Rock slide in Fraser River, B.C., may hinder salmon passage
- Thread starter wildmanyeah
- Start date
GLG
Well-Known Member
Sept 4, 2019 Big Bar Landslide update
• Instruments indicate that over 30,000 fish were able to swim past the slide by themselves in a single day (September 1st).
• Fish capture numbers have declined in the past couple of days. Crews are looking for new fishing areas to increase productivity.
• Personnel are investigating further ways to increase the number of fish caught, including the possibility of automated 24-hour fish wheel operation. Current projections suggest that operating the fish wheel overnight could yield up to 600 fish.
• Work on the second fish wheel, as well as the feasibility of dip-netting, is ongoing.
• Engineers and other experts are studying a possible route for an excavator to descend the west wall of the canyon. Having this equipment at the base of the slide would greatly enhance the ability to restore the natural passageway. First Nations monitors and an archaeologist are informing the process at every step of the way.
Salmon Transported by Helicopter
Daily Total Sockeye: 1210 Chinook: 56
Total to Date Sockeye: 51260 Chinook: 8449
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/p..._update_big_bar_landslide_incident_sept_4.pdf
• Instruments indicate that over 30,000 fish were able to swim past the slide by themselves in a single day (September 1st).
• Fish capture numbers have declined in the past couple of days. Crews are looking for new fishing areas to increase productivity.
• Personnel are investigating further ways to increase the number of fish caught, including the possibility of automated 24-hour fish wheel operation. Current projections suggest that operating the fish wheel overnight could yield up to 600 fish.
• Work on the second fish wheel, as well as the feasibility of dip-netting, is ongoing.
• Engineers and other experts are studying a possible route for an excavator to descend the west wall of the canyon. Having this equipment at the base of the slide would greatly enhance the ability to restore the natural passageway. First Nations monitors and an archaeologist are informing the process at every step of the way.
Salmon Transported by Helicopter
Daily Total Sockeye: 1210 Chinook: 56
Total to Date Sockeye: 51260 Chinook: 8449
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/p..._update_big_bar_landslide_incident_sept_4.pdf
SerengetiGuide
Well-Known Member
cohochinook
Well-Known Member
The chinook stocks that return to these rivers were the reason most of the South Coast was closed to Chinook retention April 16 to July 15 or Aug 1. Now that they have been further impacted, I think it will definitely play into 2020. Remember there is no recovery plan either!
wildmanyeah
Crew Member
This, and remember that 2015 return was stronger than 2016 and 2017 was even worse than that. Everyone should be pushing for a recovery plan.
Under the new fisheries act Bill C-68 the minister is required to have a plan. The bill has received royal accent.
https://www.parl.ca/DocumentViewer/en/42-1/bill/C-68/royal-assent
Publication of decision
(3)If the Minister sets a limit reference point in accordance with subsection (2), he or she shall publish the decision to do so, within a reasonable time and with reasons, on the Internet site of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
Plan to rebuild
6.2(1)If a major fish stock has declined to or below its limit reference point, the Minister shall develop a plan to rebuild the stock above that point in the affected area, taking into account the biology of the fish and the environmental conditions affecting the stock, and implement it within the period provided for in the plan.
cohochinook
Well-Known Member
In reading this update that Jonathan Wilkinson posted on his Facebook, he's saying they've stopped doing helicopter transport of salmon? Of course I'm relying on a source doesn't have much of a clue of what's going on with salmon!
https://www.facebook.com/557185544397560/posts/2378497772266319/
For those who don't have Facebook, here's what his statement was:
"Excellent news: our science confirms that Chinook & Sockeye salmon are swimming through the landslide unaided in large numbers.
This is due to the rock manipulation efforts from our scaling crew members, as well as decreasing water levels.
We have temporarily ceased helicopter transfer operations of salmon at the Big Bar landslide.
Our crews continue their monitoring work at the site and we are committed to doing everything we can to help our wild salmon."
https://www.facebook.com/557185544397560/posts/2378497772266319/
For those who don't have Facebook, here's what his statement was:
"Excellent news: our science confirms that Chinook & Sockeye salmon are swimming through the landslide unaided in large numbers.
This is due to the rock manipulation efforts from our scaling crew members, as well as decreasing water levels.
We have temporarily ceased helicopter transfer operations of salmon at the Big Bar landslide.
