Rock slide in Fraser River, B.C., may hinder salmon passage
- Thread starter wildmanyeah
- Start date
Cuba Libre
Well-Known Member
Four guys on it ??? And what are their qualifications, All the good engineering staff DFO used to have , have either retired or been laid off. But no worries- they will hold a meeting and form a study group ( been der-- dun dat )
cohochinook
Well-Known Member
Wilkinson says its a priority for DFO last night on Global TV https://globalnews.ca/news/5458571/fraser-river-rockslide-update/ Such a priority that he's going to visit the site on July 9th!
Migrating salmon blocked by Fraser River landslide could be trucked out: DFO
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/fraser-river-rockslide-salmon-run-trucking-1.5199672
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/fraser-river-rockslide-salmon-run-trucking-1.5199672
Been reading the posts from this thread. Some of not surprised of as it’s easier to sit from the sidelines and point fingers. I encourage those that are truly interested in knowing what’s going on to read the updates from Bonnie and Dale. Every option has risks - not just for the salmon but also for those individuals on the ground whether they are in the water, a jet boat or in a helicopter. For instance, capturing and trucking fish has been mentioned as option. Sounds simple....catch fish in net....put in trucks with tanks and drive them above the slide. Remember this is a remote area of the Fraser. Access is not like driving to Cultus Lake. The water at this time of the year is fairly high and turbid....not to mention logs come with it. With the recent rains it makes the water even more turbid and vehicle access challenging closer to the river. Netting fish in high, fast and turbid water is not easy. It’s not the Seymour River - it’s the FRASER RIVER. Safety for those capturing the fish is paramount. Then transferring all these fish and transporting them many kilometres is no easy tasks as road access in that area, especially closer to the river, can be sketchy. Oh...there is no cell service in that area so if you are thinking BCAA is going to help you anytime soon good luck. So when you are commenting on this keep these logistical considerations in mind. It’s ok to be concerned but be informed and understanding.
wildmanyeah
Crew Member
Back in my day DFO has sat phone and radios for use in the canyons.
Guess they don’t have the budget for that anymore
Time, quality, cost
You only get to pick two
Guess they don’t have the budget for that anymore
Time, quality, cost
You only get to pick two
cohochinook
Well-Known Member
I didn't know that DFO had "The Unified Command Incident Management Team based in Lillooet, B.C. continues to work together to create options for action on the Big Bar Landslide Incident. The BC Government, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, geotechnical engineers and the Canadian Coast Guard, with involvement from First Nations, continue to assess the situation and evaluate options to address the conditions and risk to migrating salmon."
They must have the whole department there!wildmanyeah
Crew Member
They have access to emergency funds, I suspect that’s how this will be funded and treated.
If this was not treated as an emergency I would imagine they would have funding issues.
Just guessing
If this was not treated as an emergency I would imagine they would have funding issues.
Just guessing
GLG
Well-Known Member
Technical details from July 8/19
https://www.frafs.ca/sites/default/files2/2019_07_08_1457_Fish_Passage_Plan.pdf
https://www.frafs.ca/sites/default/files2/2019_07_08_1457_Fish_Passage_Plan.pdf
OldBlackDog
Well-Known Member
According to the news today.
Only 10% of the fish Are getting through.
Present plan is to pray that the river drops so the fish may have a chance to get through.
Only 10% of the fish Are getting through.
Present plan is to pray that the river drops so the fish may have a chance to get through.
screaminreels
Active Member
Typical response from dfo do nothing and hope it improves so you can take credit but what else would you expect from our honerable piece of crap fisheries minister
tincan
Well-Known Member
Some serious logistical challenges for this slide for sure.
Trap & Truck option: Trapping will be difficult as terrain is unfavourable. Most fish are sitting in the big back eddy just below the falls which is inaccessible for seine. The closest they could safely seine fish would be well below the where most fish (chinook & sockeye at this point) are holding. That means most of the seined fish would be 'new' arrivals. Once seined, the truck option is even more problematic. They estimate on existing roads it could take 1-3 hrs to do a one-way trip with fish on a slow, bumpy road... ensuring very poor survival
Trap & Heli option: Same trapping issues and a huge expense with heli. Can only take a small number of fish per heli load so even working around the clock you would only get a small % of fish moved this way. They could prioritize chinook in terms of moving them but with big numbers of sockeye moving into the area by the day the chinook will become needles in the haystack as time passes.
