NEWS

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Mackenzie Creek Coho salmon return to Tofino

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Community: Vancouver Island

The Westerly News reports today that restoration work on Mackenzie Creek at Tofino has started to pay off with Coho salmon smolts returning to the ocean where once there were none.

Smolt in the creek indicate a new generation of Coho in the first or second year of their life, ready to leave the calm, protected freshwater for the ocean. In 3 to 4 years they’ll return to Mackenzie Creek and spawn to continue the cycle of life.

Since receiving funding in late 2005 from the Pacific Salmon Foundation, the Tofino Streamkeepers have done remediation work along roughly 1,700 metres of the 2,683 metre creek, Tofino’s largest urban stream. Tofino Streamkeeper Gary Thomas said, “It speaks volumes to the capacity of the system.”

The creek has been negatively impacted over the years by the placement of roads and road culverts along its reach. Mackenzie Creek winds its way from the inlet across Sharp Rd., Pacific Rim Hwy., Cedarwood Rd., Mackenzie Beach Rd., Hellesen Rd. to its headwaters north of the Middle Beach Lodge property. There is less than a three metre change in elevation along the stretch of waterway.

While they haven’t counted smolts in previous years, this year’s strong showing is heartening to Thomas and hatchery staff Doug Palfry and Ralph Crombie.

They’ve designed a wooden smolt trap to catch the one to two year-old fish, just off Sharp Rd. The hope is that the smolts will survive predators and ocean conditions long enough to return to the system to spawn.

Thomas said he likes to refer to the waterway as the “little stream that could.”

Update: Turns out The Westcoaster reported the same story a week ago, which makes it twice as nice.