2020 was a solid year for chum salmon returns in West Van’s creeks, according to the local stream stewardship group.
Volunteers from the West Vancouver Streamkeepers Society counted 307 spawning chum salmon in 2020 – up from the record low 85 the year before. The group made their annual presentation to West Vancouver council on Monday night.
“This year, 2020, we had very good numbers compared to other years,” co-ordinator Anthea Cameron told council.
The wide majority of fish counted (81 per cent) were chum salmon found in the Brothers Creek watershed, which feeds into the Capilano River. Volunteers also spotted 48 coho salmon (down from 64 the year before) and six chinook – the dwindling descendants of a surprise run of Chinook that turned up in Brothers Creek in 2014.
Compared to the year before, 2020 had good conditions for spawning with no droughts or floods and 2019 was also a particularly bad year for predation by river otter, Cameron added.
Chum salmon have a four-year life cycle, meaning the ones spotted in 2020 were the offspring of parents that returned to spawn in 2017. That year, there were only 153 chums, indicating 2020’s had a high survival rate in the ocean, which is a positive sign, said John Barker, past president of the Streamkeepers.
Notably, three of the chum were in Nelson Creek, which flows into Eagle Harbour. That previously would have been unthinkable as development of the shoreline made it impassible for returning fish. In 2020, the Streamkeepers installed a fish ladder at the mouth of the creek, which is already showing signs of success, Barker said.
“We say if you build it, they will come,” he said. “Boy, was that exciting because within a week of completion, chum salmon were observed moving up stream, through the fish ladder to spawning habitat. That’s pretty heartening news for a Streamkeeper. We’re thrilled.”
Every salmon season, the group sends out volunteers to count salmonids in the creeks, along with other scientific observations related to the environment. They also slice open dead females to see if they have successfully spawned. For years, the Streamkeepers have partnered with West Vancouver Secondary students to assist in the count but that had to be scrapped in 2020 due to you-know-what.
With steep banks, thick brush, unpredictable weather and sometimes unfriendly property owners along the creeks, big thanks are owed to the volunteers who stepped in, Barker said.
