Salmon

A salmon is reeled in by a fisherman along the shores of the Fraser River near Chilliwack, B.C., Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2010. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

Fishers, experts await details on Ottawa’s latest plan to save Pacific salmon

Fisheries and Oceans said stocks are declining to ‘historic lows’ due to climate change, habitat loss

 

Stuart LePage, of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, sprints to place a salmon in a vessel to be lifted by a helicopter and transported up the Fraser River past a massive rock slide near Big Bar, west of Clinton, B.C., Wednesday July 24, 2019. Officials say thousands of migrating salmon are making their way past an area of British Columbia’s Fraser River that was the scene of waterway restructuring efforts following a massive rock slide more than two years ago. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Salmon getting through Fraser River slide zone as officials ponder permanent fix

Protected fishway at the slide site is allowing salmon to make it upstream

 

Spawning sockeye salmon, a species of pacific salmon, are seen making their way up the Adams River in Roderick Haig-Brown Provincial Park near Chase, B.C., Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2014. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

Ottawa to close about 60 per cent of commercial salmon fisheries to conserve stocks

79 of 138 commercial and First Nations communal fisheries will be affected

 

Catches and returns of chinook salmon, pictured, are declining through parts of their range. Black Press Media file photo

Pacific salmon recovery report gives 32 recommendations to reverse salmon declines

Report caps an investigation into B.C.’s declining salmon populations

Catches and returns of chinook salmon, pictured, are declining through parts of their range. Black Press Media file photo
Rock scalers work at the site of a massive rock slide on the Fraser River near Big Bar, west of Clinton, B.C., on Wednesday July 24, 2019. Fisheries officials are forecasting more migrating salmon will successfully pass through a massive rock slide zone on British Columbia's Fraser River north of Lillooet this summer. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Improved fishway, lower flow raises salmon migration hopes at Big Bar rock slide

Thousands of migrating Fraser River salmon expected to be able to pass through the area

Rock scalers work at the site of a massive rock slide on the Fraser River near Big Bar, west of Clinton, B.C., on Wednesday July 24, 2019. Fisheries officials are forecasting more migrating salmon will successfully pass through a massive rock slide zone on British Columbia's Fraser River north of Lillooet this summer. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
An Atlantic salmon is seen during a Department of Fisheries and Oceans fish health audit at the Okisollo fish farm near Campbell River, B.C., Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS /Jonathan Hayward

Farmed salmon virus source, amplifies disease transmission in wild salmon: B.C. study

Mordecai said evidence is mounting that B.C. aquaculture operations pass the virus to wild salmon

An Atlantic salmon is seen during a Department of Fisheries and Oceans fish health audit at the Okisollo fish farm near Campbell River, B.C., Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS /Jonathan Hayward
For every male sockeye salmon that doesn’t make it back to its spawning grounds, at least two, sometimes three females die, says findings from a recent UBC study. (Courtesy Photo/MC Martin)

Study uncovers B.C. female salmon dying 2x the rate of males

Dr. Scott Hinch predicts the disparity will become more prominent in coming years, calls upon the DFO to help ease their migration journey

For every male sockeye salmon that doesn’t make it back to its spawning grounds, at least two, sometimes three females die, says findings from a recent UBC study. (Courtesy Photo/MC Martin)
Contents from a tailings pond is pictured going down the Hazeltine Creek into Quesnel Lake near the town of Likely, B.C. on Aug. 5, 2014. (Photo by Jonathan Hayward)

New map details potential environmental threats from B.C. mines

Map editors pressure province to move faster on regulation reforms

Contents from a tailings pond is pictured going down the Hazeltine Creek into Quesnel Lake near the town of Likely, B.C. on Aug. 5, 2014. (Photo by Jonathan Hayward)
A Pacific great blue heron preys on a juvenile salmon in Cowichan Bay. A new study out of UBC suggests the birds removed between three and six per cent of the young fish every year from the Salish Sea region. (Photo supplied by Robert Stenseth)

Blue herons identified as a significant predator of B.C.’s juvenile salmon

Surprising UBC findings may actually be beneficial to stability of salmon populations

A Pacific great blue heron preys on a juvenile salmon in Cowichan Bay. A new study out of UBC suggests the birds removed between three and six per cent of the young fish every year from the Salish Sea region. (Photo supplied by Robert Stenseth)
Sockeye salmon school in a small Bristol Bay creek in the summer of 2018. The Union of B.C. Municipalities voted in favour of a resolution asking government for for nature-based solutions in flood management that doesn’t compromise salmon habitat. (Courtesy Photo | Mary Catharine Martin)

B.C. municipalities pass resolution for salmon-safe flood control

The UBCM resolution seeks federal, provincial support to replace antiquated infrastructure

Sockeye salmon school in a small Bristol Bay creek in the summer of 2018. The Union of B.C. Municipalities voted in favour of a resolution asking government for for nature-based solutions in flood management that doesn’t compromise salmon habitat. (Courtesy Photo | Mary Catharine Martin)
A protest organized by the Public Fishery Alliance outside the downtown Vancouver offices of Fisheries and Oceans Canada July 6 demand the marking of all hatchery chinook to allow for a sustainable public fishery while wild stocks recover. This and other requests were made in a citizen petition responded to in the House of Commons by Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan Jan. 25. (Public Fishery Alliance Facebook photo)

