres of the fish as they defended their territory, dug redds and covered eggs during spawning. In time the salmon are expected to cleanse all the useable spawning area. No need to truck in ex- pensive washed and graded gravel in this instance — what cheaper labor could there be than the fish themselves.

The new Westlholme Channel ex- tends about 1,000 metres from the groundwater tap at the head to its outlet on the Chemainus River. Only half that length will ever be suitable for chum sal- mon spawning if no further improve- ments are made.

It is unlikely that the remainder of the channel will be tampered with. An old beaver dam, broached by a small wood-construction fish ladder backs up water in the lower part of the channel to form a pool. The water is too deep and slow moving for a spawning area but with Dave Marshall and Rheal Finnigan, the bioengineering team from the Special Projects the present steady water supply it will Division of the Salmonid Enhancement Program, developed the technology for side provide an ideal rearing area and over- channel enhancement. wintering for the juvenile coho. As well the addition of warmer (in winter) groundwater resulted in an average day- time water temperature during December of 9 degrees C compared to about 3.5 de- A technique with "a lot of poten- supply is good there may still be a flow in grees C in the river. Moderate water tem- tial in a lot of places", that is how Rheal the channel. If not, spawn laid down peratures could possibly trigger higher Finnigan describes side channel develop- when the side channel was a flowing food production in the channel pond. ment. Rheal is the engineering half of the watercourse will perish. SEP small projects bio-engineering team. The Westholme Channel develop- His partner is biologist Dave Marshall. To- ment can truly be saiçl to be assisting nat- gether they have the job of developing Thus the Small Project Unit's prime ure. Nothing has been done beyond mak- relatively simple, comparatively inexpen- aim at Westholme was to keep water ing an existing channel more useable for sive technology for the improvement and running in the channel all through the salmon. The project has cost only $15,000, maintenance of salmonid habitat. Devel- autumn spawning and winter-spring fry and Rheal Finnigan believes experience oping the side channels of streams into development periods. can reduce even that low figure by about productive salmon spawning and rearing a third for similar ventures in future. areas is one of their most promising en- For some channels ditching at the deavors. Westholme Channel on the Che- upstream end, rejoining the channel to The potential? Eventually West- mainus River, Vancouver Island, demon- the main stream, will establish a reliable holme Channel should be capable of strates the point. flow. At Westholme it was decided to tap accommodating as many as 5,000 chum underground water instead to ensure a spawners. The probabte increase in coho production cannot be estimated at this The channel was a natural recep- more stable flow. To collect the ground- stage, but it will be substantial. And there for overflow waters of the Che- water, the upper portion of the dry chan- tacle are many places where this kind of tech- mainus River, and probably had already nel was excavated below the lowest been used by small numbers of spawning summer level of the water table, and a nique can be applied. Variations have al- ready been used on the Vedder-Chilliwack salmon before the Finnigan-Marshall team inch perforated pipe was buried in twelve River systeni, on the Squamish and Harri- set out to improve it. Indeed, the produc- flow was estab- the gravel. A good steady and at Bonsall Slough off the tion of chum salmon on many unstable the discharging son Rivers lished. Downstream from Cowichen River. coastal streams probably depends upon end of the pipe the channel was prepared the existance of such channels. Often a bed, a bulldozer and as a spawning using Small dollar investment, minimal log jam or gravel bar at the head has a and banks of backhoe to shape the bed interference with the environment, no moderating effect on flow through the the channel. human manipulation of the fish; side channel, protecting incubating eggs and fry from sudden freshets that may scour channel development has many attractive When Westholme channel was visi- features to recommend it as a means of the main stream. Sometimes, however, ted in mid-December Dave Marshall esti- expanding salmonid production. the barrier builds up to the point that it mated at least 700 chum salmon spawners cuts off surface flow into the channel had already moved in, and more were ar- when water levels drop. If groundwater riving. The Many Faces of Enhancement

The technology of salmonid en- these fry an estimated 150,000 survive hancement is relatively young. Much has to adulthood. In 1978 the fishery been discovered. Much remains to be caught 85,000 of these. learned. Canadians have been innovators in the field of fish culture as it relates to After research on the first, chan- the salmonid family, and facilities such nel was completed, a second channel as the Big Qualicum Development Pro- was constructed in 1967. It was a re- ject have been instrumental in allowing sounding success. Within hours of the researchers to develop new techniques opening of the channel to the spawning for increasing the salmonid population. chums, the fish were digging nests. The channel is 3,400 feet long and accomo- Big Qualicum was one of the first dates 16,000 spawning chums. Each modern-day fish production facilities to chum produces around 3,000 eggs. be built in British Columbia. It has Between 75 and 80 per cent of these grown and adapted as knowledge of the eggs survive — compared to roughly 13 resource has increased. It has provided a per cent in nature — producing 22 mil- model for the enhancement facilities lion fry each year. Of these fry an esti- which followed it. mated 150,000 survive to adulthood. In 1978 the fishery caught 85,000 of these. Big Qualicum began as a flow control project. Improvement of the In 1968 the first channel was con- natural spawning and rearing habitat verted into a rearing channel for chum was, and still is, believed to be a signifi- fry, a new procedure for salmonids. cant factor in increasing the numbers of fish which survive from the egg stage to Extensive studies of the chums maturity. Biologists and engineers migration patterns and behavior were thought that flow control, which would undertaken between 1968 and 1972. eliminate floods and improve water Millions of chum from the project were This artificial spawning channel will ac- temperatures by mixing surface and lake fin clipped and released. The informa- commodate some 25,000 chum salmon. bottom water, could make a significant tion gained has greatly assisted fishery contribution to improving that survival managers in determining where and rate. A hatchery for chinook, coho and when the fishery can be opened to avoid steelhead was added in 1968. The rear- inadvertently catching stock from natur- And so the Big Qualicum River ing channel is now used for coho and al streams with the enhanced stock from concrete raceways have been built to was chosen for the first experiment. It Big Qualicum. When large numbers of is only seven miles in length and the rear the chinook and steelhead fry. The wild salmonids are taken by the fisher- chum are released directly into the Big adjacent property was available to Fish- men along with enhanced stock, the eries and Oceans Canada. This undertak- Qualicum River when they emerge as number of river-born fish left to spawn fry. ing involved a dam, overflow channel, may be inadequate. a stream diversion and underground tun- Continued on back page. . neling, constructed from 1960 to 1963.

This ambitious project did not by itself result in large numbers of addi- tional fish being produced although it did provide ideal conditions for adding the other components of this enhance- ment facility.

The concept of the spawning channel — providing optimum gravel and water flow conditions for spawning salmonids — was developed in B.C. A small experimental channel was built in 1954 at Jones Creek. In 1964 a 2,200 foot spawning channel was completed at Big Qualicum. However, what seemed optirhum tct the managers at the time did not have the same appeal to chum channel is 3,400 feet long and accom- modates 23,000 to 25,000 spawning chums. Each chum produces around 3,000 eggs. Between 75 and 80 per cent of these eggs survive — compared Big Qualicum hatchery manager, Dick Harvey feeds fry. These young salmon are raised to roughly 13 per cent in nature — in the rearing channel for fourteen months until they reach a weight of 20 to 25 grams producing 22 million fry each year. Of and then are released into the Big Qualicum River. The Salmon Return To Jenkins Creek Members of a White Rock fish and "Our Semiahmoo Fish and Game game club will be counting satmpnid fry Club is basically concerned with hunting this spring on Jenkins Creek. TEet41- • and fishing," says Club director Brian pated fry are offspring of 17 pairs of .(44'eetcti.f"%ti.trezfre also orientated toward coho which returned last fall to aetream 3;finktfinteltooeflio nature more than we which the Semiahmoo Fish and:ern:tie, etétre.'" . Club has, with considerable effort, re:n4 habilitated for spawners. --14rità)eb project then, members undertook 'tit rehabilitation of Jenkins Jenkins Creek is a tributary of the Creek. They cleared out debris, logs, Little Campbell River a watershed which brush and one old beaver dam on 'clean- old timers remember as being filled with up weekends' but when they were finished spawning salmonids. It isn't so today. the problem of the spawning grounds re- Many of these fish-filled streams have mained. The gravel beds were still beneath dried up and disappeared. mud. Jenkins Creek wasn't totally lost To help meet the costs of the re- but its native runs of coho and chinook quired dozer rental, gravel and contain- were reduced to remnant stocks. Restric- ment logs, the Club turned to the Public ted waterflow and silted-over spawning Participation Program of the Salmonid beds were the major problem here (as Enhancement Program for a grant. they are in the Little Campbell River watershed generally). The club obtained two-thirds of the grant they had applied for which enabled Semiahmoo Club members constructed them to regravel 600 feet (185 metres) of log barriers in the stream to prevent wash- streambed. ing out of the newly-laid gravel. Big Qualicum The gravel was purchased from the nearby LaFarge Concrete plant. "They Creek will never look the same; it's been Continued from page 3. . . gave us a good price on the gravel," said widened and logs, braced with large rocks, Bob Oswald, the club's president, "such have been installed across it at intervals to a good price that it amounted to a sub- provide pools and to keep the gravel from The fish are fed frequently — sidy." washing downstream. automatic feeders operate every fifteen minutes and hand feeding is provided Not only that, Oswald went on to "We're cover planting," Oswald ex- regularly t,o make sure that the fish say, but the LaFarge company trucked plained about the newly opened areas of reach their desired weight. Fry in the the gravel right down to stream's edge creek, with willows and plants to prevent production facility are fed Oregon and dumped it in at intervals for easy dis- erosion." Moist Pellets, a mixture of protein plus tribution by the shovel and wheelbarrow necessary vitamins. teams of Club members. Restoring a stream for 17 pairs of spawners may seem like a big effort for a An experimental rearing channel "The LaFarge people allowed us small result. But when the children and nearby has been designed so that almost access through their property as did the grandchildren of these fish return to all the food that the resident coho fry farmer who owns the land." spawn over the next decade, the popula- need is produced by the channel envir- tion of coho in the Little Campbell water- onment itself. In addition to plankton The farmer could be forgiven for shed will multiply. and aquatic insects from the channel, worrying a little. This portion of Jenkins some hand feeding is provided. The Big Qualicum facility is de-

