NEWS

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Ladysmith Logjam Threatens Salmon Habitat

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Community: Vancouver Island

Piles of debris have created a bottleneck in Ladysmith’s Holland Creek, but a group of volunteers stewards hope to save critical salmon spawning beds.

Biologist Dave Clough said two or three large trees are holding together a massive pile of smaller debris. If the large pieces snap, the rest will go down the creek “like gangbusters,” stirring up spawning grounds and potentially plugging the creek. “Once they break it’s gone,” he said.

Last year B.C. experienced a poor return of coho, therefore Clough said the few coho eggs in Holland Creek are extremely important. Normally salmon eggs’ incubation survival rates run around 10 per cent.

Experts attribute the logjam to recent windstorms, coupled with logging and development in the area.

Downstream from the jam lies habitat which the Ladysmith Sports Club revitalized three years ago, in partnership with the Town of Ladysmith, Pacific Salmon Foundation and various contractors. The president of the Club worries the $10,000 worth of work put into the habitat could be demolished in a torrent of wood debris if the jam is ignored.

Read the full article in the Ladysmith Chronicle published on Jan 16

Read the full article on canada.com published on Jan 19