Our crews continue their monitoring work at the site and we are committed to doing everything we can to help our wild salmon."
wildmanyeah
Crew Member
I am hoping that the relationships formed at the slide between the different levels of goverment will help salmon stocks in the future.
tincan
Well-Known Member
FINALLY, some good news on the Big Bar Slide front:
Big Bar Landslide Unified Command Incident Management
Sockeye and Chinook successfully swimming past Big Bar Landslide, Pink arrivals to be monitored
The Big Bar Landslide Unified Command Incident Management Team has temporarily ceased helicopter transfer operations of salmon at the Big Bar landslide.
Evidence through acoustic monitoring, radio tags, and visual observations confirms that Chinook and Sock-eye salmon are swimming through the landslide unaided in large numbers. This is due to the rock manipula-tion efforts from our scaling crew members, as well as decreasing water levels.
Over the next few days, the focus of operations will shift to monitoring Pink salmon to determine if they will be able to also travel past the area of the slide and continue to migrate upstream. Pink salmon do not have the same size and swimming speed of other salmon. If Pinks are unable to replicate the similar success in achieving natural passage as Chinook and Sockeye, transfer operations by helicopter and truck will resume.
There will be a media briefing via teleconference on Friday. A media advisory with call-in details and further information will go out Thursday.
The Government of Canada, the Province of British Columbia, and First Nations continue to work together on, and through, a Unified Command (UC) Incident Management Team to explore and address every avenue possible for the success of salmon migration.
Big Bar Landslide Information Team—Incident Command Post
778-694-8315 BigBarLandslideIN@gov.bc.ca
Prepared: September 4, 2019
Big Bar Landslide Unified Command Incident Management
Sockeye and Chinook successfully swimming past Big Bar Landslide, Pink arrivals to be monitored
The Big Bar Landslide Unified Command Incident Management Team has temporarily ceased helicopter transfer operations of salmon at the Big Bar landslide.
Evidence through acoustic monitoring, radio tags, and visual observations confirms that Chinook and Sock-eye salmon are swimming through the landslide unaided in large numbers. This is due to the rock manipula-tion efforts from our scaling crew members, as well as decreasing water levels.
Over the next few days, the focus of operations will shift to monitoring Pink salmon to determine if they will be able to also travel past the area of the slide and continue to migrate upstream. Pink salmon do not have the same size and swimming speed of other salmon. If Pinks are unable to replicate the similar success in achieving natural passage as Chinook and Sockeye, transfer operations by helicopter and truck will resume.
There will be a media briefing via teleconference on Friday. A media advisory with call-in details and further information will go out Thursday.
The Government of Canada, the Province of British Columbia, and First Nations continue to work together on, and through, a Unified Command (UC) Incident Management Team to explore and address every avenue possible for the success of salmon migration.
Big Bar Landslide Information Team—Incident Command Post
778-694-8315 BigBarLandslideIN@gov.bc.ca
Prepared: September 4, 2019
Too little to late Jonathan.
I am not buying your propaganda “all is well ********”.
You let complete runs of Chinook and Sockeye crash on your watch.
Some of these stocks will never recover without enhancement.
You and your puppets will head accountable for the biggest collapse on the Fraser since the slide of 1913.
Why not continue to transport the pinks until you know for sure they are making it past the slide?
Why take the risk of waiting and seeing? What if they are not making it past the slide?
Where is your recovery plan?
We should all be asking these questions as GARUNTEEDwe will see a large scale closure in the saltwater coming up!
I am not buying your propaganda “all is well ********”.
You let complete runs of Chinook and Sockeye crash on your watch.
Some of these stocks will never recover without enhancement.
You and your puppets will head accountable for the biggest collapse on the Fraser since the slide of 1913.
Why not continue to transport the pinks until you know for sure they are making it past the slide?
Why take the risk of waiting and seeing? What if they are not making it past the slide?
Where is your recovery plan?
We should all be asking these questions as GARUNTEEDwe will see a large scale closure in the saltwater coming up!
wildmanyeah
Crew Member
The sixth spawning ground report of the season was provided by DFO Stock
Assessment on September 5. The Scotch Creek fence was installed on August 6
with 1,098 Sockeye enumerated to August 28 with fish in the early stages of
spawning. The Stellako River hydroacoustics site was operational on August 1
and 1,078 Sockeye have been observed to August 31 with the majority likely to
be Nadina stocks. No fish have been observed in the Nadina spawning channel
however some have been observed holding below the channel in the Nadina River.