signed to produce 22 million chum fry, •FD. Salmonid Enhancement Newsletter Bulk En nombre West Pender Street third troisième three million chinook, 750,000 coho te &IA." 1090 class clam 1:3 • 0 B.C. V6E 2P1 and 20,000 steelhead. Big Qualicum fish 0:3 c Vancouver, 4001 Y c oe Return Postage provide over $50 million in landed d 8 E value to the fishing industry. Recrea- ca. ,a. Guaranteed o tional fishing is calculated to produce 0 -o m= > . an additional benefit of over $6 million. r c c a) 03 2 >32 Eco -a 8 cu «c 4. Production will be increased in E-(1) > the future. The Big Qualicum fry may _e3 • 8 O u) a) be introduced to satellite rivers. A new Ott 9 spawning channel is planned for the , future. "Big Qualicum isn't even close • e to its potential," says manager Dick C 25 c Harvey. a i. o 41`. 0E E D.LE.phancement Newslettejl Salmon id Vol .IV No.4 1979 oce" Sliammon Hatchery bevel s tee "I et 0•(fr,es Tough Start - Smootl r'lu sh It was a windy December night Chief Joe Mitchell (now a member of which will be long remembered by mem- the B.C. Task Group, the advisory group bers of the Sliammon Band and the two to the Salmonid Enhancement Board). technical advisors who were attempting And since salmon fishing has been an in- to keep a seine net across the mouth of tegral part of native culture and activity, the Sliammon River. The net, borrowed it was not surprising that the band was from Fisheries and Oceans Canada, was among the first to give notice that they supposed to enable them to catch re- wanted to be involved in enhancement. turning spawners to obtain brood stock for their recently completed chum hat- The first project was undertaken chery. Unfortunately it was designed for in 1976 when the Band obtained a con- herring not salmon and their catch that tract from Fisheries and Oceans for night amounted to a bicycle frame and stream clearance. After the first season one dead chum. of stream clearance work, the leaders of the Sliammon Band met with Fisheries That was a year and a half ago representatives for two days and came and not the first nor the last time that up with a five year plan which called for stoicism and determination were de- construction of a Japanese-style hatch- manded in setting up what is now a ery on the Sliammon River with an init- smoothly-running hatchery, one of the ial construction cost of $150,000. first community operated facilities in British Columbia. In August of 1977 a crew of four from the Sliammon Band working with The Sliammon Band, located just two technical advisors built the hatch- outside Powell River, B.C., has a reputa- ery over a three month period. tion for business acumen. Their ventures include a shell fish processing plant and Once the building and equipment Arlene Dominic clips the adipose fin a drive-in theatre. Keeping the young were in place the next task was collect- from a proportion of the chum fry. people occupied is of vital concern to ing brood stock. It was an experience designed to depress all but the most en- thusiastic. First hatchery employees at- tempted to nab the spawners with dip nets. Unfortunately most of what they were able to catch were fish which had already spawned and were too tired to evade them.

The next attempt was with the seine net across the Sliarnmon River which netted next to nothing as well. Finally the Band managed to obtain help from commercial fishermen just outside the Sliammon River, collecting 260,000 eggs. This was well below the hatchery capacity of 1.2 million eggs but it provided enough stock with which to run a "hands-on" training pro- gram at the hatchery. Everything went well.The eggs developed into alevins and then into fry which were fed every half hour in the rearing ponds from dawn until dusk. Then, during the month-long Roy Francis operates the tagging machine which inserts a tiny coded wire into the Continued on page 2 nose of the anaesthetized fish. see "SLIAMMON HATCHERY" the magnificent Chilliwack River setting. Plans call for rehabilitation of a portion Blueprint of a natural creek so that the public will be able to see some salmon spawn and rear under completely natural conditions For The on the 30 acre site. The semi-natural gravel rearing channels which have been so successful Chilliwack for rearing fish at Big Qualicum will be used at Chilliwack. Both conventional Once the Vedder-Chilliwack River and Japanese style incubation compo- system was a sports fisherman's paradise. nents will be incorporated as well. It boasted the largest recreational steel- head fishery in British Columbia in terms Sportsmen are expected to take 95 of participation. Now, due to declining per cent of the steelhead and 36 per cent stocks, only catch and release fishing is of the coho produced at the Chilliwack allowed. Hatchery. However the primary bene- factors of this facility will be the commer- A long term has plan for the river cial fishermen. When the second stage is been drawn up by the Salmonid Enhance- completed the hatchery will have a pro- ment Program personnel to restore the duction capacity of five million chum fry, famous Vedder steelhead regener- stocks, one million coho smolts, 500,000 chi- ate the ailing run chinook and boost nook smolts and 150,000 steelhead chum and coho catches. smolts. Given expected survival rates this The Vedder - Chilliwack begins at this lake. production should result in an extra complex system This river supports 108,000 chum, 147,000 coho, 11,000 four varieties of Pacific salmon as well as eral hatchery now under chinook and 6,700 steelhead being caught two sea-run trout. Rising in the head- construction at Chilliwack on average each year in the commercial, waters above Chilliwack Lake it is called the confluence of the River and Slesse Creek. The new facility is ex- recreational and Indian food fisheries. the Chilliwack River until it reaches pected to cost about five million dollars Vedder Crossing. In the lower reaches and will be completed in two phases. The As well, the hatchery produced fish below Vedder Crossing it is known as the first stage is expected to be partially oper- should supplement the natural spawning Vedder. The river is prone to flooding ational by the fall of 1980 and fully population in the river, maintaining the and these lower reaches have been the operational in 1981. The second stage genetic diversity of the river system. Up- subject prolonged negotiations be- of should follow by 1984. grading of the Vedder-Chilliwack River to tween local property owners and the increase its potential capacity for wild provincial and federal flood control and Prior to completing plans for the salmonid stocks will continue as an integ- fisheries agencies. facility a public meeting was held (March ral part of the total plan. 4, 1978) at the Abbotsford Hatchery. Al- The federal and provincial compo- ternate layouts for the hatchery were The desired chinook production is nents of SEP recognized at the outset displayed and discussed. Those attending several years away. At present there are that a co-ordinated plan was necessary. emphatically favored a new facility which too few chinooks in the river to proitide Habitat protection and enhancement per- was as natural as possible. The hatchery adequate brood stock so this species must worked sonnel out a plan for the lower has been designed to make the most of be enhanced slowly. river involving set-back dyking and up- grading of the existing salmonid habitat. This has resulted in improved spawning grounds for chum and additional rearing SLIAMMON HATCHERY The only problem experienced areas for other species. Continued from page I ... this year was an over-saturation of the water supply with nitrogen, causing The province has already begun a some of the mortalities. Next year this pilot enhancement project for steelhead, rearing period, the intake pump malfunc- flaw will be corrected and an even high- using incubation facilities at the Abbotts- tioned.A large part of the stock perished er survival rate may be possible. ford Hatchery and ponds at the Chilli- as a result of the low water level in the wack military base for rearing the fry. ponds. Only slightly more than 30,000 Recently 30,000 of the chum fry were released in the spring of 1978. were nose tagged. Tagging of this and An excellent site for pink spawning future production will provide the stat- channels was prepared by the Interna- But experience is the best teacher istics needed to assess the project, iden- tional Pacific Salmon Fisheries Commis- that can be found. During the summer tify biological characteristics of the run sion some years ago but the proposal has the crew built a counting fence and a- and manage the fishery. lain dormant since. It has been delayed dult trap. In the fall when the chum they swam right into because of the possibility that endangered came up the river The hatchery provides four full- the holding pond. The full quota of eggs stocks would be taken in the food fishery time jobs at present and part-employ- at the same time were obtained with no difficulty. Incu- as enhanced stocks and ment for twelve Band members during bation proceeded well and rearing too. because of lack of resolution of an inter- the egg-take and tagging seasons and of The eighty per cent survival rate from national agreement. course the sàtisfaction of seeing the fish the egg to fry stage achieved, is consid- return to the Sliammon River in increas- ered good even conventional in the large ingly greater numbers. The major mechanism for enhance- hatcheries operated directly by the Sal- ment in the river system will be the fed- monid Enhancement Program. Earning Kudos For Creativity

