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[Parasoul]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/sockeye-restoration-efforts-spark-hope-and-heartbreak-on-the-coquitlam-river-1.5806501

"Next year, the Kwikwetlem First Nation plans to build a hatchery below the dam in a joint project with BC Hydro. "I want to get brood stock from Pitt Lake or Pitt River and put it back in this system here, simply because the DNA is very similar," said [Glen] Joe (Kwikwetlem First Nations)."


Good news! More fish eventually! More angling opportunities will take pressure off certain runs and spread us out locally for fish.

[Dave]

I think we are going see FN getting much more involved in habitat restoration, enhancement and management of this resource.

[Bavarian Raven]

Erm, why not use the Kokanee that exist in Coquitlam lake (and by extension Buntzen lake now) as breeding stock? Would that not work? They are descendants of the coquitlam river sockeye after all.

[clarki]

Erm, why not use the Kokanee that exist in Coquitlam lake (and by extension Buntzen lake now) as breeding stock? Would that not work? They are descendants of the coquitlam river sockeye after all.

Good question. It's been trialed on the  Alouette.
 
I read this on the ARMS website "The viability and authenticity of kokanee smolt “re-anadromization” is dependent on the stocks ability to adapt to salt water conditions, to adopt behavioural strategies to compete and avoid predation in an ocean environment, and to recognize and return to their native lake/stream system to spawn. "

https://fwcp.ca/project/monitoring-sockeye-in-the-alouette-river-watershed/
And this " Originally, through BC Hydro’s Water Use Plan for the Alouette Watershed, a spring surface release from the Alouette Dam has allowed for kokanee/sockeye smolts to migrate to the ocean from 2007 to 2016. The first surface releases occurred in 2005 and in 2007 the first adult sockeye returned to the Alouette Watershed. The 2016 Alouette sockeye salmon run saw 6 adults returning between July 19 and August 7, 2016. All six sockeye were in great condition and were sampled at the Allco trap location before being transported to Alouette Lake. Fork length measurements for all six sockeye were taken along with scale and tissue samples. The measurements indicated an average fork length of 60cm."

And from the report "A total of 318 adult sockeye returned to the Allco fish fence during the 2007–2016 runs, of which 268 have been successfully released back into the Alouette Lake Reservoir since 2007. Although the number of total adult sockeye returns is low, the data shows that re-anadromization of kokanee/sockeye to the Alouette watershed is possible"

[wildmanyeah]

I think we are going see FN getting much more involved in habitat restoration, enhancement and management of this resource.

You can not get a project approved without getting FN approval. By that shear fact alone it means they have to be involved. Any government project in BC has to go through a FN approval process. FN's if they wanted to they could shut down our economy, they have that kind of power.  Anyone that thinks differently has not been paying attention.

[RalphH]

I think Dave meant we will be seeing more and more direct establishment and operation of enhancement projects in BC.

The constitutional requirement for FN involvement in other projects is meaningful consultation. In the case of the TM pipeline the SCOC has already cleared the way for construction though some bands were not on board. UNDRIP won't change this. Undrip basically recommends that FN resources can not be unilaterally taken from aboriginal people.

[wildmanyeah]

I think Dave meant we will be seeing more and more direct establishment and operation of enhancement projects in BC.

yes because when your paying them to do the work it's far easier for it to be approved sometimes it might even be the condition of approval. If government funding is involved often you wont even be considered without FN partnerships. I was involved with getting FN approval for a resourced based project and there first response was how many of our band members are you going to hire.

please don't use the TM pipeline as an example, the government had to buy the damn thing.

[RalphH]

hey ...I don't want to start an argument with you.

[wildmanyeah]

hahaha fair enough, im for that!

what do you think of the project? I wonder if they will use a net pen in the lake to raise the smolts.

[stsfisher]

Erm, why not use the Kokanee that exist in Coquitlam lake (and by extension Buntzen lake now) as breeding stock? Would that not work? They are descendants of the coquitlam river sockeye after all.

They did in 2017, expecting  returns in 2019. Pretty sure that was unsuccessful.

[Dave]

I think Dave meant we will be seeing more and more direct establishment and operation of enhancement projects in BC.

You're both right.  There's no doubt more projects are funded with meaningful FN participation, and this participation will involve restoration and enhancement.  The LFFA is already doing restoration work on the upper Pitt, and telemetry work on the Chilliwack and, from what I understand, are building capacity to do more.

To fish advocates this is good news.

[RalphH]

I imagine the hatchery is being located below the dam because of the restricted access in the watershed above. People have to go through certain health checks and other protocols to access that area as they do for the upper Capilano and Seymour.

[RalphH]

hahaha fair enough, im for that!

what do you think of the project? I wonder if they will use a net pen in the lake to raise the smolts.

I guess the real question is can a reasonable population of sockeye be re-established in Coquitlam Lake and if it can will drinking water quality be degraded. The Metro-Vancouver Water Board looked at these questions a few years ago:

http://www.metrovancouver.org/services/water/WaterPublications/Drinking_Water_Quality_with_Sockeye_Salmon_Introduction_in_the_Coquitlam_ReserviorOct_2012.pdf

Key findings:

The reservoir was confirmed as being of extremely low biological productivity (ultraoligotrophic), and was among the lowest in productivity of lakes studied in the south coastal climate zone.

the lack of availability of suitable gravels for spawning sockeye salmon. The present situation is that as few as 1,500 females could spawn with the reservoir water level held in the range of full supply level down to 140 m in the fall-winter months, and about 4 times this number of salmon if the water levels were in the range of full supply level down to 144 m.