The Gates Creek spawning channel is now operational with 1,978 Sockeye counted
into the channel at this time. The Chilko and Quesnel hydroacoustics sites were
operational on August 9 and 12 respectively and 704 and 845 Sockeye have been
observed to date. Since August 31, 904 Sockeye have been enumerated through the
Stellako hydroacoustics site which are thought to be Stellako stocks. The
Cultus Lake fence was installed on July 30 with 2 Sockeye observed to date.
Water temperature in Sweltzer Creek is 24° Celsius. The Birkenhead River
hydroacoustics site was operational on August 27 with 74 Sockeye estimated to
have passed the site to date. Visual surveys have begun in a number of other
tributaries with Sockeye observations in several systems at this time. The next
spawning ground update will be provided on Thursday, September 12.
https://notices.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fns-sap/index-eng.cfm?pg=view_notice&DOC_ID=225208&ID=all
Assessment on September 5. The Scotch Creek fence was installed on August 6
with 1,098 Sockeye enumerated to August 28 with fish in the early stages of
spawning. The Stellako River hydroacoustics site was operational on August 1
and 1,078 Sockeye have been observed to August 31 with the majority likely to
be Nadina stocks. No fish have been observed in the Nadina spawning channel
however some have been observed holding below the channel in the Nadina River.
The Gates Creek spawning channel is now operational with 1,978 Sockeye counted
into the channel at this time. The Chilko and Quesnel hydroacoustics sites were
operational on August 9 and 12 respectively and 704 and 845 Sockeye have been
observed to date. Since August 31, 904 Sockeye have been enumerated through the
Stellako hydroacoustics site which are thought to be Stellako stocks. The
Cultus Lake fence was installed on July 30 with 2 Sockeye observed to date.
Water temperature in Sweltzer Creek is 24° Celsius. The Birkenhead River
hydroacoustics site was operational on August 27 with 74 Sockeye estimated to
have passed the site to date. Visual surveys have begun in a number of other
tributaries with Sockeye observations in several systems at this time. The next
spawning ground update will be provided on Thursday, September 12.
https://notices.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fns-sap/index-eng.cfm?pg=view_notice&DOC_ID=225208&ID=all
islandboy
Well-Known Member
Are these salmon that made it past the rockslide on their own?
wildmanyeah
Crew Member
Think it’s a combo
Peahead
Well-Known Member
FYI note however some of those stocks mentioned and their travel to spawning grounds don't take them through rock slide. Eg. Thompson River to Kamloops/Shuswap branches from Fraser at Lytton
GLG
Well-Known Member
Pacific Salmon Commission Weekly Report September 6, 2019
The Fraser River Panel (Panel) met today to review assessment data on Fraser River sockeye and pink salmon. The current in-season Panel-adopted total Fraser River sockeye run size of 557,000 is lower than the lowest run size on record of 858,000 observed in 2016.
The landslide at Big Bar continues to be a major source of concern for the Panel as migrating sockeye salmon will need to pass this area to reach their spawning grounds. It is estimated that about 285,000 sockeye will have reached the Big Bar site as of September 5 based on abundances observed at Mission. Thanks to rock manipulation efforts and decreased water levels, the natural passage of Chinook, sockeye and pink salmon through the slide area has increased substantially in the last few days. As of September 3, a total of 118,843 salmon have made it past the rock slide using the natural fish passage. Based on radio-tagging information it is estimated that at least 64% of actively migrating sockeye and 57% of actively migrating pink salmon are currently able to successfully pass the rock slide. In addition to the natural migration, 60,346 salmon (51,499 sockeye, 8,522 Chinook, 372 pink and 3 Coho salmon) have been transported upstream from the slide via helicopter. As a result of the increased natural passage, transport by helicopter has temporarily ceased.
https://www.psc.org/download/598/2019/11889/september-6-2019-2.pdf
The Fraser River Panel (Panel) met today to review assessment data on Fraser River sockeye and pink salmon. The current in-season Panel-adopted total Fraser River sockeye run size of 557,000 is lower than the lowest run size on record of 858,000 observed in 2016.
