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 Salmon Enhancement And Habitat Advisory Board (SEHAB) Roundtable

Date July 23,2001, Lumby, near Vernon

Area: North coast

Representative:Jan Lemon

Community Advisor: Rob Dams

Challenges/Issues

Cutbacks in the patrolman,s time on the coast, need for more chum DNA on streams in area 4,5,Skeena watershed issues such as pipeline, mining and expanded corridor use, and again the damage of ATV use instreams in all our area, are the issues for our volunteers. Rob Dams, the Community Advisor, was able to assist in the expandedrequirement for obtaining an Aquaculture license.All the facilities were able to receive one with his efforts.

Resource Restoration

Most of the groups in this area continue working with the habitat issues for their particular projects.

The Terreace Rod and Gun is nearing completion of the restoration of Hurley Creek, a small urban coho/cutthroat stream in theThornhill area.They will again do a clean-up along the main recreational fishing spots along the Skeena collecting garbage and camping remains left behind.

Prince Rupert Salmonid Enhancement Society has nearly finished the interpretive trail and bridge and the renovations to the hatchery facility.

Kitimatt Rod and Gun and the Naturalist Club have joined together to continue to mark all the storm drains

Salmon Enhancement (Oceans, Habitat and Enhancement)

1. Oldfield Creek (Prince Rupert Salmon Enhancement Society)continues to work on all their enhancement projects. They recently held their smolt fest and that was terrific. Steven Leask is doing a great job with the school education programs and carrying out the renovations at Oldfield. As the alternate to SEHAB, I hope to be able to encourage him to attend a meeting sometime soon.

2 .Lakelse Watershed Society is active and continuing work on their recovery program They will do egg takes again and have a video monitoring camera run byvolunteers to count the fish.This is proving very successful

3.Oona River Resources Association has two summer students who will be helping to do some of the stream assessment in the two rivers that are accessible by the new logging road.They are installing pavers over the gravelbasement floor where the rearing troughs are, which will be a huge improvement, as well as completing a small cabin next to the hatchery to be used to sleep staff or guests. The group will complete the second year of monitoringon the ‘Determining the trend of chum populations in Area 5’ (namely Kumeleon River) Community full timepopulation is low but ORRA has some active volunteers to rely on when needed and great community support.

2.Stewardship & Community Involvement

Bear River Society in Stewart is now running an interruptive centre and has had over 2,000 visitors through.

At the moment I have nothing newto include on the several other groups that are carrying on such valuable work in and around our area.Good luck and have a good summer to all the volunteers who continue to be the voice for wild salmon and their fresh and saltwater environment.

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SEHAB Member: Jan Lemon

Area: North Coast

Community Advisor: Rob Dams

Date: November 4, 2011

SEHAB Submissions, Comments from Groups:

Public awareness and Education:

Oona River Resources held an early Rivers Day in August which was well attended. Fry ID, games and a picnic were held interspersed with some trail clearing and a bonfire

Three rivers day projects this year - Terrace Rotary Club Skeena River clean-up, Terrace Rod & Gun Club Hurley Creek clean-up and Kitimat Naturalist Club Kitimat clean-up

Habitat and Restoration:

Terrace Rod and Gun are working on Hurley Creek -  did some salmon access restoration work this summer

 Kit Rod and Gun and Nat Club are storm drain marking the City of Kitimat

Kitimat - potential RRU involvement in estuary improvements (lead is Habitat Management working with Alcan, Haisla and consultant) - other sectors involved include Kitimat Hatchery, CA (potentially?).

Kleanza chum/pink side channels - proposal to PSC Northern Fund, DFO lead with many sectors involved (Stock Assessment, CA, Habitat Management and RRU-lead).

Singlehurst (just east of Terrace) - ongoing annual maintenance to ensure optimal fish passage at hwy culvert (old project circa 1970's still functioning to provide passage).

Exchamsiks back-channel rehabilitation project (30 km west of Terrace - 5km back-channel re-connected to Skeena for adult passage and juvenile rearing in 2008) - multiple partners (CN, MOTI, Skeena Fisheries Commission, Kalum First Nation, PSC Northern Fund) - funds sought in 2011 for some maintenance work and spawning habitat improvements

Shames off-channel development - connect created ponds on private land to mainstem via intake and outlet structures - feasibility ongoing.

Renovations, Upgrades and interpretive Centres:

:
Bear River Interpretive Centre is going well - lots of visitors.  Also started storm drain marking the town of Stewart

Eby Street Hatchery has finished shed rebuild

Prince Rupert Salmon Enhancement Society (PRSES) first phase of their extensive facility upgrades are near complete. The hatchery is rather modern now and can handle more enhancement and will host a Salmon Education and Stewardship Centre next year. The next phases are set to begin in spring 2012 with plans to rebuild storage sheds and install 50ft steel walking bridge for interpretive trail. 
There is no way these upgrades at PRSES would have or will happen without the following: PSF, PRPA, CN, Shaw, Northern Savings, BChydro and DFO.

