July 31, 2013 – Yesterday I had a long, but very rewarding day. I normally work 7:30 am – 4:30 pm, but I headed out to Mission to meet up with a transport crew for 5pm and knew I wouldn’t be home until past 9:00 pm.
I arrived at Inch Creek Hatchery in Mission and was greeted by one of the staff who looked at me with a disappointed expression and, bag in hand, told me that he’d lost a beer. I was confused, until he said that he’d bet a beer that I’d show up on the motorcycle. I had to laugh that the crew thought I’d ride out to something that was going to involve fish, water, a boat, etc. Not to mention I knew I was going to be in rush hour traffic on the #1 and all of it’s horrific construction, and on a hot day. No, the air conditioned comfort of our truck was much more appealing.
We loaded up a transport tank with a concrete pond full of tiny salmon fry and headed for Cultus Lake, with a couple of stops along the way to make sure everyone was doing well en route.
I was along because I’d asked to join in, but also to learn about how this crew did their transport since the lake is terribly warm and the move can be very stressful if not done properly. There have been some problems in another program and I was hoping to glean some nuggets of wisdom to help the other group out if possible.
As we drove along the lake we smelled all the BBQs, those grilling burgers and hot dogs smelled so good! But we were here for something much more awesome than a simple BBQ.
We were releasing Cultus sockeye fry.
Cultus Lake sockeye are a threatened stock of salmon, one of the two most threatened sockeye stocks in BC. It, along with the Sakinaw Lake sockeye, is listed as endangered by COSEWIC. Unfortunately, the Federal Government declined to officially list them under the Species at Risk Act due to socioeconomic impacts on salmon fisheries in BC if they should be legally protected.
A small group of dedicated professionals stepped up to the plate and made the decision to try and do something on an ad hoc basis, and that eventually blossomed into a well run program. There are a great many scientists, enhancement staff, fish culturists, regional stock assessment, habitat, and enhancement biologists, and others, who have volunteered some of their work time to the program.
All of the time and effort that these people have put into the program have benefited the stock and have brought them back from the brink of extinction. There are still hurdles and challenges, but they have done well enough that a captive breeding program is being wound down and will finish this year, and the project will focus, for now, on more traditional enhancement.
When we got our precious cargo to the lake, the trailer was backed down the boat launch and cool water, brought from Chilliwack River hatchery in another transport trailer, was used to fill buckets in a waiting boat. It took five trips out to the middle of the lake to release them all, but when they hit the warm surface water, they turned and high-tailed it for the cooler water down below.
Good luck little guys, hope to see some of you again in four years!
I have the coolest job!
6 comments
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