Salmon Cannon: Expensive ($4.5M USD estimated) and not confirmed it could even work in this area. If they could set it up properly it could move up to 25K fish per day so again, could prioritize chinook early and then make changes to the cannon to help sockeye later.
Clear Passage: By far the best option if possible, IMO. May be very dangerous however given the terrain and heavy water flow. This is not a little creek running through the forest. This is a massive raging river so it will be very difficult to work in. They are considering inflatable bladders to help move boulders and also explosives / rock breaking options. Hopefully the water level drops so that more fish can naturally pass through the obstruction.
To the armchair QB's here I'd suggest you follow along with the links others have provided. I can assure you there are many well qualified people working to find a solution to this terrible incident... which by the way may have occurred well before it became news a few weeks ago. It wasn't until the water flows and fish arrival made it noticeable however. Sat imagery shows it may have occurred many months ago... perhaps even late 2018.
Anyways, it's a terrible situation for those salmon looking to pass and IMO it's nice to see various levels of gov't and non-gov groups working together to figure out the best options to take if any.
Trap & Truck option: Trapping will be difficult as terrain is unfavourable. Most fish are sitting in the big back eddy just below the falls which is inaccessible for seine. The closest they could safely seine fish would be well below the where most fish (chinook & sockeye at this point) are holding. That means most of the seined fish would be 'new' arrivals. Once seined, the truck option is even more problematic. They estimate on existing roads it could take 1-3 hrs to do a one-way trip with fish on a slow, bumpy road... ensuring very poor survival
Trap & Heli option: Same trapping issues and a huge expense with heli. Can only take a small number of fish per heli load so even working around the clock you would only get a small % of fish moved this way. They could prioritize chinook in terms of moving them but with big numbers of sockeye moving into the area by the day the chinook will become needles in the haystack as time passes.
Salmon Cannon: Expensive ($4.5M USD estimated) and not confirmed it could even work in this area. If they could set it up properly it could move up to 25K fish per day so again, could prioritize chinook early and then make changes to the cannon to help sockeye later.
Clear Passage: By far the best option if possible, IMO. May be very dangerous however given the terrain and heavy water flow. This is not a little creek running through the forest. This is a massive raging river so it will be very difficult to work in. They are considering inflatable bladders to help move boulders and also explosives / rock breaking options. Hopefully the water level drops so that more fish can naturally pass through the obstruction.
To the armchair QB's here I'd suggest you follow along with the links others have provided. I can assure you there are many well qualified people working to find a solution to this terrible incident... which by the way may have occurred well before it became news a few weeks ago. It wasn't until the water flows and fish arrival made it noticeable however. Sat imagery shows it may have occurred many months ago... perhaps even late 2018.
Anyways, it's a terrible situation for those salmon looking to pass and IMO it's nice to see various levels of gov't and non-gov groups working together to figure out the best options to take if any.
GLG
Well-Known Member
Yes they do get through Hells Gate but the question should be how do they do it.
Thanks for the post as it caused me to look a little deeper into the story.
Here is a video and a website that helps answer that question.
http://www.saxvik.ca/index.html
One needs to only look at some of the rapids on the Thompson canyon to see what these salmon can migrate through.
I fear that with the lower the water gets the worse the rapid/waterfall may become on the Fraser.
If this did actually happen a few months back, maybe in the future weekly flybys should happen. I mean from Lytton to the Port Mann is patrolled daily by the DFO helicopter, no reason why other areas shouldn’t.
As with accidents there should always be progressive planning for the future.
The timeline for a lot of these fish that are possibly stuck is getting smaller and smaller, hopefully a decision will be made soon.
A bright spot in this situation is Dale Michie.
Hopefully he gets the support and funds he needs!
I fear that with the lower the water gets the worse the rapid/waterfall may become on the Fraser.
If this did actually happen a few months back, maybe in the future weekly flybys should happen. I mean from Lytton to the Port Mann is patrolled daily by the DFO helicopter, no reason why other areas shouldn’t.
As with accidents there should always be progressive planning for the future.
The timeline for a lot of these fish that are possibly stuck is getting smaller and smaller, hopefully a decision will be made soon.
A bright spot in this situation is Dale Michie.
Hopefully he gets the support and funds he needs!
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