When the Spruce City Wildlife As- sociation suggested installing an incuba- tion box in the McGregor RIver water- shed near Prince George, Department of Fisheries and Oceans personnel were not enthusiastic.

The chinook run in the upper Fraser River system has been on the de- cline during the last decade and Spruce City members wanted to assist in revers- ing that trend. The department was hesi- tant about having inexperienced people involved with such a fragile stock in a climate that was considered unsuitable for the kind of project proposed.

A biologist met with the group showing them numerous pictures of incu- bation boxes which had been frozen up in more southerly locations. "They looked like snow gulls in the winter," admits Dick Brett, chairmain of the McGregor project committee. Ken McIntosh, a member of the Spruce City Wildlife Association team studying the McGregor watershed, checks the gradient of this tributary for a water surface profile. The group was undeterred. "Our club is persistent," notes Brett with pride. "We don't consider weather the a flow should increase the oxygen supply Cost of the total project will be problem here," he continued optimistic- to eggs and alevins. As well a new feature over $13,000. The club obtained a ally. "Everybody handles it quite easily. for incubation boxes, desiltation, has $4,000 grant from SEP to go towards the We make all kinds of things run at ten been included says Brett. The club is now reconnaissance study and the pilot run below." trying to obtain a patent for what they and will raise the rest of the money are calling the Spruce City Wildlife Box. themselves. The Association has a history of The completed model was recently in- successful conservation projects. Several stalled during a family field trip to the Continued on back page members have engineering expertise and Mine Creek site. other skills required for such an endeav- see "SPRUCE CITY" or. After a number of meetings with Fish- This coming winter they plan to eries personnel the club was authorized operate the box without any eggs, heli- to carry out their proposal with assistance coptering in on weekends over a nineteen from the Special Projects Division of the week period to monitor the conditions. Enhancement Salmonid Program. They plan to counter the effects of the cold, not with the latest in scientific So last summer a Spruce City Wild- technology, but with an age-old material life Association team completed a recon- well known to farmers for its heat pro- naissance of four streams in the area and duction qualities — hay which generates chose the most desirable site for a box at heat as it cures. Mines Creek, a remote spot 100 miles from Prince George. The box will be enclosed inside a They were searching for a location log structure. Hay will be piled upon that where there was at least a three metre and weighed down. The water pipe will drop in the stream bed to provide ade- be covered with styrofoam, surrounded quate water pressure for the box. Ade- with hay and weighed down by logs. If quate rearing space nearby was required the club can keep the box from freezing for the fry from the box. They also gath- up they will put eggs into it next year. ered data on temperature, oxygen con- tent of the water, velocity, turbidity So far 2000 hours of volunteer and the presence of aquatic life for all the time have been spent on this project by creeks. the 319-member club and Brett expects that by the time the project is finished The next step was testing and ev- 5000 hours of volunteer work will have entually redesigning an upwelling incuba- been expended. All the club members tion box for the site. The new box en- obtain for their contribution is a steak Spruce City's Dave Western makes notes ables better saturation of the gravel sur- and potato at the end of the day says on the topography of the land in the rounding the eggs. The improved water Brett. watershed. Children's Fishery Kids Clean Up False Creek Salmon Children in the city often don't The use of net pens to up survival edibility. Staff checked the False Creek have the opportunities to enjoy the out- rates is relatively recent. BCIT personnel water daily for salinity, oxygen content, doors and experience nature that their wanted their students to have experience clarity and temperature. Notes were rural counterparts do. And so a fishery with this new method of rearing. The fish taken on harbor traffic and wildlife at strictly for the under-16 age group will be were housed in mesh enclosures in False the site. organized the completion of an experi- Creek which protected them from preda- mental project eéperped by the_Salmonid tors as they matured. They were fed regu- Enhancement Proggai-ie in -.kirfulmetikwi larly until they reached a size of between Of the 5,000 smolts, over 3,000 with the British Oulqmbiieilaiiiilee.Of ten and fifteen inches. survived the rearing period, unexpectedly Technology. • • , high when compared to survival rates in nature. As well, these fish weigh roughly Five thousand chinook tirkiltii from Regular analysis of sample fish was a pound and a half each compared with the Capilano Hatchery were moved -to net undertaken to determine health and three-quarters of a pound weight for fish pens in False Creek last July. They were the same age which are unprotected and fed two and three times daily by BCIT's must forage for themselves. Although the Sandy MacLaurin with Oregon Moist fish received occasional baths in a mix- Pellets, a mixture of fish, animal and soya ture of sea water and bactericide, some meal, vitamins and minerals. They will be succumbed to a fungus infection. How- released in the False Creek Lagoon locat- ever, there were some other mortalities, ed on the shore between Granville Island when they fish were transported to False and the False Creek Housing Develop- Creek Lagoon for the fishery (just before ment on July 21. our press deadline).

