October

For us, this is the beginning of the year. Much of the activity is down at the Kanaka Creek Park Fish Fence (23960 Kanaka Creek Road). The fish fence is installed, based on when the salmon are expected to return. Salmon will start returning either early in September (odd numbered years only with returning Pinks), or mid-October with the start of the chum and coho runs. Pinks will run, in odd numbered years, late September through the month of October. The Chum will run every year from mid-October through November. The Coho will run every year from mid-October into the new year.

The last weekend in October is when Metro Vancouver Parks and KEEPS puts on our “Return of the Salmon” event down at the fish fence. This is an opportunity to have the public come down and see the salmon up close, see a dissection of a dead salmon (Dr. Death has never saved a patient in the past 20 years!), and displays from many community groups.

Hatchery staff and volunteers use the fish fence to capture brood stock (fish to be used to spawn at the hatchery) and transport them up to Bell-Irving Hatchery. The BIH harvests up to 325,000 chum eggs, 80,000 coho eggs, and 180,000 pink eggs during the season. During October, we will typically have chum on site, and will be doing egg takes (spawning of the fish). The eggs are fertilized, disinfected, and placed into incubators to mature.

Also at the hatchery, the rearing ponds will have the previous year’s coho juveniles, and these can most easily be seen during feeding time (typically daily).