Lack of rain on Vancouver Island puts spawning salmon in danger

Goldstream Provincial Park is a favourite for people looking to connect with nature on Vancouver Island, like Richard Powell who drove down to the park from Nanaimo with a friend who's visiting the island.

"I was also hoping to see some fish," said Powell on Thursday morning. "But I’m hearing that there isn’t enough water in the river."

That’s the story for many streams on Vancouver Island that are too dry and too warm at a critical time when salmon are ready to spawn and create the next generation.

"They’ll wait as long as they can," said Katrina Connors, director of the Salmon Watersheds Program at the Pacific Salmon Foundation.

"There is point at which their energy reserves completely dry up and these can have knock-on consequences," said Connors.

Those consequences could include fry emerging too late in the season for optimal food availability, which limits their growth before entering the ocean.

Researchers say they are concerned that these unprecedented weather events of extreme drought are becoming the norm.

"These things are happening more frequently," said Connors

"I think we need to adapt to that reality it terms of how we plan for them," she said.

BC Hydro operates numerous dams on the island’s rivers and are already making changes to the way it manages streams by working with government fish agencies, hydrologist and meteorologist.

"We’re conserving water," said Steve Watson, BC Hydro spokesperson.

"We’re releasing a lower amount of water, ideally, for a longer period of time until the fall rains come," he said.

The power company also sends out fish salvaging crews when it can't keep river flows up and moves the stranded fish to deeper pools.

It's work like this that experts say needs to be done on a larger scale to help critical species like salmon survive the climate crisis.