The landslide at Big Bar continues to be a major source of concern for the Panel as migrating sockeye salmon will need to pass this area to reach their spawning grounds. It is estimated that about 285,000 sockeye will have reached the Big Bar site as of September 5 based on abundances observed at Mission. Thanks to rock manipulation efforts and decreased water levels, the natural passage of Chinook, sockeye and pink salmon through the slide area has increased substantially in the last few days. As of September 3, a total of 118,843 salmon have made it past the rock slide using the natural fish passage. Based on radio-tagging information it is estimated that at least 64% of actively migrating sockeye and 57% of actively migrating pink salmon are currently able to successfully pass the rock slide. In addition to the natural migration, 60,346 salmon (51,499 sockeye, 8,522 Chinook, 372 pink and 3 Coho salmon) have been transported upstream from the slide via helicopter. As a result of the increased natural passage, transport by helicopter has temporarily ceased.
https://www.psc.org/download/598/2019/11889/september-6-2019-2.pdf
GLG
Well-Known Member
Reposting this map
2019 Fraser River Sockeye and Pink pre-season forecasts as of March 2019
http://www.frafs.ca/sites/default/files2/Day 1 2019 Fraser Sox and Pink Forecast.pdf
2019 Fraser River Sockeye and Pink pre-season forecasts as of March 2019
http://www.frafs.ca/sites/default/files2/Day 1 2019 Fraser Sox and Pink Forecast.pdf
ChilliSpoons
Well-Known Member
What will the game plan be with the Big Bar blockage after the salmon and steelhead have passed?
wildmanyeah
Crew Member
The have two options to remove the obstruction or engineer some kind of permit fish passage like hells gate.
GLG
Well-Known Member
Sept 5, 2019 Big Bar Landslide update
• Evidence through acoustic monitoring, radio tags, and visual observations confirms that Chinook and Sockeye salmon are swimming through the landslide unaided in large numbers. This is due to the rock manipulation efforts from our scaling crew members, as well as decreasing water levels.
• Hydro-acoustic data indicate over 100,000 fish were able to naturally pass the slide to date and over the last two days there has been 60.000 (September 1st-2nd).
• Over the next few days, the focus of operations will shift to monitoring Pink salmon through acoustic monitoring, radio tags and visual observation to determine if they will be able to also swim past the area of the slide and continue to migrate upstream.
• As a result of increasing numbers of successful Chinook and Sockeye natural passage above the slide, the Big Bar Landslide Unified Command Incident Management Team has temporarily ceased helicopter transfer operations of salmon at the Big Bar landslide while Pink salmon migration is monitored.
• A First Nations salmon ceremony was held onsite yesterday. Secwepmec, St’at’imc, Sylix and Gitxsan nations participated, along with field personnel onsite.
Salmon Transported by Helicopter
Daily Total Sockeye: - Chinook: -
Total to Date Sockeye: 51,260 Chinook: 8,505
http://frafs.ca/sites/default/files2/19 71W20AY Update Big Bar Landslide Incident Sept 5.pdf
• Evidence through acoustic monitoring, radio tags, and visual observations confirms that Chinook and Sockeye salmon are swimming through the landslide unaided in large numbers. This is due to the rock manipulation efforts from our scaling crew members, as well as decreasing water levels.
• Hydro-acoustic data indicate over 100,000 fish were able to naturally pass the slide to date and over the last two days there has been 60.000 (September 1st-2nd).
• Over the next few days, the focus of operations will shift to monitoring Pink salmon through acoustic monitoring, radio tags and visual observation to determine if they will be able to also swim past the area of the slide and continue to migrate upstream.
• As a result of increasing numbers of successful Chinook and Sockeye natural passage above the slide, the Big Bar Landslide Unified Command Incident Management Team has temporarily ceased helicopter transfer operations of salmon at the Big Bar landslide while Pink salmon migration is monitored.
• A First Nations salmon ceremony was held onsite yesterday. Secwepmec, St’at’imc, Sylix and Gitxsan nations participated, along with field personnel onsite.
Salmon Transported by Helicopter
Daily Total Sockeye: - Chinook: -
Total to Date Sockeye: 51,260 Chinook: 8,505
http://frafs.ca/sites/default/files2/19 71W20AY Update Big Bar Landslide Incident Sept 5.pdf
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