B.C. anglers pan federal response to salmon petition

DFO exploring possibility of marking more hatchery fish for selective catch

A protest organized by the Public Fishery Alliance outside the downtown Vancouver offices of Fisheries and Oceans Canada July 6 demand the marking of all hatchery chinook to allow for a sustainable public fishery while wild stocks recover. This and other requests were made in a citizen petition responded to in the House of Commons by Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan Jan. 25. (Public Fishery Alliance Facebook photo)
Under the latest round of funding under the British Columbia Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund four B.C. salmon conservation projects will share $4 million in financing over the next four years. (Photo supplied by Kenny Regan)

B.C. salmon restoration projects get $4-million boost

Provincial, federal funding allocated under British Columbia Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund

Under the latest round of funding under the British Columbia Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund four B.C. salmon conservation projects will share $4 million in financing over the next four years. (Photo supplied by Kenny Regan)
Canada released proposed regulations Jan. 2 for the fisheries minister to maintain Canada’s major fish stocks at sustainable levels and recover those at risk. (File photo)

New laws would cement DFO accountability to depleted fish stocks

Three B.C. salmon stocks first in line for priority attention under proposed regulations

Canada released proposed regulations Jan. 2 for the fisheries minister to maintain Canada’s major fish stocks at sustainable levels and recover those at risk. (File photo)
University of Guelph adjunct faculty member Dr. Sarah Alderman studies salmon in a swim flume to test the ability of the fish. (Photo submitted by University of Guelph)

Scientists study impacts of oil spill in B.C. freshwater salmon habitat

Reaseach comes ahead of completion of TransMountain pipline expansion

University of Guelph adjunct faculty member Dr. Sarah Alderman studies salmon in a swim flume to test the ability of the fish. (Photo submitted by University of Guelph)
A mid-December ariel view of impacted waterways and the devastation of salmon habitat from a November landslide near Elliot Creek in the Coast Mountains of B.C. (Photo supplied by 49 North Helicopters)

Generation of B.C. salmon likely wiped out by central coast landslide

Homalco First Nation to push for special hatchery permits

A mid-December ariel view of impacted waterways and the devastation of salmon habitat from a November landslide near Elliot Creek in the Coast Mountains of B.C. (Photo supplied by 49 North Helicopters)
A University of Toronto study has found the environmental DNA of pathogens harmful to fish are 2.7 times more likely to be detected near active salmon farms versus inactive sites. (Kenny Regan photo)

GREEN BEAT: The salmon just keep swimming

When life’s fights seem too impossible to win, think of the perseverance of these fish

  • Dec 14, 2020
A University of Toronto study has found the environmental DNA of pathogens harmful to fish are 2.7 times more likely to be detected near active salmon farms versus inactive sites. (Kenny Regan photo)
A new database from UBC researchers is offering a window into the diets and lives of North Pacific salmonas they travel thousands of kilometres through different ecosystems and conditions. (Photo courtesy Kenny Regan)

Research tool offers glimpse into the deep-sea lives of salmon

Scientific database fills knowledge gaps of fishes’ diet

A new database from UBC researchers is offering a window into the diets and lives of North Pacific salmonas they travel thousands of kilometres through different ecosystems and conditions. (Photo courtesy Kenny Regan)
Crews affix radio tags to salmon at the Big Bar landslide site 100km north of Lillooet this summer. Fisheries and Oceans Canada has approved the construction of a permanent fishway at the site. (Fisheries and Oceans Canada photo)

Permanent fishway approved for Big Bar landslide site

$176-million project will be completed by spring of 2022

Crews affix radio tags to salmon at the Big Bar landslide site 100km north of Lillooet this summer. Fisheries and Oceans Canada has approved the construction of a permanent fishway at the site. (Fisheries and Oceans Canada photo)
A salmon splashes in Langley’s West Munday Creek, thanks to the Township fixing five plugged culverts earlier this summer (Marlee St. Pierre/special to Langley Advance Times)

Replacing plugged-up culverts produces record salmon numbers in Langley creek

Largest counts in West Munday Creek in 20 years

A salmon splashes in Langley’s West Munday Creek, thanks to the Township fixing five plugged culverts earlier this summer (Marlee St. Pierre/special to Langley Advance Times)
Workers are seen on the cliff at the site of a massive rock slide on the Fraser River near Big Bar, west of Clinton, B.C., on Wednesday July 24, 2019. Officials with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans say early arriving runs of Stuart and Chinook salmon were nearly wiped out after reaching the massive landslide along British Columbia’s Fraser River last year. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

‘Almost complete loss’ of early salmon runs at Fraser River slide last year: DFO

Fisheries and Oceans is also exploring how hatcheries could be used to restore runs affected by the landslide

Workers are seen on the cliff at the site of a massive rock slide on the Fraser River near Big Bar, west of Clinton, B.C., on Wednesday July 24, 2019. Officials with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans say early arriving runs of Stuart and Chinook salmon were nearly wiped out after reaching the massive landslide along British Columbia’s Fraser River last year. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck