The staff at the Alouette River Management Society (ARMS) were appreciative over the Thanksgiving long weekend, seeing good numbers of sockeye salmon returning to the river.
“The return of an additional five adult sockeye over the long weekend shows the resiliency of our amazing salmon here in the Alouette River,” said Greta Borick-Cunningham, ARMS executive director.
As of Oct. 15, ARMS had seen 21 sockeye at the fish fence at Allco Park.
“Any sockeye coming back is exciting, 21 is a good year already,” said Borick-Cunningham.
“They keep returning to the river amidst many pressures out in the ocean and upon return through the Salish Sea, up the Fraser River, Pitt River and then Alouette River, to make it as far as the Allco Fish Hatchery.”
BC Hydro is planning to build a system for salmon to get passage around their dam, and return to the entire Alouette system, including Alouette Lake, and these returning salmon show how important that work is, Borick-Cunningham explained. The timeline for that work is likely to be 2032.
The dam has prevented sockeye from reaching their native spawning grounds in the Alouette watershed. However, recent collaborative efforts between ARMS, Hydro, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and local stewardship partners have focused on improving fish passage and restoring critical habitat. Currently ARMS trucks the fish to the lake.
No sockeye returned in 2014, and then numbers were less than 10 fish for several years, until there were 85 in 2020, and 47 last year.
“Each sockeye that returns to the Alouette is a powerful sign that our ecosystem is capable of healing,” said Sophie Sparrow, ARMS communications and engagement manager. “It shows that with community commitment and science-based restoration, even long-lost salmon runs can make a comeback.”
The Alouette system has a population of sockeye that includes both migratory fish and resident (kokanee) species. What’s unusual is that both species spawn at significant depths in Alouette Lake, rather than in shallow lake shores or in river tributaries – as with the iconic Adams River run. Deep lake spawning sockeye are very rare, and there are only a few known watersheds globally where they can be found.
Alouette sockeye do not get a vibrant red and green but are much darker in their spawning colours.
Borick-Cunningham said ARMS is thankful for funding from the Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program to monitor these species and to be able to release them via trap and truck into the Alouette Reservoir.”
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