A risk assessment that looked at turbidity, pathogens, contaminants and focused on aspects such as taste and odour problems associated with returning sockeye salmon populations, acknowledged that an escapement of up to 15,000 +/- 5000 sockeye salmon per year would be unlikely to alter algal populations or create taste and odour problems in the raw water. However, an overall risk that Metro Vancouver must address is that re-introduction of returning sockeye into Coquitlam Reservoir, resulting in a limited annual sockeye return, could conceivably lead to subsequent calls for additional measures (e.g. fertilization of Coquitlam Reservoir), to artificially enhance the productivity of the reservoir, and thereby enhance the annual numbers of returning sockeye. This situation would carry the substantial risk of degraded drinking water quality and would not be consistent with Metro Vancouver’s responsibility to provide clean, safe drinking water to the region

The allowance of a natural increase of up to 15,000 +/- 5000 adult sockeye would take a long period (one decade to several decades) and would provide a long period for monitoring of any potential changes to the phytoplankton community and any potential changes to water quality.

[DanTfisherman]

I am not the one to speak to the logistics of this program, but do wonder why and what is hoped to be achieved?  I am not sure what line of query I have, but I guess I wonder about the ethics and optics of this project?

For one, I know the Pitt River stocks are valued as a wild genetic strain in the system/watershed.  Efforts to have hatcheries have been hit and miss on this system, and at the end, people wish to focus on the "wild salmon" in the Pitt.  What is the Pitt's current run of Sockeye?  I know that they are unique in North America, for they are some of the largest genetic sockeye.  In addition, as I remember, they are the only genetic strain of sockeye that are immune/resistant to that fungus that gets on the spawning bed and can sometimes, impact and kill spawning sockeye in other watersheds.  Poor at explaining it, but someone else who knows could probably explain better than I can.  I guess I wonder how many Sockeye return to this system?, is this considered a healthy number?, is there enough to remove some of these fish and impact the genetic diversity?, and is it OK to establish what I am assuming what sound like a hatchery enhanced run?

If the Sockeye cannot get to the lake naturally, is it positive to put time, resources, and effort into this endeavour removing needed fish from another system?  Key for Sockeye to reproduce and make it is passage through a natural lake.  I am not sure how large or small a lake must be.  I know in the case of the Weaver Creek sockeye, they are able to pass through Morris Lake, which is very small, but I gather in this case, this is good enough.

I do not wish to question this endeavour, but wonder if there is not something else that could be more productive long term.  As someone who mountain bikes along the Coquitlam River quite a bit, I am aware of the Coquitlam River side channel, which I believe to be a fairly large Oxbow lake.  With enhancement and the right engineering work, could this side channel be transformed into a small lake, similar to Morris Lake?  I am not a biologist, so am not sure how large or what kind of lake Sockeye need to be successful.  Further down towards Colony Farms, the river meanders and winds quite a bit on a large floodplain.  This area has already massively been transformed over the years.  Would it be possible to build a man made lake/wetland just below the old Red Bridge on Pitt River Road?  Would this work or be enough?

Dano

[RalphH]

From what I understand, Weaver Creek sockeye young don't reside and grow in Morris Lake. They actually swim down to the Harrison then up into Harrison lake which for them is their freshwater habitat until they grown big enough to head out to the sea. FWIW there is also a population of sockeye in the Harrison that spend their initial year or 2 in the river itself. Such fish are known as river type or riverine sockeye and are more common in Northern BC but in addtion to the Harrison there is a very small population recognized in Maria slough

 

Where lake-rearing habitat is inaccessible or unavailable, such as in some rivers in northern British Columbia,however, sockeye salmon spawn in tributaries or main stem side channels, and the juveniles rear for several months (‘sea-type’) or at least 1 year (‘river-type’)in the river environment before migrating to the ocean

https://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/science/facilities-installations/pbs-sbp/mgl-lgm/docs/sockeye_transboundary.pdf

Also found you can add Widgeon Creek to this list:

Widgeon (River-Type) Sockeye are possibly the most unique CU in the Fraser Watershed. This population is adapted to the tidal conditions of Widgeon Slough. The fish move back and forth between Pitt Lake and Widgeon Slough with the tides, moving into the slough to spawn on high tides and moving into Pitt Lake on low tides.

https://www.psf.ca/sites/default/files/344553.pdf    pg 87

from the same paper:

Populations that migrate upstream to rear in Harrison Lake, after emerging from the gravel as fry, include East Creek (rolled up into Weaver Creek after 1951 and may alternatively be named Sakwi Creek), Steelhead Creek (rolled up into Weaver Creek throughout the time series), Weaver Creek and Weaver Channel

p54

The only site with a consistent time series and a confirmed established river-type population in the Lower Fraser Area is the Harrison River (River-Type) Sockeye. The Harrison River system originates in the Coast Mountains and drains Harrison Lake. The mouth of the Harrison River forms a floodplain marsh approximately 0.05 km2 in size. The Harrison Rapids at the outlet of the Chehalis River provide an important control on water levels at low discharge (Rood and Hamilton 1995). As a result, the Harrison River is very stable with coarse substrate. During the spring the rapids are backwatered and inundated by the freshet flows of the Fraser River (Fisheries and Oceans Canada 1999). The rapids and lower portion of the river, which are used by Sockeye for spawning habitat, have been dredged to maintain a navigation channel (Rood and Hamilton 1995). At higher discharges the river spreads to cover the main channel as well as three others where fish spawn

pg 57


I'd also like to point that after the Cleveland Dam was constructed on the Capilano River in the 1950s, mature salmon & steelhead have been trucked about the reservoir and released into the river. Is this a sufficient precedent to do likewise with any hatchery sockeye produced for the Coquitlam?