news
August 12, 2008
Sockeye return to Coquitlam Reservoir after nearly a century
After nearly a 100-year absence, sockeye salmon are once again gliding through the cool waters of the Coquitlam Reservoir.
In 1914, Coquitlam Lake was enlarged by the construction of a dam on the Coquitlam River. The dam prevented salmon from returning to their spawning and rearing habitat in the Coquitlam Watershed. Sockeye salmon, which are indigenous to Coquitlam Lake, had been a part of the historic food fishery for the Kwikwetlem First Nation, whose territory the lake lies within.
After construction of the dam, all sockeye in the reservoir were landlocked and over time became kokanee or land locked sockeye. Three years ago, as a result of a multi-stakeholder consultative committee known as the Kwikwetlem Salmon Restoration Program (KSRP), BC Hydro agreed to release water annually from the dam's low level outlet at times when kokanee smolts might act on long-held sockeye instincts to head downstream to the ocean.
This was done to test the theory that kokanee would, given the opportunity, seek out an ocean lifecycle and migrate back to their place of origin.
Double the success
Earlier in July, the experiment seemed to have worked. On July 18, members of the First Nation facilitated the ceremonial release of the first adult Coquitlam sockeye salmon into its lake of origin.
The male salmon specimen had been held in a large concrete, BC Hydro-funded trap below the Coquitlam Dam face, awaiting truck transport above the dam. A crowd gathered to watch the tank in the back of the truck open. But the fish didn't stick around long to bask in the notoriety, and instead made a mad dart towards deeper waters.
For many, the show was over. But those who hung back to have a look at the trap were in for a surprise. When the group of people arrived at the bottom of the dam, they saw a ripple 50 metres downstream in the channel leading from the main stem of the river. It was another sockeye, which soon ended up in the trap. The female fish was sampled for later DNA analysis and then brought above the dam for release.
A precedent set
Members of the media and more than a dozen Kwikwetlem Salmon Restoration Program (KSRP) members witnessed what was one small step for a fish, but a giant leap for fish of its kind.
"We are anxious to see how many more fish return over the coming years, though we can't expect the run to bounce back overnight," said David Facey, BC Hydro's manager of environmental and social issues. "It's precedent setting, re-establishing a sockeye run like this."
BC Hydro is involved in a similar project on the Alouette River where about 21 sockeye so far have been "trapped and trucked" from below to above the dam.
Collaborative progress
The release of the two sockeye follows the establishment of a multi-stakeholder consultative committee, which was initiated by BC Hydro in 2003 to determine the feasibility of returning sockeye salmon above the dam.
The committee includes Metro Vancouver, Kwikwetlem First Nation, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, B.C.'s Ministry of Environment, City of Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam, and environmental groups, including Watershed Watch Salmon Society, North Fraser Salmon Assistance Program and local community environmental stewards.
To date, the feasibility studies have been funded by the BC Hydro Bridge Coastal Restoration Program, which supports projects to restore fish and wildlife populations and habitat in the coastal region impacted by Hydro's generating facilities.
This project responds to the interests of all parties involved by ensuring the conservation of a culturally important fish species, maintaining clean, safe drinking water (the reservoir is one of three protected sources of drinking water for Metro Vancouver), and maintaining the reservoir's function as part of a hydroelectric system.
