Several SEHAB (Salmonid Enhancement & Habitat Advisory Board) members had a productive meeting today with 2 Department of Fisheries Directors, 2 Regional Managers, and the Stewardship Planning Coordinator.
We met via Teams to report out on the last SEHAB meeting, bringing forward concerns from BC’s streamkeeper and stewardship volunteer community on issues such as groundwater access for volunteer hatcheries, the salmonid fry salvage policy and adult salvage (fish stranding when drought affects watersheds), enhanced networking opportunities, DFO research into the 6PPD-Q chemical in vehicle tires that is known to be lethal to Coho salmon, and some planning looking forward to the province-wide streamkeeper/stewardship conference in 2025, etc. Whew!
One of the key issues was the likelihood of drought affecting watersheds across BC again this year. The outlook is not good for fish, for agriculture, for forestry, for fires. . .
Three days of fishy meetings near Ladysmith, BC, over the last weekend and early this week.
SEHAB (Salmon Enhancement and Habitat Advisory Board) members representing volunteer stewardship groups from across BC shared info and heard many excellent presentations from the federal Dept. of Fisheries and Oceans, and BC provincial ministries.
What’s a meeting about volunteers working to protect salmon without, er, a home-smoked salmon?
And when you’re dealing with several levels of bureaucracy, the initialisms and acronyms fly thick and fast, eh? We began keeping track of some of them for the benefit of folks newer to the table.
It was great to be back in an elementary school helping to deliver the Stream of Dreams Murals Society watershed education and community art program!
There has been some remote program delivery, and while getting the message across, it doesn’t compare emotionally with being in a school.
With careful protocols, some adjustments to delivery, and repeated and thorough sanitization between each class, today’s sessions went smoothly, and several teachers said they loved the program!
And of course team members, teachers, and students are masked at all times.
Team members are cross-trained to do both the watershed/environment education part of the program, and supervising kids through the Dreamfish painting.
The fish will eventually be installed as a beautiful mural on the school’s chain-link fence to remind students, their families, and the entire neighbourhood that All Drains Lead to Fish Habitat!
Good gosh, but coho in their near-end-of-life spawning colours are gorgeous.
Look at these stunning coho that Byrne Creek Streamkeepers volunteers processed today for species, size, and spawning status in south Burnaby, BC.
Please note that it is illegal to interfere with spawning salmon, so if you come down to the creek to look for salmon, please stay out of the water and on established trails. Thanks!
Look at the tail of this female. It’s worn down to a nub. She worked hard to dig a nest in the gravel and cobble to deposit her eggs. What tenacity. . .
My presentation at the Metrotown Burnaby Public Library this evening on the history of Burnaby watersheds and what streamkeepers do. Fourteen people, not bad. . . Yumi took the photos.
The BPL poster for the event. Thanks for inviting me!
SEHAB site visit to see the repairs being done to the damaged Bonaparte Fishway in the BC interior.
Quite the project in a difficult area to access and work in! The fishway enables passage for fish to about 120 kilometers of river upstream of these rapids.
We meet three times year, and board members collect and share information from stewardship groups from across British Columbia. We have expert speakers in, and tour local habitat restoration sites, dams, fish ladders, etc.
We distill all that information, positive and negative, and report to senior DFO management at Pacific Regional HQ.
Here are a few shots from our latest meeting in Kamloops, BC:
I observed this heron as it fished the mouth of Byrne Creek in south Burnaby, BC. I was rewarded when it snagged a crayfish.
I watched it stalking for about an hour, and even with a tripod my hands were starting to cramp by the time the action finally started. And it was over in about five seconds .
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