40-52-2013: Just another day at the office….

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October 5, 2013 – I was on Vancouver Island for a couple of days this week. I flew across to Comox, and thought I might not make it as the fog was thick up at that end of the flight. But the fog pulled back about a minute (according to the fellow at the dock) before the plane came in. I spent Thursday at Puntledge River Hatchery working with another biologist and our veterinarian. We were testing out a couple of tools designed to improve the process of dispatching fish and thereby improve welfare of the fish and reduce strain on the staff.

From there I was picked up by the another fellow and we headed up to Conuma River Hatchery on the outer coast of the Island. Our intent for Friday was to install river temperature data loggers on four different rivers.

In the end we only installed one, on the Tlupana, and decided to help the crew with their broodstock seining and egg collection.

Collecting eggs is physical work when it’s done at the hatchery, but when it is done on the river, there is a whole other layer of complexity added.

For starters, the crew has to get to the river where the fish are located, and hopefully ready for spawning. In this case that involved loading up a quad, a quad trailer, an inflatable boat, an outboard motor, all the various equipment required for the spawning and sampling (buckets, bags, a table, a collapsible tent, seine nets, clubs, etc), rain gear, lunches, coffee and tea to warm up with, and so much more.

Then all of that equipment had to be driven to the remote location, and unloaded onto the quad trailer, hooked up to the quad, and driven through thick bush, on an often muddy forest trail. The rest of us hiked in about a kilometer, wearing neoprene waders, to the site.

I used to scuba dive a long time ago, I never thought I’d be slogging through the bush in what really amounted to a dry suit minus the neck and arms, but with hiking boots laced over the neoprene socks added. It was a good leg workout.

Once at the river bank it was unload all the gear, set up the tent, drag the boat to the waters edge, load the net, and surround as many fish as possible. Then it was haul in the net load of adult chum salmon and start sorting for those that were ripe.

And then you do it again.

And again.

Then you spawn what you caught.

During the process we had a visitor. A small black bear knew a good thing when he saw it and obviously knew there were fish to be had easily once we were gone. He sat above us on a ledge in the trees, just 20 or 30 feet away, scoping out where the fish were being put after stripping. he paced back and fort through the bush and wandered up the river bank a bit when it appeared we weren’t leaving and abandoning the carcasses anytime soon.

Once you have the eggs collected and safely stowed into coolers, you pack up all the gear, load up the quad, and hike back out. On the way back up and out we had to use the winch to haul the quad and its heavy load out of a few spots an dup a few hills, and at the las thill we had to bring one of the trucks around and connect the two winches and use the truck to drag the quad up the last bit.

Then it was push and pull everything back onto the trucks, and drive to another site to do it all over again.

At the second site there was a bit of an easier way to get some equipment down, we just threw the nets and some non-damageable equipment off the bridge to the gravel bar below. When I saw one of the crew toss a load of wood over the edge I asked “why?”

I loved the response – “Weenie roast!!”

Cool, lunch was not going to be the cold sandwich I packed, it would be hot coffee and smokies roasted over an open fire. And one of the women, Lindsey, waved a bag of marshmallows. On a cold rainy day, that was a welcome thing to look forward to.

We did a few sets, some of them extremely frustrating as the net snagged on sunken branches and logs and the fish escaped around the edges. Even with chest waders snugged high, it’s impossible to stay totally dry.

Mel and I set the data logger at an undercut in the bank and Mel flagged a couple of trees so that the logger could be found again in a few months.

Then it was time to spawn the fish we’d collected, and have that warm lunch cooked over an open fire. A weenie roast never tasted so good.

After a couple more sets, it was time to pack up and haul everything back up through the bush, load the trucks again, and head back to the hatchery to change into dry clothes and head back to Nanaimo where I caught a ferry back home.

Every time I spend some time with the hatchery crews I am reminded what hard work it is. It is physical, laborious, often frustrating work. But those who work at the hatcheries have a passion for what they do. They work closely together and have to look out for the safety and well being of each other. They are working to help maintain, restore, and enhance a natural resource. You simply don’t do this work if you don’t have a level of dedication to the environment. As one fellow said to me on the river bank, “Welcome to the Fisheries Fitness Program”.

Friday may have technically been my day off, but I don’t mind giving up a Flex day for this type of work. Beats a day in the office anytime. 🙂