A proportion of the False Creek Chinook were tagged in order to deter- mine the migration patterns of those fish Spruce City which are not caught during the Child- ren's Fishery. SEP would like to know Continued from page 3. . . how near the rearing site the fish remain In addition to the reconnaissance and for how long. Future recreational studies last year the Spruce City Wildlife fishing may be organized if the fish show Association replaced a makeshift bridge a tendency to remain in the area. on a logging road which was preventing rainbow trout fry from migrating to Jakes Lake. They increased the spawning area Other experiments with net pen rear- of the lake by building a reverse gravel ing are ongoing in the Sechelt and Queen platform, a crib of logs which is filled Charlotte Islands. Usually hatchery chi- with gravel. (The cost of this project was nook are only kept and fed for a 90-day $8,000, $2,600 of which was paid for by period, long enough to increase the a grant from the provincial government.) Sandy MacLaurin has cared for the False weight and size of the fish before releas- Creek chinook housed in net pens below ing them into wild streams to migrate to The major part of the costs of this float for nearly a year. the ocean. these two projects came from funds rais- ed during the club's annual outdoor show. This year 4,400 feet of space were let to exhibitors and $16,000 raised for a vari- ›«),d, 111, 27" ety of conservation projects. Says Brett, Salmonid Enhancement Newsletter Bulk En nombre "It's a six-month job organizing the show. third troisième 1090 West Pender Street ce gi ÉL' "ci class classe All the money goes back into projects." ID V) c c Vancouver, B.C. V6E 2P1 4001 - c = Y t (%) E Return Postage This trio of projects — the recon- a. a Guaranteed naissance study, the reverse gravel plat- "i5 0 g- form and the outdoor show — won the -a. • g -a.' club first prize in the B.C. Wildlife Feder- • (T) E tu- 1:3 ation's annual Conservation awards. E g F- œ -0 Brett hopes that more B.C. Wildlife • U) " C 0 Federation member clubs will get involv- OLt C • ed in projects in the future. "If half the „ clubs did a program every year, what a tremendous thing it would be for the 4- '' 2'") province." Eau° • 1-1F.Lnhancement Newsletter ,ISalmonw Vol.IV No.5 1979 et ,‘w › Forest Firm Woik‘'eeWith SEP Forest companies usually concen- trate their efforts on trees and leave someone else to look after the fish. But British Columbia Forest Products has instigated a co-operative venture with the Salmonid Enhancement Program to enhance chum and odd-year pink sal- mon. This five-year project involves con- struction of an incubation box and development of a side channel for spawners on the Vancouver River, which flows into Jervis Inlet. This project was the brain child of Ken Benson, BCFP president, working with Gerry Burch who is a BCFP vice- president and a voluntary member of the Salmonid Enhancement Board. Both men believe that if forest com- panies were made aware of enhance- ment opportunities it would be a simple matter for employees working in an area to remove obstructions in streams or spread a load of spawning gravel in a river. Pink and chum runs on the Vancouver River will be increased by a joint BCFP—SEP project under construction here. The eggs will be incubated in trays in the hut until "It would be really beneficial if ev- they reach the eyed stage. They will then be transferred to the box to develop into ery major company would take a stream fry. Use of this technique could boost the egg to fry survival rate four times over that where the salmon population was in totally natural conditions. declining and do something about it," notes Burch. It was this attitude which led B.C. Forest Products to make this initiative on the Vancouver River. including some transplanted stock, will The egg transplant has been approv- be hatched in an incubation box. A side ed by the Transplant Committee. This is Reconnaissance conducted some channel is being renovated for use by a federal-provincial body set up to re- years earlier by SEP crews indicated spawners once the run has been built up. view transplants of fish eggs so that that the possibilities for increasing the disease and parasites are not spread, nor pink and chum runs from this river were incompatible aquatic species introduced good. The incubation box has been design- ed to hold a million each of chum and into a watershed. pink eggs which will be collected this The Vancouver River is primarily Where possible the eggs from the a coho river. Pink and Chum runs have fall. To obtain this number of eggs 400 chum females and 600 pink females and donor rivers will be fertilized with milt traditionally been small. Previous log- from Vancouver River males. If at least ging activity in the area resulted in an equal number of males are required. Vancouver River runs are t,00 low to half of the genetic input from the result- unstable flows which tended to flush ing fish comes from Vancouver River the spawning gravel out of the stream provide all of these spawners. And so additional brood stock must be taken at stock the chances for accurate homing weakening stocks further. However the are improved. One of the problems with river is capable of producing larger runs Skwawka and Deserted Rivers and flown to the box site. egg transplants in the past has been that if new spawning beds can be made avail- while survival rates to the ocean have able. Unlike coho, pinks and chums mi- equalled that of native stocks the fish grate immediately to the ocean after in- Like the Vancouver River, these two waterways flow into Jervis Inlet. Their are often not able to find their way cubation and so extensive food supplies back to their river in large enough quan- and rearing habitat are not required. geography and temperatures are similar as is the timing of the salmon runs. tities to sustain the run. During the five-year program devel- These factors increase the chances of Continued on Page 3 oped by SEP and BCFP personnel, eggs, obtaining a successful transplant. see "SEP—BCFP JOINT PROJECT" Puntledge River Comeback

The Puntledge River was once a major producer of big chinook salmon; fish that gave the Courtenay-Comox area a reputa- tion for tyee fishing rivalling the fame of Campbell River waters. In fact Puntledge tyees probably supplied part of the Campbell River fishery at one time.

But in recent years the Puntledge has not been a big contributor to either the New incubation facilities on the Puntledge River will be ready for the chinook egg-take commercial or recreational catches. In in October. fact less than a decade ago it appeared that the salmon runs of that river might soon be extinct. Before 1950, the estimated returns of usual three-month period and reach a chinook spawners to the Puntledge had weight of 100 to a pound by their release Today those stocks appear to be on been over 6,000. By 1970 less than 400 date. The year-long rearing period raises the road to recovery. A successful pilot of the early run chinook were swimming the survival rate from fry to adult fish to hatchery which has led to the construc- up the river and the late run had fallen to 61/2 per cent compared to 21/2 per cent for tion of facilities at two sites on the river 200 fish. the smaller fish. Year-long rearing is suggests that the prospects for the Punt- somewhat costly but in the case of an ledge salmon are bright once again. The decline of the Puntledge River extremely fragile stock such as the chinook provides a very graphic illustra- Puntledge chinooks it is considered well The Puntledge River has two runs of tion of what can happen when the needs justified. chinook salmon. An early summer run of two resource users conflict. Happily it comes up the river in June, July and also provides a prime example of how co- The two stocks are always separated. August. A fall run follows in September. operation between resource users can Smolts from the summer run chinook Both runs spawn in October. As well the work to mitigate at least some of the stock are released at the upper rive site river has stocks of chum, coho, steelhead, problems. after the rearing period. The fall un some pinks and a few sockeye. smolts are trucked io the lower river site B.C. Hydro provided land and money for release. This rather cumbersome pro- Both summer and fall chinook runs to build a spawning channel in 1965 at an cess ensures that the racial purity of the were plentiful until the 1950's when up-river site just below their impound- two stocks will be preserved. hydro-electric facilities on the river were ment dam. However because of poor expanded. channel performance and too few spawn- The success of the pilot hatchery has ers available to use it, this facility did led to construction of a permanent The summer run of chinooks had little to enhance the chinooks. hatchery complex which is now being spawned in the upper part of the river built on a site provided by B.C. Hydro above the dam site. The new hydro deve- And so the decision was made to next to the old power house. lopment not only created difficulties for switch to more intensive incubation and the spawners in reaching the upriver rearing techniques. A pilot hatchery was This hatchery has been designed with spawning beds but the young fish migrat- set up in 1972 in an old powerhouse the capacity to produce 600,000 coho ing to sea perished in the turbines or owned by B.C. Hydro on the lower fry, 100,000 steelhead fry, 4 million fall suffered from the effects of water which reaches of the river. The upper river run chinook fry, 1 million summer run was supersaturated with nitrogen as it spawning channel site would now be used chinook fry and 5 million chum fry. passed through these turbines. for rearing. Hydro paid part of the costs of installing Burrows ponds and a variety The summer run chinook, steelhead, The fall run traditionally spawned in of tubs and troughs. A semi-natural and coho fry will continue to be reared the lower reaches of the river below the rearing channel was added there in 1977. and released at the upper site. The fall dam site. Their numbers were reduced as run chinook and chum fry will be reared well. The dam created winter and spring Chinook are generally kept and fed and released at the new hatchery on the freshets — fast, full currents which wash- for 100 days before release. But for the lower site. Japanese style incubation ed away nests and flushed out spawning past few years the Puntledge hatchery has facilities have been built for chum. gravel. And lower water flows in the also experimented with long term rearing. summer months have resulted in a rise in Since 1972 a proportion of the chinook The Puntledge stocks are on the in- the temperature of the river. It occasion- fry have been reared for a year and crease. Biologists are confident that with- ally reaches 22 degees centigrade in the released as "super smolts". These "super in a few years Puntledge tyees will again summer, not a healthy temperature for smolts" average about seven to a pound be attracting fishermen to the salmon — 24 degrees is usually lethal. compared to fry which are reared for the Courtenay- Comox area. SEP - BC F P Chinook Fishery - Joint Project Hot Water Problems Continued from Page 1 . . . The box will be operated until 1983 when two cycles of pinks and one cycle Billed as a Children's Fishery, the of chum have returned. If results show event was designed to finish off a net that the stocks in the river have been pen rearing experiment in Vancouver's built up to a level at which they can False Creek with a big splash. The experi- sustain themselves naturally, the box ment itself was an overwhelming success operation will be discontinued. The although the grand finale had to be scaled salmon will be allowed to spawn in a down substantially. side channel, Jitco Creek, which is being upgraded for that purpose. The Salmonid Enhancement Program initiated and funded this pen rearing ex- A dyke spans the top of the side periment which formed part of the Bri- channel at its upstream junction with tish Columbia Institute of Technology's the river. A large culvert penetrates the fish culture training program. Out of dyke with a manually-operated valve to 5,000 six-month-old chinook salmon regulate the water flow into the side from the Capilano Hatchery, transferred channel. This means that regardless of to the pens in July 1978, roughly 4,500 seasonal floods or droughts the water were alive and well as of the end of May levels in the channel will remain con- 1979. This is an excellent survival rate stant providing a steady water supply to for a project of this type — especially one the incubation box and later to the nests which the spawning fish will dig in located in False Creek which is not noted Many of the youngsters who turned up the gravel bed. for its pristine waters. at False Creek Io fish went home with a gourmet dinner. By June the fish measured ten to fif- The total cost of the project will be teen inches and plans were finalized for around $100,000 this year to be shared the children's fishery. But that month Project workers rushed samples of the equally between the Salmonid Enhance- about 1,000 fish succumbed to vibrio, a fish to the lab for analysis. This analysis ment Program and B.C. Forest Products. stress related illness caused by crowded confirmed the diagnosis. The fish them- BCFP will provide a staff member to conditions and warm water temperatures. selves were in good condition but the make regular checks on the incubation Such mortalities are common in fish high temperatures were lethal. (Salmon box. culture. In nature 90 per cent losses from do best in water temperatures ranging egg to adult salmonid can be expected. from eight to fifteen degrees centigrade.) Increasing the salmon from any river is not something that happens over The fish were moved and responded On the weekend of the fishery the night. Gerry Burch will have to wait well to treatment. Then in mid July a hot remaining 800 chinook were released into several years before knowing if that spell descended on Vancouver. The False Creek. About 100 fish were caught. transplant is to be a success. But the beaches were full and the water tempera- One youngster hooked his chinook using example set by his company will not ture rose to 22 degrees. The B.C.I.T. a marshmallow as bait. need time to prove its value. In a pro- students who were about to move the vince where resources are no longer pens to a lagoon where the fish would be The pen rearing project will be con- considered inexhaustible and where released watched in shock as scores upon tinued in False Creek next year. However competition between resource users is scores of chinook salmon died and float- the children's fishery will be held in June becoming an ever-present source of ed to the surface. By the next day less before the temperature of the water in contention, such co-operation can only than a third of the fish were left. False Creek has a chance to skyrocket. ê be lauded. BCTG Assesses SEP Proposals Proposals ranging from a chinook resent the various sectors of the com- gies and approaches must be obtained if hatchery on the Bowron River to ocean munity, from consumers to commercial SEP is to achieve its many goals. pen rearing of chums in the Queen fishermen, who are affected by the Charlottes and research into salmon and salmon and trout fishery. The role of the Task Group, when all sea-run trout genetics were part of the these factors are taken into account, is to Salmonid Enhancement Program package Assessing such a program is not a evaluate the proposed plan and the bene- for 1980-81, presented to the B.C. Task simple job. Biological, engineering and fits provided to the public and to then Group at their August meeting in economic factors as well as social and report its conclusions to the Salmonid Richmond, B.C. The BCTG is SEP's cultural impacts must all be considered Enhancement Board. primary public advisory group reporting in attempting to obtain a balanced pro- to the SEP Board. BCTG members rep- gram. An appropriate mix of technolo- Salmonids In The Classroom "I wish to complain about your Information on the life cycle of the junk in the ocean and streams. salmonids, their habitat, the fishing I was coming back to spawn but I industry, the native food fishery, the couldn't because of your junk." aquatic food chain and the migration patterns of the fish is provided. Issues So wrote a Port Hardy, grade-five such as resource management are also student who obviously identified with described. The needs of various resource the hazards encountered by salmon and users are examinded — logging, fishing, sea-run trout. His complaint was duly mining and agriculture all employ and noted in the Sunday Salmonid Sun, a affect the waterways of this province. school newspaper put out after his class had studied these anadromous fish. The package contains everything the teacher will need. Reference materials, The class was part of a pilot group activity sheets, lesson plans, quizzes, exposed to "Salmonids in the Classroom" Representatives of these government overhead transparencies and photocopy a new supplementary course created departments and a dozen teachers formed masters, bibliographies and lists of under the auspices of the Salmonid a Critics Council. This body met four available resource materials are included. Enhancement Program for use in B.C. times last year providing advice and schools. direction while curriculum writers from "Salmonids in the Classroom" is being G.W. Sinclair and "The kids really turned on to the Associates progressed introduced to teachers this fall at work- through drafts, 45 teachers resource", says Port Hardy teacher, four and in shops throughout the province and will tested Larry Burroughs, one of five teachers the four districts the document. be marketed by the British Columbia who field tested Teacher's Association Lesson Aids the package in the Port The package has now received the School Division. Hardy District over a six-month endorsement of the B.C. Ministry of period. "We adopted stream beside a the Education for use in the school system as school. We did a stream study looking at supplementary material. it from the point of view of the salmon." They also produced the school newspaper "Salmonids in the Classroom" is a quoted above and made a field trip to the multi-disciplinary package providing ma- Keogh River where SEP is involved in terial for use in science, social studies, stream improvement. political science, geography, reading and art courses.

