Attention bottom bouncers
I know this can only be a good thing too bad this party pooper from Metro Vancouver - Albert van Roodselaar is in 2010 mode and wants to spend another $660,000 on snacks while they study it. I guess they're concerned will be drinking fish pee or something awful like that.
Sockeye back in Coquitlam River after a century
Returning fish will be allowed into Coquitlam Lake, where they could be spawning by summer
Chad Skelton
Vancouver Sun
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
CREDIT: Bill Keay, Vancouver Sun
The Kwikwetlem First Nation Band and environmental groups have pushed for restoration of the river's sockeye run.
Sockeye have returned to the Coquitlam River for the first time in nearly a century, and could be spawning in Coquitlam Lake as early as this summer.
Sockeye from the ocean haven't been able to spawn in the lake since 1914, when a dam was built to generate power and provide water.
In recent years, the Kwikwetlem First Nations, along with environmental groups, have been pushing to have the sockeye run on the river restored.
However, Metro was concerned that allowing returning salmon into the lake could affect the taste and odour of the water that much of the region relies on.
In 2003, to help everyone reach an agreement, BC Hydro created the Kwikwetlem Salmon Restoration Program Committee, made up of various stakeholders, including Metro Vancouver, the first nation and other government agencies.
On Monday, that committee announced that any salmon that return to the river from now on will be allowed back in the lake, provided that water quality in the reservoir is monitored to ensure no negative impacts.
"It's a major accomplishment," said Craig Orr, executive director of the Watershed Watch Salmon Society and an environmental adviser with the Kwikwetlem First Nation. "We just pray and hope . . . we get some fish back."
Coquitlam Lake -- whose name literally means "red fish up the river" -- is already home to a population of kokanee, believed to be the descendants of the sockeye that were trapped behind the dam in 1914.
Over the past three years, thousands of kokanee smolts have been released from the lake into the river.
And last fall, two adult female sockeye made their way back -- the first sockeye to return to the Coquitlam River in 93 years.
At the time, environmental groups did not have permission to return them to the lake.
However, Orr said he's hopeful more sockeye will return sometime in late summer or early fall.
Any salmon that do show up will be trapped by volunteers and then trucked up to the lake in tanks, said Orr.
In the future, if the run grows larger, a fish ladder could be constructed, said Orr.
A study by Hydro has concluded that the risks to water quality of reintroducing salmon are low.
However, Metro is planning to spend another $660,000 over the next three years to conduct more research.
Albert van Roodselaar, an environmental manager with Metro, said the region felt it was okay to allow some salmon back in the meantime because the number of returning fish, at this point, is so small.
cskelton@png.canwest.com© The Vancouver Sun 2008
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