Mass flooding event effect on spawning salmon

Gonna be very devastating to the runs. We were already having a low year for chum at our hatchery. We'll see how it goes....
 
DFO sent out an email saying they expect mass losses, there been lots of reports of stranded fish and they expect farmers fields will be covered in fish.
 
Cleaned out the nets in the rivers.
 
Mainriver spawning will be non existent.
Only hope is for side channels, man made refuge areas, hatcheries. Our LM pinks will be decimated as almost all them spawn in tribs and NOT the mainstem Fraser. Most of the pink redds from weeks ago are now dry or buried under feet of gravel.
Harrison may fare better than most.

I drove to a bunch of flows on the north side today and the level of devastation huge. All the holding water, spawning beds anything of structure is now gone and replaced by miles of rocks gravel and logs. Miles of ankle deep **** water on the one trib and not a coho or chum to be seen. Our watersheds would have been able to survive this event if they had not been butchered by logging over the last 100 years.

Salmon can make comebacks....but the cards are heavily stacked against them.
The only thing supporting our salmon and fisheries in the LM is the hatcheries and volunteer work. Without them its a very bleak future.
 
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Certainly drives home the point that Hatcheries are necessary. This one event could have devasted numerous runs.
 
Whitebuck said:
Mainriver spawning will be non existent.
Only hope is for side channels, man made refuge areas, hatcheries. Our LM pinks will be decimated as almost all them spawn in tribs and NOT the mainstem Fraser. Most of the pink redds from weeks ago are now dry or buried under feet of gravel.
Harrison may fare better than most.

I drove to a bunch of flows on the north side today and the level of devastation huge. All the holding water, spawning beds anything of structure is now gone and replaced by miles of rocks gravel and logs. Miles of ankle deep **** water on the one trib and not a coho or chum to be seen. Our watersheds would have been able to survive this event if they had not been butchered by logging over the last 100 years.

Salmon can make comebacks....but the cards are heavily stacked against them.
The only thing supporting our salmon and fisheries in the LM is the hatcheries and volunteer work. Without them its a very bleak future.
Click to expand...
Everything you said is correct, sadly. I was up at our hatchery yesterday and even the side spawning channels were void of fish. No sign of life anywhere in the system and this was at the top of the flow where there was less gravel extraction. It was already a dire situation for our wild salmon in the south coast and this event has just added to the risk of loosing certain gene pools. Besides the commitment of the volunteer resources, there needs to be extra funding support for the habitat restoration and hatchery development. If we fail to restore these runs, the impact on the entire ecosystem will be huge.

This is also the right time to openly talk about shutting down the in-river fishing by all sectors for a few years and until the lower Fraser runs re-establish themselves. I'm pretty sure that the older and wiser FN leaders do understand the complexity of the situation. They just need to be engaged in the right conversation while the issue is still fresh on everyone's hands.
 
Ringo said:
Everything you said is correct, sadly. I was up at our hatchery yesterday and even the side spawning channels were void of fish. No sign of life anywhere in the system and this was at the top of the flow where there was less gravel extraction. It was already a dire situation for our wild salmon in the south coast and this event has just added to the risk of loosing certain gene pools. Besides the commitment of the volunteer resources, there needs to be extra funding support for the habitat restoration and hatchery development. If we fail to restore these runs, the impact on the entire ecosystem will be huge.

This is also the right time to openly talk about shutting down the in-river fishing by all sectors for a few years and until the lower Fraser runs re-establish themselves. I'm pretty sure that the older and wiser FN leaders do understand the complexity of the situation. They just need to be engaged in the right conversation while the issue is still fresh on everyone's hands.
Click to expand...



I think they need to close all salmon fishing in the fraser and all tribs for 2 complete cycles. I have been openly talking about that idea with several FN people as well. Needs to happen. Imo


Thus is the first year in 15 years I didn't fish the rivers west of the Georgia straight.
 
Before we hang ourselves we need to access the damage, and see what happens. Maybe a start woudl be Watershed Watch and the others in MCC wasting oxygen with DFO trying to close down hatcheries. That argument should be put to bed by this event now.

We also don't need payed NGO's using all our enhancement money on useless projects. We already have a lot of unpaid volunteers across BC that run these projects. The money needs to be spread around evenly.

With this flooding you can already see certain groups rallying like its a mass extinction, and hands coming out.
 
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Completely agree with closing any tribs that aren't hatchery supplemented. Zero point in closing down the Vedder, Chehalis, Suicide, Dedwney, Capilano, Stave(keep chum closed).
Even a couple smaller tribs that have hatchery enhancement keep them closed.


Would be great to get all user groups involved. But not a chance it will happen.

The devastation from this years flooding will be impact us for years to come.
 
Seems a no-brainer to shut them down. It's been my experience/observations that in floods, the salmon that might be in creeks go hide out away from the roaring mainstem and prime fishing spots - while the mainstem is filled with logs and trees that takes nets out. Not seeing how they would get any fish right now.
 
agentaqua said:
Seems a no-brainer to shut them down. It's been my experience/observations that in floods, the salmon that might be in creeks go hide out away from the roaring mainstem and prime fishing spots - while the mainstem is filled with logs and trees that takes nets out. Not seeing how they would get any fish right now.
Click to expand...
Let's not fool ourselves. There was a flurry of boats under Port Mann the last couple of weeks. They just don't let go of any oppty.
 
I agree on not closing hatchery enhanced rivers said above on the fraser.

Need to give harrison a break. The fraser of course. Nothing we can do about keeping the FN nets out, however I will continue to speak on the facts about the situation to FN people in the fishing industry in hopes they start to think about the impact.
 
www.theenergymix.com

B.C. Flood Devastation Linked to Logging Practices ‘Without Question’, Experts Warn

As the long work of rebuilding southern British Columbia begins, forestry professionals and activists are urging the Horgan government to connect the dots between the climate crisis, clearcut logging, and catastrophes like the landslide that killed five people on Highway 99 near Lillooet.
www.theenergymix.com

thenarwhal.ca

Connecting the dots between B.C.’s floods, landslides and the clearcut logging of old forests | The Narwhal

Deforestation dramatically alters how landscapes are able to cope with extreme weather events like the atmospheric river that surged across southern British Columbia earlier this week
thenarwhal.ca thenarwhal.ca
 
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