By Cheryl Jahn

Landslide may impact salmon runs

Aug 7, 2024 | 3:25 PM

NORTHERN BC – A landslide last week has caused a great deal of concern, including to those who are raising red flags over the impacts on the salmon runs. But there’s good news and bad on that front.

“The upside is that we know that some Chinook were already passed before the slide happened,” says Dustin Snyder with the Spruce City Wildlife Association. “So I believe it’s the Chinook stock that already had access to the spawning grounds. There is another run of sockeye and Chinook that will be headed up to where they are supposed to be headed up now.”

It’s those salmon – those which are supposed to be heading upriver now – that are a source of concern, given the condition of the water where the Chilcotin meets the Fraser River.

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“I think we’ve all seen the pictures and videos of where the Chilcotin meets the Fraser. It looks like chocolate milk flowing into a glacial stream. So all that debris can affect how the fish breathe and eat anything, washing down, anything that can, you know, hurt the fish.”

Snyder says, at issue is the life cycle of a salmon. While the fish are resilient and may wait for better conditions, the window of opportunity closes quickly.

“From the time they hit the Fraser, they’ve only got three-quarters of a tank and if they don’t get through, too bad. So sad. And that’s it as I’m not sure exactly how long they could sit and wait for conditions to get right. But these fish are really resilient and, if conditions are good, they can wait quite a while.”

And, the populations of salmon in question were also impacted by the Big Bar slide nearly five years ago exactly.

“Both those populations haven’t been doing great in the recent past,” says Snyder. “So this is something that we’re hoping will get better. And again, there’s a lot of significance to these fish, not only to the area and to the river, but the contained people as well have a huge concern.”

Snyder says, at this point, there isn’t much anyone can do for the health of endangered fish … something that should have been looked at well in advance of this event.