Goldstream salmon return showing strong numbers after dry start

The extended dry period on Vancouver Island over the summer and into the fall threatened seasonal salmon runs. Rivers and streams were running dry, forcing wild salmon to delay their spawning.

The rain did come, however, and salmon started to make their way to their spawning grounds. In the Goldstream River, teams of volunteers from the Goldstream Hatchery count the salmon every year to track the stock and to provide the information to Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

This year, the number of salmon returning to the stream is looking strong, with 17,528 counted as of Wednesday.

“We might be above average compared to past records,” said Ben Eardley, a volunteer with the Goldstream Hatchery.

It takes boots on the ground – or, more accurately, boots in the water – to count every fish.

When the run is expected, small teams of volunteers bushwack and wade downriver every Wednesday and Saturday morning to carry out the job.

“We get to see first-hand every salmon in the river” said Wendy Lane, another Goldstream Hatchery volunteer.

“You need your waders, good boots so you can not slip on the rocks. You got to have a pretty quick eye,” said Lane, who has been involved with the hatchery since 2009.

The volunteers count chum, coho, dead and spawning salmon.

“It’s nice to see how many there are,” said Marion Lefeure, a volunteer of six years with hatchery.

Eardley said numbers could begin to drop as soon as next week, predicting the run is at its peak.

“Who knows, maybe it will be prolonged and we could get an even larger estimate?” he said.