quote:Multi-million upgrade for Quinsam hatchery
Dan MacLennan, Courier-Islander
Published: Friday, October 24, 2008
After decades of vital work to restore and enhance salmon runs on Vancouver Island, the Quinsam River Hatchery is finally in line for a multi-million-dollar upgrade.
"It's been a long time since we spent any substantive money on the facility and because of that the facility has deteriorated to the point where we seriously need to do some work on there," Greg Savard, Fisheries and Oceans' Pacific Region Salmon Enhancement Program director told the Courier-Islander Wednesday. "Through our capital planning process we've identified Quinsam as a priority facility to do some upgrade work. That's looking at upgrading the buildings, the infrastructure that's there, looking at the cement rearing ponds, there's the counting fence on the river itself, looking at the whole facility to do a detailed assessment, what condition the facility's in and what work is required."
Built back in the 1970s, the Quinsam River Hatchery has worked to restore and maintain salmon runs on the Quinsam and Campbell rivers. Staff have directed their efforts to countless programs throughout the region. The hatchery has become a cornerstone of salmon enhancement efforts in the South Coast region, supplying salmon eggs, experience and expertise to projects throughout the Island and mainland coast.
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Font:****News of a major upgrade comes as a significant vote of confidence in not just the hatchery and staff, but also in the hatchery-based enhancement concept.
"The Quinsam Hatchery has done a lot of good work over the years, not only in the Quinsam/Campbell system but the facility is providing a variety of different things for us including all of the work that's gone on down in the Campbell River estuary," Savard said.
"There's the hatchery but they're involved in other things, more than just the hatchery work there."
Savard said detailed assessment and design work is taking place this fiscal year, leading to a cost estimate by the end of March.
"Then from there, in successive years, we would allocate funding to do that capital upgrade work," he said. "It's time to upgrade both the buildings and the fence on the river and have a look at the rearing ponds and also, in doing that, incorporate new technology wherever we can into the facility as well."
Savard said it's too soon to say how much the upgrade will cost.
"We won't know until after we've done the detailed design work but we're estimating several million dollars," he said.
