Federal and provincial governments promise $30.5M for B.C. salmon support

On Friday, the federal and provincial governments promised millions of dollars to support struggling pacific salmon along the B.C. coast.

At the same time, a small army of 44 Kindergarteners from McKenzie Elementary School were marching their way to the banks of the Colquitz River in Saanich in hopes of causing an environmental ripple effect on Earth Day.

"We’re going to release salmon," said Oscar, a Kindergartener.

"I already let one go and he was trying to go that way," said Luke, another Kindergartner, as he pointed upstream.

"They’re going to into the ocean," added another student, Penny.

It’s a project that began in January, started by Kindergarten teacher Andrea Jardim.

"A fish tank and eggs were delivered to the school," said the teacher.

Once those eggs hatched, these young students raised those fry to the size they are now. In the process, they learned an important lesson about how integral salmon are to nature's ecosystem.

A Kindergarten student releases a single coho fry into the Colquitz River in Saanich, B.C. (CTV News)

"Our hope, more than anything, is just to foster environmental stewardship with the children," said Jardim.

Wild Pacific salmon have struggled over the past few years. A contributing factor is climate change, causing our rivers and streams to heat up.

$30.5M INVESTMENT

On Friday, the federal and provincial governments made a pledge to help dwindling salmon stocks in B.C.

"Today we’re announcing another 22 new projects that have been approved, totalling $30.5-million in funding," said Joyce Murray, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard.

The projects will support monitoring, research and planning processes that will help to understand the critical factors affecting the dwindling local salmon populations.

"Cowichan Tribes is working on a salmon-relevant water sustainability plan," said Fin Donnelly, B.C.’s Parliamentary Secretary for Fisheries and Aquaculture.

The Cowichan First Nation will receive $500,000 for that work being done on the Koksilah and the Cowichan River.

A lot of work has already been done to provide help to our salmon population and results are being seen.

Early this month, Bowker Creek on southern Vancouver Island, saw its first salmon return in more than a century.

It’s hoped that with help from these little hands, the fry will return to the Colquitz River as well and lay eggs of their own. And in the process, the little helpers from McKenzie Elementary School, will become environmental leaders by the time the fish find their way back to the stream.