Oona River Resources Association installed a concrete paver block floor in the   basement of the Resource Centre where the incubation and fry rearing is done. A huge thanks to Pacific Salmon Foundation and PIP funding for this much needed improvement. Also, thanks to the two summer student, Jason and Julian who did the back breaking installation.

Enhancement:

Coho escapements in Oldfield and Hays Creeks in 2010 were the best on record. They are starting to see returns from their "new management" and things are looking great They have been working hard to minimize the major BKD issues a couple of the creeks were plagued with and efforts are paying off. Oldfield Creek Fish Hatchery is now fully science based.

PRSES currently operate at about 186,000 eggs per year and looking at partnering with DFO for further enhancement opportunities. A revitalized, expanding group.

Lakelse Watershed Society continue the fry outplant (yr 5 underway and 6 proposed), enumeration (running a camera on Scully Creek, StAD Williams work), Williams Creek off-channel spawning habitat - one under construction, one proposed and at feasibility stage, Scully habitat improvements also proposed to PSC Northern Fund this year  - tons of partners and DFO sectors for all projects.  Fry outplant and habitat work likely 'sunsetting' in ~ 3 yrs...after 2 4-yr enhancement cycles and hopefully completion of major habitat restoration work.  .  Also working on watershed planning, lake stewardship and Sensitive Watershed initiative.  2011 Lakelse sockeye returns (early reports are the best in past 15 years).  Could be as many as 1200 fish in Scully Creek and 15 K in Williams - very good news.   Also observed spawners for the first time in two small LWS/DFO restoration projects on Salmon Creek and Groundwater Granite. Maintenance and monitoring will continue. 

Oona River Resources Association has put 4,500 coho eggs into the incubation box which will be used for the Public Awareness and Education project. They will help Kitkatla with a classroom incubation box this winter and plan for a few school field trips with this neighbouring community. Good coho returns in Oona River and Salt Lagoon but many days of flooding has made it difficult to enumerate returns. Oona River had a very low pink return.

Kumeleon River project has been completed and chum returns were low in numbers but marked fish were present. Report will be completed soon and will be posted through Pacific Salmon Commission web-site.

Funding:
Funding is always a concern with all the groups, especially the ones that continue to grow
The problem of acquiring core funding means groups are unable to plan long term and often the projects they are able to do only reflect the funding trend for that year depending on the salmon “crisis” or issue

Issues from groups:

• Better communication between PIP groups PIP’s not fully funded by DFO) for collaboration, help, support, ideas etc).
  
  
  
• More priority for northern BC habitat projects.

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February 2008

Northern Interior/North Coast Roundtable Report February 2008
Submitted by Jan Lemon.

The following is a summary of the various groups and what they are doing in our area.

1)    Kitimat Valley Naturalist Club
Contact: Dennis Horwood
250-632-2004

Eelgrass mapping project in the Douglas Channel.  Includes an Eelgrass transplant (restoration) experiment at the Alcan Beach.  They are presently embarking on a bridge project that will restore and protect habitat in a local stream that is heavily impacted by vehicle traffic.   This bridge project now includes help from Alcan.  The design should be completed by the spring of 2008.  

2)    Kitimat Shorekeepers Club

Haisla group - monitoring shoreline ecosystems in conjunction with WWF.

3)    Kitimat Rod and Gun Club
Contact: Albert Hummel
250-632-3555

Fish access surveys at various stream crossings along old logging roads in the Lower Kitimat Valley.  Plan to restore fish passage by deactivating problem crossings.   Project has attracted interest from the MOF Conservation and Enforcement program.  Plan to have a meeting to discuss partnerships for expanding the project with MOF and the CO service.

4)    Northwest Watershed Society
Contact: Brenda Ramsey
250-638-8436

Streamkeepers group working on small-scale coho enhancement at Eby Street Hatchery.  Also promotes public education and stewardship.   Has 17 K Zymachord coho eggs on hand.  Does a guided hatchery tour

5)    Lakelse Watershed Society
Contact: Ian Maxwell
250-798-9500

Our primary stewardship group in Terrace and key stakeholder in the Lakelse Sockeye Recovery Plan.  Successful in collecting sockeye eggs and transporting them to Snootle Hatchery where they are raised and returned to the Lakelse system.  The Lakelse Watershed Society is very active with volunteer contribution to a Ministry of Environment Sediment monitoring study on the four main tributaries to Lakelse Lake (Williams, Furlong, Hatchery and Schulbuckhand Creeks. This is a $83,000 project aimed at providing baseline data on sediment entering the lake and has had tentative approval for extending data collection into 2009.

