Tag «hatchery»

Sooke River Escapement Update from DFO

DFO has released their South Coast Salmon Bulletin in which they provide an update on the Sooke River escapement of chinook and chum salmon.

Thank you to the volunteers whose work forms the foundation for this good news. Also many thanks to those that fund these projects through their generous donations.

The goal of these efforts is to increase the abundance of Chinook salmon in fisheries and in spawning escapement. Moreover, this project should benefit Southern Resident Killer Whale (SRKW) prey abundance as well as ecotourism.

Port Renfrew’s salmon hatchery enters a new era

The Peninsula News Review website has an article describing changes regarding the salmon hatchery at Port Renfrew. In contrast to the constant bad news regarding the salmon fishery around Vancouver Island, this is an exceptional good news story!

The changes have seen the dissolution of the founding San Juan Salmon Enhancement Society and the establishment of the 4Mile Creek Enhancement Society, which has now taken over the operation.

“Over the past four months, the (old) society was phased out and a new society has taken over,” Shane Bruinsma, the manager of the hatchery, said.

“Morris Tremblay has been running it since 1976, but at 87 years old, he’s decided it’s time to pass the operation on,” Bruinsma said.

“I’m now managing the site along with Lisa Margetish, and we’ve got some exciting things planned. We know that the community’s support is at the heart of our ability to move forward.”

Goldstream Hatchery

Earlier this year, the Globe & Mail published an article profiling the efforts of the volunteers at the Howard English Hatchery in Goldstream Provincial Park. The challenges faced at Goldstream are not uncommon to the many other volunteer-run hatcheries across BC.

…the role of hatcheries has to be just one part of salmon restoration. Management of commercial and recreational fisheries is another, significant, issue. But if DFO wants to boost Chinook stocks, B.C.’s hatcheries could use their help…

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