"In the field test I was able to teach the package about twenty per cent of the time without feeling that I'd deprived my class of any of the basic material they needed," notes Burroughs.

"Salmonids in the Classroom" can be used as a complete curriculum or any one unit can be taught independently. There are two versions of the package, one Illustrations for this story were produced by students of David Thompson Elemen- aimed at grades four to six in the elemen- tary School in Kamloops. Their teacher, tary schools and a junior secondary edi- Cam Murray, was one of 45 teachers who tion for grades 7 to 11. field-tested this educator's package. The Port Hardy youngsters were not alone in their enthusiasm for the salmo- nid. In all four areas where the educator's I Salmonid Enhancement Newsletter + package was field tested (Kamloops, E Bulk En nornbre 1090 West Pender Street third troisième Richmond, Sechelt and Port Hardy), stu- .40 e.,Ét_9 1È class clause u • Vancouver, B.C. V6E 2P1 c > c 4001 dents displayed an interest which extend- C Return Postage ed well beyond the classroom. Kamloops -„-. C.) e a Guaranteed students organized a fair. Richmond high o cwc school students made a presentation at a 1:3 "a- > = c .81-0 public hearing on SEP. co • >1:3 E G , -0 _c c 0 .(1) co e "Salmonids in the Classroom is the 'cb- -0 > g), result of two years of curriculum writing 0 and testing, a demanding process which o called for input from a number of tea- chers and co-operation between three government agencies, Fisheries & Oceans, . 1, 2 Canada; and British Columbia's Ministry CL m a> of Environment and Ministry of Educa- 0 E.' a E tion.

LITHO.° ly CANADA (2,, „, BY THUNDERBIRD PRESS LTD. <1.1. .. T a1

mon i

e ce :E; B.C. est., e p.-1, Task Group e e we A Celebration Oetfccessc'e When members of the B.C. Task Group attended a Campbell River meeting this fall, Jimmy Sewid, a here- ditary Kwakiutl chief, a successful commercial fisherman, and one of the founding members of the B.C.T.G. entertained them at a banquet.

Sewid and his family who live in the area were following the native Indian tradition of providing hospitality to visitors. (Jimmy's autobiography is called "Guests Never Leave Hungry" and it certainly proved to be true.) The event provided an opportunity for BCTG members to celebrate their first three years as an organization. At dinner, Lonnie Hindle, who now works for the Salmonid Enhancement Continued on page 2 Task Group members discuss the importance of estuaries during a field trip. see "Three Years of Action" Public Advisory Group Assists SEP This article was written by Lee As stated in one of its early news Straight who covered BCTG meetings releases, the BCTG "includes cross- first as reporter, then as a member sectional representation from (30) 'in- representing the media and who now terests' in the B.C. community. These attends as a resource person from the include "recreational, native and com- Department of Fisheries and Oceans mercial fishermen, fish processors, for- which he joined last spring. estry, education, chambers of commerce, tourism and mining, drawn from One of the most successful and far throughout the province." reaching public involvement groups ever established in British Columbia cele- There are from two to four meetings brates its third birthday this October. a year depending on the business at The skookum, 30-member B.C. Task hand which might include reactions to Group (BCTG) is a curious young the annual budget, information sessions creature that, so long as its modest on the program and on the salmon and budget is maintained, intends not to trout resource, promoting the program miss a thing. to the public, or recommending inquir- ies into various aspects of resource The BCTG's mandate is to provide management. input on public attitudes and concerns regarding the Salmonid Enhancement Program and to act as a liason between Continued on page 2 Bill Rice of the Pacific the interest groups they represent and see "Advisory Group" BCTG member, SEP. Salmon Society.

