Our response to mass salmon die-off due to ongoing drought
Redd Fish Restoration Society, Toquaht Nation, Thornton Creek Hatchery and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) have partnered to develop an emergency solution to help move stranded salmon up Maggie River to their spawning grounds.
Extremely low water levels in rivers across Vancouver Island from this year’s drought are restricting access for adult salmon returning to their natal rivers to spawn. In some systems, the water is too low for salmon to even enter the river. This means salmon populations are being forced to hold in the marine environment, or in crowded, small pools. Thousands are dying before having the opportunity to mate and lay their eggs in the gravel.
“This is going to have a huge impact on our returning chinook, coho and sockeye salmon populations that spawn in the fall at this time of year,” said Jessica Hutchinson, Redd Fish Restoration Society executive director. “The consequences of this year's drought will be felt for many years to come.”
A series of steps made out of concrete were built adjacent to a waterfall in Maggie River in 1932. Otherwise known as a fish ladder, each step was designed to hold a pool of water so fish can gradually make their way up the river to spawn. When Toquaht Nation Field Technician and Cultural Liaison Dennis Hetu visited the ladder last week to monitor the river’s coho population, he said the first two steps were empty of water. Meanwhile, the third step was only three quarters full of water and contained 31 dead fish.
Thornton Creek Hatchery, who regularly monitors the river’s water quality, determined oxygen levels were below what salmon need to survive. “It was a toxic soup with no oxygen,” said Dave Hurwitz, Thornton Creek Hatchery manager. “I would not call it water.”
Tom Balfour, Toquaht Nation biologist and Redd Fish Restoration Society fish program manager, said the Maggie River coho population is already struggling from a variety of issues, including habitat loss. An average of over 2,500 coho salmon returned to Maggie River annually throughout the 60s. In the past decade, coho returns have ranged from 100 to 250 annually. “We just can't afford to lose any fish, let alone the whole run, which is what we're looking at if they can't make it up the falls,” Balfour said.
Hurwitz raised the alarm to DFO, who took the charge. “Hats off to DFO for launching into action,” said Hurwitz. “DFO went over and above – they pulled out all of the stops.” Within a week, an emergency plan was developed that involved creating a temporary dam to divert water into the fish ladder.
On Oct. 11, a helicopter dropped six sealed bags containing around 2,000 pounds of clean river rocks. The bags were placed on the right side of the river to shift the flow of the water to the left and down the fish ladder. Once the water was flowing down the ladder, it only took 20 minutes before salmon were jumping up the ladder once again.
The quick action of DFO, Toquaht Nation, Thornton Creek Hatchery and Redd Fish Restoration Society brought this critical project together in time to save some of the last of the run. Its success can be attributed to the collaborative efforts championed by all partners.
Hetu has visited the river every year since he was a young boy. “Historically, it’s been a mainstay for food fish for Toquaht citizens,” Hetu said. “Personally, it's a cleansing spot – it's a ritual spot for me. I go up there at least twice a year to cleanse and get in touch with my Creator.” In all his 54 years, he said he’s never seen the river’s water level so low. “Spiritually, it hurts to see a river suffer like this,” Hetu said. “It breaks my heart and it's something that we as man created. We created this problem and in order to fix it, we need to get in there and do something about it.”
Long-term solutions are needed to reduce the adverse impacts of climate change on these ecosystems. “The success of these short-term measures may be limited because it's likely too late – there's already been a large amount of pre-spawn mortality,” said Redd Fish Restoration Society Executive Director Jessica Hutchinson. “But we will try to make every effort to get fish up these rivers.”
Quotes:
Dave Hurwitz, Thornton Creek Hatchery manager
“The heartbreaking thing is that this year was probably the best return Maggie River has seen in years – we thought around 500 fish were waiting. It's extra heartbreaking when something went right in nature and the salmon got to home plate and now they're stuck.”
Jessica Hutchinson, Redd Fish Restoration Society executive director
“This is all due to anthropogenic causes. We think back to last fall when we had these massive flood events and now, we're having this extreme drought. These are indications of our rapidly changing climate, coupled with the fact that we have really disrupted the habitat salmon are returning to. A lot of these rivers are inundated with large amounts of sand, gravel and material that have been deposited from landslides and bank erosion created by historical logging practices. Salmon are already in a degraded state. We've affected every stage of their complex life. Even though they’ve traveled thousands of kilometres from Vancouver Island to the Bering Sea and back – avoiding commercial fishing fleets and predation – we've somehow managed to mess up this final stage of their life – it’s criminal.”
Kaylyn Kwasnecha, Redd Fish Restoration Society research and monitoring manager
“During events like this that are unprecedented, I feel like this is where I’m meant to be and this is what we’re meant to be doing. Drawing attention to it is the biggest thing we can do, other than restoring the habitat to try to make rivers more adaptable to these changes in water flow. We're trying to help by making watersheds more resilient to withstand these droughts. It’s catastrophic.”
To set up interviews with any of our spokespeople, please contact:
Sarita Mielke | (250) 713-6755 | sarita@reddfish.org