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Here is the latest update regarding what will be next for the sockeye in the Allouette. Sounds like hydrowants to do the right thing but seems to be very cautious regarding building a fish ladder.
B.C. Hydro will lead the way for sockeye plan
By Phil Melnychuk - Maple Ridge News - November 14, 2007 | | |
The heavy load that the friends of fish at Alouette River Management Society have been hoisting will lighten a little bit.
B.C. Hydro has agreed to take on the job of coordinating federal, volunteer and B.C. agencies in the continuing saga of restoring sockeye to the Alouette River.
"We're pleased with the results going forward. We're equally really pleased to have the salmon returned. So we've agreed, B.C. Hydro will take the lead with the agenda," Charlotte Bemister, Hydro's community relations spokesman, said Friday.
MP Randy Kamp (Pitt Meadows-Maple Ridge-Mission) set up the meeting last week so that a way could be found to start rebuilding the sockeye population, now that it's been proven the salmon in the Alouette reservoir are descendants of sockeye trapped in the lake for 80 years.
DNA tests on sockeye that returned from the ocean last summer showed they came from the lake two years previous during an unscheduled escape down the spillway.
Initially, rebuilding sockeye would involve trapping the sockeye at the base of the dam, and trucking them around it and dumping them back into the lake, where they could complete their spawning cycle.
A fishway around the dam, however, could lead sockeye directly into the lake. Unlike other salmon species, young sockeye need a year in a lake before starting their migration to the Pacific Ocean.
Bemister said Hydro has been part of the gradual scientific process of restoring sockeye to the system, citing the Hydro-funded fertilization program in the lake. That program has allowed the sockeye population to jump – creating a good base for eventual migration.
"We've been part of this from Day 1."
She said ARMS has been the lead agency but Hydro has been involved all along, adding that Hydro wants to be cautious and is not immediately committing to building a fishway.
Geoff Clayton of ARMS said the meeting wouldn't have happened without Kamp, who's parliamentary secretary to the fisheries minister.
But he also wants Kamp to encourage the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to be involved at every step.
Clayton said ARMS has applied to Hydro's coastal fish habitat restoration program for funding the next step to support a trap and truck program for the sockeye.
Total cost for that would be about $30,000 – needed for new tubs for the sockeye and a trailer to carry the fish.
Meanwhile, ARMS is already working on the step to restoring the run, doing a feasibility study for a fishway. That will be done by the Ministry of Environment, said Clayton.
The Habitat Conservation Trust Fund has given tentative approval for a $30,000 grant to fund that.
B.C. Hydro will lead the way for sockeye plan
By Phil Melnychuk - Maple Ridge News - November 14, 2007 | | |
The heavy load that the friends of fish at Alouette River Management Society have been hoisting will lighten a little bit.
B.C. Hydro has agreed to take on the job of coordinating federal, volunteer and B.C. agencies in the continuing saga of restoring sockeye to the Alouette River.
"We're pleased with the results going forward. We're equally really pleased to have the salmon returned. So we've agreed, B.C. Hydro will take the lead with the agenda," Charlotte Bemister, Hydro's community relations spokesman, said Friday.
MP Randy Kamp (Pitt Meadows-Maple Ridge-Mission) set up the meeting last week so that a way could be found to start rebuilding the sockeye population, now that it's been proven the salmon in the Alouette reservoir are descendants of sockeye trapped in the lake for 80 years.
DNA tests on sockeye that returned from the ocean last summer showed they came from the lake two years previous during an unscheduled escape down the spillway.
Initially, rebuilding sockeye would involve trapping the sockeye at the base of the dam, and trucking them around it and dumping them back into the lake, where they could complete their spawning cycle.
A fishway around the dam, however, could lead sockeye directly into the lake. Unlike other salmon species, young sockeye need a year in a lake before starting their migration to the Pacific Ocean.
Bemister said Hydro has been part of the gradual scientific process of restoring sockeye to the system, citing the Hydro-funded fertilization program in the lake. That program has allowed the sockeye population to jump – creating a good base for eventual migration.
"We've been part of this from Day 1."
She said ARMS has been the lead agency but Hydro has been involved all along, adding that Hydro wants to be cautious and is not immediately committing to building a fishway.
Geoff Clayton of ARMS said the meeting wouldn't have happened without Kamp, who's parliamentary secretary to the fisheries minister.
But he also wants Kamp to encourage the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to be involved at every step.
Clayton said ARMS has applied to Hydro's coastal fish habitat restoration program for funding the next step to support a trap and truck program for the sockeye.
Total cost for that would be about $30,000 – needed for new tubs for the sockeye and a trailer to carry the fish.
Meanwhile, ARMS is already working on the step to restoring the run, doing a feasibility study for a fishway. That will be done by the Ministry of Environment, said Clayton.
The Habitat Conservation Trust Fund has given tentative approval for a $30,000 grant to fund that.