On November 7, 2007, they received notice of 4 proposed logging cut blocks in the Furlong, Hatchery and Schulbuckhand Creek drainages. This is at serious odds with the sediment study as well as being a serious threat to the few remaining sockeye of four mall creeks in the vicinity. The Lakelse Sockeye Recovery Plan front page lists Ministry of Forests as "partners" but there has been no timber harvesting discussion at the recovery plan table. They have since written letters to the Prime Minister, the Premier of BC, the Ministry of Fisheries and Oceans (with copy to Don Lowen, SEHAB), the local Forestry District Manager and Prince Rupert Fisheries and Oceans personnel.  Having volunteered thousands of hours on the plight of Lakelse sockeye each year since 2001, they see little point in continuing with their volunteering without effective and encompassing Federal/Provincial/ First Nations watershed management in place.

6)    Prince Rupert Salmonid Enhancement Society
Contact:  Steven Leask
250-624-6733

Oldfield and Kloyia Creek Hatcheries - public involvement project enhancing coho, chinook and chum in Oldfield and Kloyia Creeks.  This project provides the venue for the Prince Rupert Salmonids in the Classroom Program.   Facility upgrades and hatchery revitalization is nearly complete.  12K Chinook and 30K Diana/Oldfield coho eggs on hand.  Also working towards habitat improvement projects on Oldfield Creek.  Public trails are being refurbished with new crossings.    

7)    Oona River Resources Association
Contact: Jan Lemon
Hatchery #250-628-3241

Small-scale enhancement of Area 5 chum, Oona River coho and Spiller River coho.  They also assist with spawner surveys in various streams.  This group is linked with the North West Community College ACE programme and host a three-day college field lab every fall. Continuing chum enhancement on the Kumeleon River funded by the Northern Fund (PSC).   They have 17K chum eggs on hand.  5K coho eggs were taken from Oona River system for their public awareness and education programme: Hatchery tours are available year round and the local fish lodge brings groups through every week during their summer charter business.  Upgrades to the hatchery’s water quality by installation of a settling tank and UV filter is nearly complete.  

Promoting stewardship through public education and the venue for our Salmonids in the Classroom Program in Terrace.   We are working with Chris to build an interpretive educational center at the hatchery.

8)    Bear River Enhancement Society
Contact: Frank Kamermans
250 636-2344

Stewardship group in Stewart.  Working on small scale local Public Involvement Projects.  Last fall they did Great Canadian Shoreline Clean-up with students from the local school.   There are plans to regroup this organization and they will continue the annual community estuary clean-ups

9)     Dutch Valley Community Group

Presently developing a fish habitat restoration project on a small, unnamed tributary of Spring Creek.  This project has been on-hold for the last year and is still on hold!

10)    Terrace Rotary Club.

They started a volunteer river clean-up from Terrace to tidewater, on or around Rivers Day each year in September.  Sept 2007 was the first annual event.  It involves
volunteers from Rotary and DFO using their boats to roam the river for left over junk the summer fishing crowd leaves behind.  Very worthwhile project.

11)    World Wildlife Fund
Contact: Jennifer Rice, James Casey
250 624-3705

Shorekeepers and public education - outreach and stream/estuary clean-ups

12)    Greater Terrace Beautification Society
Contact: Sam Buckanan
250-638-0498

Howe Creek trail and habitat improvement projects.

13)    Terrace Salmonid Enhancement Society (Stock Assessment) Deep Creek
Hatchery
Contact: Chris Culp
250-635-3471

Kalum River chinook enhancement and CWT program with StAD.  Participates in
Terrace SIC program.  Developing an interpretive area for public education.  Participant in Lakelse Sockeye Recovery Program.

14)    Gitanyow/Kitwanga Sockeye / Coho Enhancement
Mark Cleveland
250-849-5246

Have 45 volunteers including school children.  Kitwanga River sockeye enhancement and habitat restoration. Proposal to construct a smolt fence in 2008 Initiated 1985.  Enhancement, assessment and education at Kitwanga Lake.

Our area has two Community Economic Development Projects (CEDP) at Hartley Bay and Kincolith.  These projects build community capacity while enhancing fish, promoting public education and restoring fish habitat.  

Kincolith Hatchery (CEDP)
Contact: Blair Stewart
250-633-2617

Presently have 70 K Chinook eggs on hand.  Working towards elevating access road power line.  Recently completed construction of a new access bridge.   PSC proposal submitted to reconstruct the gravity feed water supply.  No chum brood taken in 2007 due to poor escapement Initiated 1978.  Hatchery and fence operation on Kincolith River -- Species Chinook & chum.  The crossing structure (over the Kincolith River side channel) on the hatchery access road was replaced in 2007.  The MOT donated a large Bailey bridge last summer (thanks to Don Hjorth).  I should note, this project has
partners from DFO, Nisga'a Fisheries, LGL and the local village government.

Hartley Bay (CEDP)
Contact: Danny Danes
250-841-2558

Presently have 450 K coho eggs on hand with 30 K smolts.  Working towards internet access at hatchery and shed reconstruction (initiated 1979).  Hatchery, rearing, stocking and smolt release on Hartley bay Creek, Whalen, Red Bluff, Angler Cove and Upper Hartley Bay lakes.

Of Note: (DFO North Coast CA's) are working together with volunteer groups to develop a Regional Roundtable.