the fishery than they had originally realized. Instead of being adversaries they Three Years Of Action became supporters of Fisheries. This group is totally committed to enhancing A CELEBRATION OF SUCCESS the BCTG meeting and have stuck with the resource," says Hindle. Continued from page 1. . . the group ever since. For Gordon Mackie, chairman of the Program, recalled his introduction to In fact Hindle became so sold on the Task Group, Sewid's banquet was a total- SEP. At that time he was an administra- potential of SEP that he joined the staff ly appropriate celebration of three years tor for the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs. and presently assists remote communities, of activity. "For many of the newer Hindle explained that those involved in many of which are native, to develop members it provided a real sense of them- the commercial, recreational and native small hatcheries and carry out stream selves as a group." It is that sense, be- food fishery were not always on the improvement contracts. lieves Mackie, which keeps the group best of terms. There was, and still is, a functioning smoothly." Sometimes it certain amount of competition between Rather than attacking each other, the amazes me that such a diverse group can these groups each of which would prefer various interest groups represented in the come up with a consensus. But their more weight to be given to their share BCTG were somewhat euphoric about concern for fish is the one unifying of the salmon fishery. their coming together. "Our attitude was point." that as a citizens group we were ready to "The idea of all of us sitting down in take over and manage the fishery our- Mackie sees the BCTG as a continuing the same room seemed bloody ridi- selves." presence on the SEP scene, an organization culous," notes Hindle. But Jimmy which will change and evolve as the pro- Sewid who had a great deal of influence But the group soon became more gram changes and evolves, "but it's princi- on the younger UBCIC members quietly sophisticated. "The people involved be- pal role will be to distill and reflect suggested that they give it a chance. gan to realize that there were far greater general public opinions to the decision And so Hindle and Sewid turned up for complexities in enhancing and managing makers." Advisory Group Continued from page I . . .

But back to the task group itself. The idea of the BCTG actually was an out- growth of what almost every dreamer mentioned in the early days of planning the SEP. That includes people like Dr. Peter Larkin, world famous UBC conser- vationist; J. Ron MacLeod, now a direc- tor-general in fisheries at Ottawa, Dr. Glen Geen, then director-general of Pacific fisheries, his successor and cur- rent director-general, Dr. Wally Johnson, the successive ministers of fisheries; B.C. Teacher Larry Burroughs and school principal Barry Thornton, both members of the Wildlife Federation executive-director BCTG, examine the educator's package with BCTG executive-secretary Glenn Sinclair. Bill Otway and longtime Victoria conser- vationist Howard English.

The idea grew rapidly and SEP mana- Inventory of, and emphasis on small Cost-recovery or financing of the gers decided to establish an independent stream restoration and enhancement, and program, through licences or royalties, is body which would represent all of the pressure to keep the public involved, a major concern, still not resolved. community, from consumers to educators where practical. to fishermen. The move was made to avoid any possibility of a bias towards Continual pressure for government We don't wish to leave the reader with one user group. support has been exerted by members of the impression that all is cozy with the the Task Group, through their various B.C. Task Group, purring and compla- The BCTG has continued to provide organizations. cent. Far from it. The very concern that extensive input and frequent and ready moves dtizens to volunteer for such a consideration of ideas. The most out- Pushing for public meetings, with two body also keeps them restless and dis- standing of these being the voluminous major series of them already held through- criminating. At every meeting there are and graphic "educator's package." The out the province. Special meetings were stro'hg differences of opinion. But all package was hotly advocated by the Task held to discuss local projects, like the factions patiently hear the views of other Group and received much input and Chilliwack-Vedder River hatchery and users of this great salmonid resource. All considerable scrutiny by members while channels, and the plans to enhance Hope are deeply concerned with its main aims it was being developed. and Camp sloughs near Chilliwack. to restore salmon numbers and seek fair and efficient public sharing of the salmon. Other noteworthy concerns pin- Balance in species enhancement is a pointed by the Task Group are: major concern of the Task Group. Fisheries, Forestry Co-operate

In years gone by little attention was paid to the salmon and sea-run trout on the White River. when forests were logged. The fish were B.C. Task Group members confer with SEP staff abundant and everyone assumed they would remain so. MacMillan Bloedel personnel point to Road construction may also be de- Today, because of dramatic declines in such examples as a stand of timber which structive to streams. Improperly con- the salmonid populations since the turn was left undisturbed when wildlife biolo- structed culverts may hamper the natural of the century, forest companies have be- gists discovered it was a prime wintering run-off pattern. Road construction also come increasingly sensitive to the effects area for elk; a wilderness park which is increases the liklihood that soil will enter of logging on other resources. open to visitors; and a tributary stream the streams and cover spawning gravel. which has been rehabilitated by the In the White River watershed the roads Resource planning is becoming a co- company. are built well back from the river. operative effort as B.C. Task Group members discovered when they visited Compromises between forestry and It is now more common practice to the White River. This coho and steelhead fishery values inevitably occur although leave a green strip along either side of a river near Kelsey Bay on Vancouver Is- MB's Division Manager, Bob Dick, points river bank. The root system of this ribbon land flows through an area which is now out "Everytime you make a compromise of vegetation helps to decrease erosion of being logged by MacMillan Bloedel. The no-one is totally happy." soil into the stream and improves drain- tract is used by the company to demon- age. The foliage harbors insects and leaf strate how timber can be harvested with- The major problem with logging as far drop adds nutrients to the water. Most out destroying the habitat of the salmon as fisheries personnel are concerned is its important, the branches shade the water and sea-run trout. effect on the drainage of the watershed. preventing stream temperatures from The forest acts as a sponge, slowly ab- rising too high. In the case of the White On their tour BCTG members were sorbing rainwater and snow melt and River less foliage may have helped the told about the existing referral system slowly releasing it into the rivers and habitat. The White River is an extremely under which logging plans are examined streams. When the forest is gone the cold river and a certain amount of sun- by a number of government agencies water enters the stream in great rushes light helps to initiate the food chain and including the B.C. Forest Service, the which are followed by drought. The promote growth in the young fish. B.C. Fish and Wildlife Branch and the result is that spawning gravel and redds federal Department of Fisheries and where the salmon and trout eggs are BCTG members also saw examples of Oceans. deposited are washed away. Salmon and slash burning. The forestry companies trout fry perish during dry spells. prefer to burn away debris left after log- Through this process potentially nega- ging rather than to risk losing stands of tive effects on fish and wildlife habitat In the White River the drainage has timber in uncontrolled fires set by light- can be identified and logging plans chang- been maintained by interspersing logged ning. The burn off also promotes the ed before destruction of the habitat areas with mature timber. Replanting growth of commercially valuable species OCCUrS. takes place within a four-year period. such as Douglas fir and prepares the ground for reforestation.

Fish and wildlife habitat benefit when the risk of uncontrolled fires is reduced- but slash burning can change the chem- istry of the soil removing nutrients which would be picked up by the rain water as it drains into the stream.

