Volunteer streamkeepers are calling on Burnaby residents to help keep Eagle Creek flush with wild salmon.
Every year, the Eagle Creek Streamkeepers let tens of thousands of chum loose in the local stream, and they want community members to help release the small salmon.
“Eagle Creek is definitely benefitting, as are the other creeks that drain in to Burnaby Lake, such as Still Creek,” said Helen Soderholm, a volunteer streamkeeper. “Some of the smaller creeks on the opposite side of Burnaby Lake are also seeing fish where there haven’t been any for many decades.”
Soderholm said the event is popular with families, as children like to release the bags full of little fish into the creek. Many come home to spawn years later. In 2014, streamkeepers counted 200 returning chum spawners in Eagle Creek. Last fall, they only counted 50, although Soderholm is sure there were more, but the waters were too murky to see clearly.
The fish release is on Saturday, April 9. This year’s event runs from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Charles Rummel Park, just off Government Road and Lozells Avenue.
