Salmon go to great lengths to lay their eggs. And now, the Bowen Island Fish and Wildlife Club has some money to help them.
The club, which operates the fish hatchery on a volunteer basis, has received $8,260 from the Pacific Salmon Foundation's Community Salmon Program.
The money will be spent on improving popular coho and chum spawning habitat near the outflow of Terminal and Killarney Creeks into the Howe Sound.
Over the past decade, gravel has migrated downstream depleting gravel levels, and some silt has settled in the spawning bed. Fish need gravel to build their egg nests (redds). Gravel is an ideal material because it is porous and allows oxygen-rich water to flow over eggs. Other materials such as silt cover and choke eggs, cutting off the oxygen supply.
The project will increase the number of coho and chum spawning in the area by raising the level of gravel, re-shaping the gravel bed and removing silt.
"Volunteers are the unsung heroes of Pacific salmon sustainability," said Pacific Salmon Foundation president and CEO Dr. Brian Riddell. "Their impact on the environment can be seen throughout the province. "