Obviously finding an appropriate bal- ance between the concerns of forest companies and fisheries agencies requires effort and committment. Even where co-ordinated planning does occur, it may be impossible to avoid some losses to both the forest and fisheries resource. But since all of us want to enoy the benefits of both resources, co-operation and compromise will be necessary. Chairman Gordon Mackie & Sandy Ross. Barry Thornton and Tom Murray. B.C. TASK GROUP MEMBERS AFFILIATION Re source MEMBER ADDRESS Aberley, Doug P.O.Box 40 Local Government Hazleton, B.C. Planning Birch, Edgar 11660-98A Avenue United Fishermen & Allied Surrey, B.C. Workers' Union Burroughs, Larry P.O.Box 265 Education One of the most important sets of Port Hardy, B.C. recommendations by the B.C. Task Cox-Rogers, Bernie 275 Alpine Street Steelhead Society Group is the policy paper which they Comox, B.C. produced on Co-ordinated Resource Gilbert, Phil 1500-1055 W.Hastings Council of Forest Industries Management. Logging, fishing, mining Vancouver, B.C. of B.C. and agriculture all employ and affect the Florian, Mike 1726 Graham Avenue Fisherman's Co-op waterways of this province. The CRM Prince Rupert, B.C. Gates, Brian E.L.U.C. Environment and Land Use subcommittee paper points to the need Victoria, B.C. Secretariat for co-operative planning among those Guelke, Conrad B. 555 West Hastings B.C. Hydro who are active in the watershed. Vancouver, B.C. Hall, Wayne P.O.Box 782 Coastal Native Communities Excerpts from the Co-ordinated Re- Waglisla, B.C. source Management Report: Lenz, Bill 6757-138th Street Pacific Troller's Surrey, B.C. Association 1. CRM is the design, development and Lotzkar, Ruth 2811 West 43rd Avenue Canadian Consumers implementation of a plan for using a Vancouver, B.C. Association watershed. Martinolich, Richard 5104 45th Avenue Vessel Owners' 2. The object of CRM is to get the best Delta, B.C. Association out of a watershed, socially and Mitchell, Joe RR2 Sliammon Road Native Indian Food economically. Powell River, B.C. Fishery of Commerce 3. To protect the salmon potential of a McKnight, George Box 764 Chamber Prince George, B.C. valley, all disciplines must co-operate Pentland, Bill 700-1030 West Georgia Mining in its development. Vancouver, B.C. 4. Agency technicians must keep in close Rice, Bill 4631 56th Street Pacific Salmon Society contact with elected representatives to Delta, B.C. ensure efficient and open development Rogerson, Bob 1673 Freeman Street Conservationists of resources. Victoria, B.C. 5. The federal-provincial accord in SEP Ross, Sandy 104 Naramata Road Consumer/Taxpayer must take pains to communicate with Penticton, B.C. Alder Street Native Indian Fisherman all agencies at all levels, particularly Sewid, Jimmy 300 Campbell River, B.C. the provincial Environment and Land Shaw, Len 20416 92A Avenue B.C. Wildlife Federation Use Committee and the B.C. Task RR5 Langley, B.C. Group. Whitecross, Alex Box 4270 Media 6. Local, public "task forces" must be Williams Lake, B.C. established and linked with the B.C. Williamson, D. Box 289 Tourism/Recreation Task Group. Sicamous, B.C. 7. This is a multi-purpose, very general Wilson, Peter 9-975 Centennial Road Processors recommendation which appears to Vancouver, B.C. Deep Creek Agriculture accentuate the need for being alert to Young, Gavin RR4 Kelowna, B.C. long-term effects of projects. Mackie, Gordon Box 370 (Chairman) 8. All resources should have equal rights Sicamous, B.C. within a watershed and be developed Murray, Tom 1975 Russet Way (Vice-Chairman) evenly and fairly. West Vancouver, B.C. Lee S traight Thornton, Barry 1841 Robb Avenue (Vice-Chairman) Comox, B.C.

gg-F Government of Canada Gouvernement du Canada Bulk En hombre Reports Fisheries and Oceans Pêches et Océans third troisième BCTG class classe CI) m •6). • 0 4001 • C > C The BCTG is the official advisory Tri Return Postage 3 E Guaranteed group to the Salmonid Enhancement c c 0- Board, which advises both the federal Z p Minister of the Department of Fisheries c.4 •e rn-o and Oceans and the provincial Minister •Eeie Environment. ,> 221)0 of • -0 — e • œ - Recently they presented recommend- ations to the Board on the 1980-81 • (If, or proposals which called for sustained fund- 0 c ing, more permanent staff positions E cg g 213i ° through increased man years, and further 7'e fm E c Cip•—q> 0- no a' stream rehabilitation. 0 E

LITHO'D IN CANADA (2', . THUNDEBBIRD PRESS LTD. ‘1.1.0 Enhancement Newsletter( Salmoni Vol.IV No.7 1979 tte lifee esteee‘eîeeu-. New Er a For tes Qualicum Much of the present chum fishery in the Georgia Strait can be traced to the spawning channel built on the Big Qualicum River in 1967. Now a sister facility just opened on the Little Quali- cum River, ten miles away, promises an additional 300,000 chums each year to commercial fishermen.

The $3 million spawning channel for chum salmon is the major element in Salmonid Enhancement Program strat- egy to increase salmonid stocks on the Little Qualicum. A rearing channel for chinooks has also been built at the site and steelhead and cutthroat trout trans- plants are planned as well.

The Little Qualicum already has a healthy colony of chums — an average of 53,000 spawn annually although this year's run will be considerably smaller. SEP planners decided to enhance this stock because the $3 million investment The picturesque Little Qualicum River is soon to be a major producer of chum makes economic sense — at full produc- salmon for the commercial fishery. The recently-completed spawning channel ad- tion the market value of the additional jacent to the river will eventually produce 300,000 chum annually for the fishery. fish will be $3.9 million (in 1979 dollars). And since chum from the Big Qualicum River and Little Qualicum are fished together it is important to increase stocks from boil watersheds.

The 2.6-mile channel, when fully utilized will hold up to 50,700 chum spawners, producing 59 million young fry, resulting in 375,000 adults each year, given average survival rates.

The chum will spawn naturally — the females digging redds in the gravel beds and depositing their eggs and the males fertilizing them with milt. Survival rates from the egg-to-fry stage in the channel are expected to be four times that in the wild. The ideal gravel and water flow conditions of the channel greatly reduce the likelihool of redds being washed out or eggs perishing due to lack of water flow. Les Edgeworth, Executive Director of the Salmonid Enhancement Program, intro- duced Stephen Rogers (left), B.C.'s Minister of the Environment, and Tom Siddon The additional chum from the 'Little (right), M.P. for Richmond-Delta South and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister Qualicum facility will act as a balance to of Fisheries and Oceans, at the official opening ceremonies for the new Little Quail- those produced at the Big Qualicum cum Spawning Channel. Rogers and Siddon unveiled a plaque and opened the gates Continued on back page into the spawning channel. see "LITTLE QUALICUM" Secrets Of The Skeena Steelhead Although steelhead are a sports fish is to determine how the run is being they are caught accidentally in great effected by the sport, commercial and quantitites by commercial fishermen, not native food fisheries. Biologists want to only in salt water but also in a gillnet know if enough steelhead are escaping fishery in the estuary of the Skeena. This the various fisheries for reproduction. fishery is aimed at the large sockeye and pink salmon populations migrating up the A second group of steelhead has been Skeena each summer. tagged with 400-day transmitters further up the Skeena in the Terrace-Hazleton "The Marine Resources Branch, of the area. Tracking of these fish is producing provincial Ministry of Environment, information on wintering and spawning found that between 5,000 and 10,000 areas and migration patterns. steelhead are caught annually in the com- mercial fishery on the Skeena," says The fish being tagged are summer Mike Whately, the biologist in charge of steelhead which enter the river in late the tagging project. "This is almost twice July and August and which are most as many as are caught by anglers." vulnerable to the commercial, recreation- al and food fisheries. (Winter steelhead In addition to the sport and commer- which migrate up the river after October cial fishery, some steelhead are taken are not endangered.) Sports fishing for steelhead. in the native food fishery. Deterioration of spawning and rearing habitat are also Project personnel began tagging the contributing to their decline. fish in the summer of 1978 but discover- The steelhead trout has been found to ed after experiments with seine nets, gill be the speediest of all salmonids. (The The fact that scientific knowledge nets and traps that angling was the only salmonid family includes five varieties of relating to the steelhead is extremely efficient way of catching the fish. In this Pacific salmon and two species of sea-run limited has not helped this species either. past summer (1979) 95 fish were tagged trout.) A steelhead, tagged with a minute The two-year, $195,000 radio-tagging through angling on the Skeena. radio transmitter at the mouth of the project has been organized to fill some of Skeena, was tracked a surprising 180 these gaps. Two orange spaghetti tags are attached miles in 14 days to the Maurice River externally below the dorsal fin so that where it would spend the winter. Tagging with radio transmitters is rela- radio-tagged steelhead can be identified. tively expensive. Trapping, tagging and Fishermen who catch these steelhead can The tagging and tracking was part of tracking the fish requires substantial man- clip off that part of the orange tag which an information-gathering project under- power. Each radio tag costs about $100 has a number on it, release the fish and taken for the Salmonid Enhancement and each receiver between $500 and $600, bring the tag in to a Fish and Wildlife Program. Catch statistics over the last ten However, it is the only way to obtain the Branch office to receive $50. If the fish is years show that the steelhead in the needed information quickly and the killed both spaghetti tags and the radio Skeena watershed are declining at an steelhead cannot wait. tag can be exchanged for $5. There is a alarming rate. But before activities to wide variation in the reward since only counteract this decline can be planned, The fish are being tagged in two loca- the live steelhead will continue to be a data on migration patterns, wintering tions. Some are caught and tagged with source of information. and spawning habitat and survival rates 200-day radio transmitters near the in the river is required. mouth of the Skeena River. The goal here At four locations along the Skeena there are stationary monitors which identify and record beeps from the radio transmitters as the fish pass by. As well, trucks and airplanes are used to monitor the travel patterns of the steelhead. A receiver can pick up a signal from as far as a half mile away.

