This year’s salmon run in Stoney Creek was “absolutely pitiful” when compared to 2016, according to the president of the Stoney Creek Environment Committee.
John Templeton said the waterway only saw about 600 fish this season – about 10 coho and the rest chum. Last year, some 2,500 salmon returned to spawn.
“Tributary 3A, it had 88 fish last year. This year, I’d say it’s about six,” he told the NOW. “It must appear to be a very bad year.”
Templeton suspects there are a few reasons for the decline in numbers – the first being commercial fishing on the Fraser River.
“I wouldn’t say more (fishing) than previous years, but there are definitely fisheries that impact it. ... You have all these native bands fishing consecutively at the same time. What they do is set drift nets on the river; they basically float a whole wall of nets down the river and that basically catches all the fish that are swimming up,” he explained.
Ocean predators are another contributing factor, added Templeton.
“Because of climate change, there are warmer currents coming up from California. That’s bringing up predatory fish,” he said, pointing to the Spanish mackerel.
“Because of the warmer water, the plankton that are part of the building block for the fish, the plankton (aren’t) as plentiful. There’s not as much plankton for small fish to eat, which some of the salmon are eating.”
Fish farms also have an impact on the salmon run, noted Templeton. Fish farms create a breeding ground for the sea lice, and infestations are often treated with a chemical known as SLICE, he said.
“Four or five of these sea lice will attach themselves onto a small, small fish, and they’ll basically suck the life out of it and kill it. All of the fish farms have been using SLICE to try to eradicate sea lice, but it doesn’t always do it.”
Templeton and other local streamkeepers across the Lower Mainland will be getting together in February to discuss the big picture, and see whether other areas experienced low numbers.
By the numbers
Here’s what the Stoney Creek salmon run has looked like since 2012.
2017: 590 chum, 10 coho
2016: 2,407 chum, 130 coho
2015: 859 chum, 79 coho
2014: 544 chum, 101 coho
2013: 1,713 chum, 405 coho
2012: 2,371 chum, 47 coho
