Rock slide in Fraser River, B.C., may hinder salmon passage

July 20, 2019 Big Bar Landslide update.
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/p...update_big_bar_landslide_incident_july_20.pdf

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Christ am I the only having a hard time believing this is the best solution. To put the fish in a holding pond and and helicopter then across.
 
How are those ponds gonna be in a few weeks when the water drops like a stone after the chilcotin floodwater ends?

The interesting factor will be when the Fraser drops 2-4 meters over the next few weeks and we see what this rapid is actually like in lower flows.

These ponds could be high and dry pretty quick.
 
I applaud all the people who are trying very hard to get these fish upstream. However, the system they have employed seems to be moving tens of fish. Millions need to be moved. At this rate, the 2019 spawning run won't get there until 2052, meanwhile burning 100 million litres of jet B helicopter fuel. I would venture that if there were $$ involved, the private sector would figure out, in a short amount of time, a way to pass those fish above the slide.
 
Does anyone know for sure when the rancher reported the slide and his name?? I have been writing many emails and letters and would appreciate this info please??
 
This I suspect will be devastating to the Upper Fraser Runs and I suspect it will turn out to be one massive scandal related to the most important salmon river on the planet. I don't think there is a lot they can do at this stage. They don't have the time or the technology to do much but put on a show and save a tiny percentage to try and control the amount of damage to a government going into an election. I would really like to be wrong about that.

If the slide happened in October and they knew about it and did nothing (and we can't rule that out), then they are in full pre-election cover up mode.

If it happened in Oct and they did not know about it until critical runs were at the blockage, and other critical runs hit it some weeks before that, it is almost as bad of a scandal.

DFO has an annual budget in excess of Two Billion and between land, satellites, aircraft and drone surveillance and remote automated monitoring stations in critical high risk locations, they could have and should have had complete real time or near real monitoring coverage. This is a river that has a known history of slides that have been devastating to salmon runs in years past. This may prove to be far more devastating than for example, the complete loss of a huge Pink Salmon run because of a slide. There is a reason that Pinks only show up in JDF every 2nd year rather than every year like they once did.

One wonders if the reason they do not have total real and near real time river surveillance on the Fraser is a fear of what other inconvenient truths such surveillance could reveal, with undeniable proof.
 
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Its now been a month since the slide was discovered and a team set up....looking more like smoke and mirrors for the dumb public....should of been moving boulders by now.

"In response to a significant landslide discovered between June 21 and 23, 2019 in a narrow portion of the Fraser River near Big Bar, just north of Lillooet, B.C., a unified command incident management team (PDF) has been established. "
 
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Rancher Tom Hancock says the slide happened Tuesday morning north of the Big Bar Ferry, causing a disturbance in the river.
 
Given that asshat has named Tom, I deleted my post. This forum is a disgrace to the fishing community. @Admin disable or delete my account please.
 
Given that asshat has named Tom, I deleted my post. This forum is a disgrace to the fishing community. @Admin disable or delete my account please.

Google my quote and see how many news agency’s it comes up in.... perhaps you should contact them all. BTW its 50+ different ones

Your being very dramatic about public information

https://www.vancourier.com/rock-slide-in-fraser-river-b-c-may-hinder-salmon-passage-1.23867568

https://www.newwestrecord.ca/rock-slide-in-fraser-river-b-c-may-hinder-salmon-passage-1.23867568

https://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-p...in-fraser-river-b-c-may-hinder-salmon-passage

https://bc.ctvnews.ca/mobile/signif...lmon-return-1.4483324?cache=yes?ot=AjaxLayout
 
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Did a lot of google earth research trying to find the actual location of the slide.
I may be wrong, but looks like lat. long is 51deg. 13 min. 04.22 sec. north. 122deg. 08min. 59.48 sec west.
The images are from 2004. Still a pinch point then. It really doesn't look a lot different from the recent images. The water is a a lot higher lately, I would be interested to see the August, low water images from 2019
 
This slide is turning into an ecological disaster. I sure hope some early chinook were able to get by

https://notices.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fns-sap/index-eng.cfm?pg=view_notice&DOC_ID=223702&ID=all

"A significant rock slide in the Big Bar area of the Fraser River just upstream
from the community of Lillooet has created a 5 meter high waterfall/cascade in
this section of the river. This has created a migration passage challenge for
all salmon that are destined for rivers and streams upstream of this slide.
Very preliminary results from hydroacoustics and radio tagging during the past
several days is indicating extremely low levels of passage of Chinook and
Sockeye at the slide at current water levels. Significant efforts are being
made to move fish past the blockage by airlifting and other methods. A Unified
Command Incident Management Team has been developed which includes
participation of the Federal and Provincial governments as well as a number of
Fraser First Nations. Information and updates regarding the slide and work
being done to address it is located at the link below. "

"
urrently, First Nations food, social and ceremonial (FSC) Sockeye fisheries in
many areas are still under a 4 week window closure to protect Early Stuart and
the earlier timed Early Summer run stocks. Due to the very low abundance of
Fraser Sockeye to date, the start-up of Sockeye directed FSC fisheries will be
delayed until the identification of Sockeye TAC for Early Summers or Summers,
as well as, taking into account considerations for impacts from the rock slide
at Big Bar. The marine and lower Fraser River areas that originally planned to
open to Sockeye retention on July 22 and 26, respectively, will remain closed
to Sockeye retention until further notice. FSC fishers in marine approach areas
as well as the Fraser River are requested to check for the opening times and
any restrictions in their local area as additional restrictions are being
considered as a result of the slide. Commercial and recreational Sockeye
fisheries are not being considered at this time."
 
Great video , sounds like they are going to start using boulders this week to try and manipulate the flow.
 
To bad there are no more hatcheries up past the slide, from the small amounts of fish they are transporting we need to milk them for better survival of the smolts!! Get ready for a **** a **** storm on the fishing front next year :(
 
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