One fish was tagged in the Maurice River in the autumn of 1978. It was fol- lowed up the river to its wintering area. In late May it was tracked to a tributary of the Maurice where it spawned. Re- ceivers picked up this steelhead for the last thne travelling back down the Bul- kley River near Hazleton on its way out to the ocean. (Many steelhead die after spawning. About five to twenty per cent of the Skeena steelhead will migrate back to their home river to spawn again.) The tiny radio transmitter is pushed through the mouth of the fish into its stomach Continued on page 3 with a metal rod, a procedure that sounds more severe than it is. see "SKEENA STEELHEAD" Earlier predictions, based upon the number of juvenile fish which left the Sockeye river suggested that the sockeye returns would be lower than usual but that pinks returning in the same year would be plen- tiful. These predictions proved to be Salvage incorrect. Ocean survivals differed from what was expected due to not yet fully understood factors. A Success The sockeye entered the river in larger There was no room for them in the numbers than was originally expected and Pinkut Creek spawning channel and so the return of pink salmon was smaller. 36,300 sockeye were airlifted over a Because both species return at the same waterfall to unused spawning beds in the time of year, it would have been impract- river above. It was a dawn-to-dusk opera- ical to hold a commercial net fishery to tion which called for stamina and steady take up the excess sockeye. Pink salmon nerves on the part of five members of the would have been caught at the same time Salmonid Enhancement Program staff. and all spawners of this species were needed to maintain the pink salmon The fish were part of a record run of populations. sockeye which entered the Skeena River And so, approximately 1.2 million in late July. They had travelled 400 miles sockeye were counted at the Babine up the river and through the Babine Lake Fence going into Babine Lake in August chain to spawn the eggs which would and early September. Roughly 135,000 produce the next generation of sockeye. four previous airlifts in the early 1970's of these fish returned to Pinkut Creek. But by the time they arrived at the Pin- were used.) This operation including load- The spawning channel there was filled kut Creek spawning channel which they ing, airlift, release and return took four with 68,000 of these fish. The creek had left as young fry some four years and a half minutes. On one day there itself had adequate spawning area for previously, the channel and the creek be- were 90 trips back and forth. Working at roughly another 31,000 fish. If more side it had already been filled with the this gruelling pace, it took the five men than that number of fish were allowed optimum number of fish. four days to complete the transfer. through the fence the later spawners would dislodge the nests of the earlier And so fisheries personnel decided to Cost per fish for this short copter ride spawners. Since there were about 40,000 airlift the sockeye over the Pinkut Creek was 25 cents, a worthwhile investment more sockeye than could optimally falls so that they could deposit their eggs when one considers that the fertilized spawn in the creek and channel, fisheries in a four-mile area of stream above. The eggs from each pair of spawners will managers decided to airlift as many as job had to be done quickly. The fish were produce four to five adult offspring with possible over the falls to use the gravel ready to spawn on arrival. With helicopter a wholesale value of $30 to $40. stream bed for spawning. time running at $300.00 an hour, no one wanted to wait around. Most of the fish survived this short Predicting runs is not an exact science journey with no ill effects — there were and managing the fishery is not an easy The fish were crowded into a channel only about a dozen mortalities. Still, in task. Until the strength of other salmonid and quickly loaded, 120 to a bucket. spite of the positive benefit-cost ratio of species returning to the Skeena system (One-hundred gallon, fibreglass, fire- such an operation, this is not the kind of can be enhanced, excess sockeye fighting buckets modified for this. and task that fisheries personnel enjoy. escapements may occur.

Skeena Steelhead Continued from page 2 . . . Data on the wintering areas is impor- tant to biologists because steelhead are particularly vulnerable in the winter when they wait in fresh water to spawn. Water levels are low and the fish tend to collect in the few deeper pools available. If ang- lers discovered a wintering area, they could wipe out all of the fish in a partic- ular tributary in a short time. Regulations to protect these potential spawners dur- ing the winter may be required in the future. Whately is now analysing the results of his tagging study. These results will be brought before a federal-provincial com- mittee for study and remedial action Spawning sockeye were loaded into a hundred gallon bucket (immediately above) to save the Skeena steelhead planned. and airlifted above the Pinkut Creek falls where they were released (top picture). River as spawners. Some of those re- turning chinook will spawn naturally in Public Inquiry the river. Others will be held as brood stock, the eggs incubated artificially at the Big Qualicum facility and the fry Report Ready returned to the Little Qualicum site to be raised in the rearing channel there. Scores of potential enhancement pro- jects were identified during the second The Big Qualicum River is similar in round of public inquiries where SEP direction of flow, temperature and personnel reported back to the public length to the Little Qualicum and so on enhancement policies and programs biologists are optimistic about the to date and sought ideas on future success of this transplant. (Scientists directions for the Salmonid Enhance- believe that the homing instincts of ment Program. salmonids are developed during the fry stage and result from the salmonid iden- In the soon to be released report on tifying the scent of its home river.) the twenty public meetings held last fall Chinook from the Big Qualicum have and winter throughout B.C. at least 844 already been succesfully transplanted to points of concern were expressed. the Capilano Hatchery in North Van- couver and are now self-sustaining there. These included requests for specific projects, 195 presentations, sports fishing The diversion fence at Little Qualicum. The Big Qualicum Project is also concerns, 140; management and enforce- providing. steelhead for its sister river. ment, 116; habitat protection, 85, other Some 25,631 year-old steelhead were resource action, 78; small stream enhance- Little Qualicum released last April to rear under natural ment, 72; public involvement, 72;Ànfor- Continued from page 1. . . conditions in the river habitat and an- mation and education, 55; native issues, other 20,000 will be released in the 30. Development Project. Chum from the spring of 1980 to build these stocks up. "SEP Update", a report on the hear- Little Qualicum migrate back to their Big Qualicum steelhead appear to like native river at the same time as those ings will be available on request from the the Little Qualicum. A number of tag- Public Involvement Unit, Sixth Floor, chum returning to the Big Qualicum ged fish from the Big Qualicum Project 1090 West Pender Street, Vancouver, River ten miles away. Thus the two runs have strayed to the Little Qualicum on B.C., V6E 2P1. are often mixed when the commercial their own. Cutthroat trout transplants fishery occurs. When the large numbers to the Little Qualicum are also planned of chum produced at the Big Qualicum for the future. spawning channel are fished at the same time as the smaller numbers of wild The river has long been a favorite chum from the Little Qualicum River, taon of sports fishermen in that area and there is always a possibility that too enhancement of the steelhead and large a percentage of the wild stocks will eventually of the cutthroat trout should be caught. Increasing the numbers of rtrtine maintain the Little Qualicum's recrea- Little Qualicum chum should ensure tional potential. that enough spawners escape the fishery to maintain both the Big Qualicum and Construction crews were careful to FROM THE STAFF Little Qualicum stocks. maintain the river banks and over- OF THE hanging trees when the spawning and While the spawning channel has been rearing channels were constructed. A SALMONID ENHANCEMENT built simply to maintain the health of strip of land along the river just above PROGRAM the chums in the Little Qualicum River, the site has been purchased by SEP a rearing channel for chinooks at the providing an enduring park area from same site is expected to have a definite which people can fish. remedial value. Less than a hundred chinook spawners were estimated to have entered this river in the fall of Government of Canada Gouvernement du Canada .F6 El?;_ . • 0, Bulk En hombre 1978, an alarmingly low figure. .., Fisheries and Oceans Pêches et Océans third troisième .i.>cu class classe •,_ C). • > 0c co- 4001 CD c u _,, •Ei To arrest this decline and build the run Tn. Return t'a cv Postage back again, eggs from Big Qualicum 3 c o. a Guaranteed CD ,-1 chinook are being incubated at the Big o cà' E, œ Qualicum Project and will be trans- -- Cl? el planted next spring as fry to a nearly- natural rearing channel which was constructed in an old drainage water e -c■ çj -0 , course near the base of the adjacent a) ci: . *r.. ■- hillside. This channel will hold about r.1 ... e 500,000 fry and, given average survival rates, should make about 9,000 adult ©. q215 chinook available to commercial and â o co ,.., › recreational fishermen leaving another 0 e u7, E 2,000 to return to the Little Qualicum

1.17110,, In CANADA (9'..s, INUNDEDDIRD PRESS LiD.