Volunteers move thousands of migrating salmon by hand after DFO abandons project
C. This fall, Hurwitz witnessed a crew from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) shut down a salmon enhancement project at Salmon Creek in Barkley Sound during a critical time in the chum river-run. Instead of completing the job, he said DFO left a migratory barrier at the site – and a lot of unanswered questions. “How could they leave this stream to die on the operating table? What was the showstopper?
A couple years ago on October 19, 2024, Hurwitz said a “catastrophic” rainfall event caused the fish ladder to fail at Salmon Creek, a spot in Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ territory known as Glukamukus Creek. Thornton Creek staff made urgent repairs to the ladder system that same week, and plans were initiated with DFO to replace the aging infrastructure. Summer 2025 came and went, and Hurwitz says DFO “couldn’t do anything” about Salmon Creek that year due to capacity limitations.
“Before the road went in you didn’t need a culvert. The river just flowed. Once we built the road, we needed a culvert so the fish can get up. Once we build something we have to take care of it,” he said. On Sept.
“I don’t know who stuck a fork in it,” said Hurwitz. “I don’t really know why they stopped. They still had a couple days in the fisheries window. There was no rain coming for a few days and they were right there. “Chum are poor jumpers.
Anything over about a foot or two they are not going to be able to get up. They are very strong, but they are terrible jumpers,” said Costello. Silver lining The silver lining to this story is the crew of volunteers that came together to move thousands of fish up into the culvert by hand. It’s been a team effort with folks from Toquaht Nation, Ucluelet First Nation, Redd Fish Restoration and other friends showing up to help, Hurwitz said.
“It speaks to people working together to help make the world better,” said Hurwitz. “It’s been a ton of work, but it’s turned into a great community initiative. People have rallied around this. Without the assistance from volunteers, Costello says the chum would have only been able to use three quarters of the creek system, and the fish would have “timed out downstream”, dumping their eggs or dying with their eggs inside them.
“We are so happy to have the assistance from the community. It’s a lot of manual labour. It’s a labour of love,” Costello notes. Ucluelet-based marine biologist Dane Stabel spent a couple days volunteering at Salmon Creek. Alongside 15 or so others, Stabel netted salmon and then dropped them by hand into a pipe that flowed into the culvert.
“It’s beautiful that there are so many people that care about fish and salmon. “(Salmon) are very important to the ecosystem and the culture here. It pretty much feeds everything. They are incredibly interesting. It’s hard not to root for an animal that goes through such a crazy journey just to spawn.
There are very few animals who work as hard as these guys to get the next generation going,” he said. “The second and final phase of construction is scheduled for the late summer 2027 fisheries timing window , and the rock weirs will be installed,” said DFO in a written statement to the Ha-Shilth-Sa News.
“Once completed, the rock weirs will improve fish passage and support salmon migration under natural watershed conditions, provided sufficient flow is available within the system,” they said. Hurwitz is shaking his head in disbelief. “When you’re dealing with live animals, you can’t make mistakes. You can’t screw it up. It’s not carpentry.
If we screw something up, we are robbing Mother Nature,” he said. As of Nov.
A couple years ago on October 19, 2024, Hurwitz said a “catastrophic” rainfall event caused the fish ladder to fail at Salmon Creek, a spot in Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ territory known as Glukamukus Creek. Thornton Creek staff made urgent repairs to the ladder system that same week, and plans were initiated with DFO to replace the aging infrastructure. Summer 2025 came and went, and Hurwitz says DFO “couldn’t do anything” about Salmon Creek that year due to capacity limitations.
“Before the road went in you didn’t need a culvert. The river just flowed. Once we built the road, we needed a culvert so the fish can get up. Once we build something we have to take care of it,” he said. On Sept.
“I don’t know who stuck a fork in it,” said Hurwitz. “I don’t really know why they stopped. They still had a couple days in the fisheries window. There was no rain coming for a few days and they were right there. “Chum are poor jumpers.
Anything over about a foot or two they are not going to be able to get up. They are very strong, but they are terrible jumpers,” said Costello. Silver lining The silver lining to this story is the crew of volunteers that came together to move thousands of fish up into the culvert by hand. It’s been a team effort with folks from Toquaht Nation, Ucluelet First Nation, Redd Fish Restoration and other friends showing up to help, Hurwitz said.
“It speaks to people working together to help make the world better,” said Hurwitz. “It’s been a ton of work, but it’s turned into a great community initiative. People have rallied around this. Without the assistance from volunteers, Costello says the chum would have only been able to use three quarters of the creek system, and the fish would have “timed out downstream”, dumping their eggs or dying with their eggs inside them.
“We are so happy to have the assistance from the community. It’s a lot of manual labour. It’s a labour of love,” Costello notes. Ucluelet-based marine biologist Dane Stabel spent a couple days volunteering at Salmon Creek. Alongside 15 or so others, Stabel netted salmon and then dropped them by hand into a pipe that flowed into the culvert.
“It’s beautiful that there are so many people that care about fish and salmon. “(Salmon) are very important to the ecosystem and the culture here. It pretty much feeds everything. They are incredibly interesting. It’s hard not to root for an animal that goes through such a crazy journey just to spawn.
There are very few animals who work as hard as these guys to get the next generation going,” he said. “The second and final phase of construction is scheduled for the late summer 2027 fisheries timing window , and the rock weirs will be installed,” said DFO in a written statement to the Ha-Shilth-Sa News.
“Once completed, the rock weirs will improve fish passage and support salmon migration under natural watershed conditions, provided sufficient flow is available within the system,” they said. Hurwitz is shaking his head in disbelief. “When you’re dealing with live animals, you can’t make mistakes. You can’t screw it up. It’s not carpentry.
If we screw something up, we are robbing Mother Nature,” he said. As of Nov.
Source:
View Original Article