Dumping Dead Fish to Enhance River
Posted on January 9th, 2007 by Rodney Hsu, webmaster

Volunteer Gwyn Joiner flings a coho salmon carcass into the Chilliwack River (Photo: Chris Gadsden).

Have you ever wondered what happens to all the salmon carcasses at the hatcheries once spawning completes?

In the wild, adult salmon carcasses are an important component in the coastal river ecosystem. They provide an important source of nutrient for plants and insects, which eventually reach other animals and fish in the watershed, including the younglings from the previous dead spawning salmon.

It is a cycle that works smoothly when all components are present, but a deadly one when one of the components is being taken out. If number of carcasses is high, then their offsprings in the following year have a much better chance in survival due to the abundance of nutrient.

To give aquatic residents of the Chilliwack River a feast, the Chilliwack Salmon Hatchery gives the carcasses of all the salmon spawned at its facility back to where they come from. Instead of disposing them in a landfill, local volunteers like Chris Gadsden and Gwyn Joiner from the Chilliwack River Action Committee usually spend a day driving to various locations and placing these carcasses along the river banks. This is part of the Great Georgia Basin Steelead Recovery Plan that hopes to see improvement in Southern British Columbia's steelhead populations.

Such labouring effort does not just benefit the fish, but also anglers who fish the Chilliwack River regularly. A stronger return of fish means better fishing days for all.

Carcass placement is just one of many restoration projects that take place on the Chilliwack River, the most heavily recreationally used river in British Columbia. Recently, the Chilliwack Fish and Games Protective Association raised $13,873.42 at its annual Boxing Day Steelhead Derby. This impressive fund will be used in future projects to combat the clay slide problem and enhance tributaries that flow into the Chilliwack River.

Anglers are encouraged to get involved by either making financial donations to these projects or participating in future activities such as this. For more information, please follow the contact information below.

Send us a news tip!

Back to Fishy News.