News

The next generation is coming.

The Kwikwetlem First Nation has caught dozens of sockeye salmon in Coquitlam Lake this week, an important first step in replenishing the number of eggs at its hatchery this year.

There are 78 residualized sockeye at the hatchery (61 males and 17 females), as of October 30. Residualized sockeye are fish that are born in freshwater—like Coquitlam Lake—and don’t migrate to the ocean.

There are also nearly 2,500 eggs in incubation.

Since its inception, the hatchery’s goal has been to raise and build a sustainable run of sockeye salmon in the Coquitlam Watershed, an area that was once filled with fish and sustained the Nation for thousands of years prior to colonization.

But it’s a process that takes time.

The kʷikʷəƛ̓əm t́ák̓ʷ Hatchery is located near Coquitlam Lake at the north end of Pipeline Road. 

To grow fish, you need fish. Every year, the kʷikʷəƛ̓əm t́ák̓ʷ Hatchery—the Nation’s hatchery—sources mature male and female salmon to spawn. Those fish are called “broodstock” and their eggs and milt are used to create the next generation of fish, according to Rodney Lee, the Nation’s project coordinator of fisheries and the hatchery.

The fish are then raised at the hatchery before being released into the Coquitlam Watershed, slowly rebuilding the number of salmon in the territory.

After releasing more than 9,000 eggs in the summer, the Nation has collected four anadromous kʷikʷəƛ̓əm sockeye—fish that were born in the Coquitlam Watershed, migrated to the ocean, and returned to the Coquitlam Dam. Those kinds of fish are especially important to breed, since they may pass along a willingness to leave, grow in the ocean, and come back to their offspring—which can also be helpful for the environment.

Although those returns were an encouraging sign, the Nation still needs to “close the gap” in the number of eggs it wants in incubation this year, Lee said.

When construction on the hatchery was announced in 2022, the Nation set a target of capturing 30,000 eggs for incubation per year. To meet those targets, the Nation must source residualized fish from Coquitlam Lake. 

Eventually, the hope is that enough anadromous sockeye will return to the hatchery, reducing the reliance on Coquitlam Lake-based fish for spawning.

It’s not expected that many kʷikʷəƛ̓əm sockeye will return in the first few years of the hatchery. However, some have already trickled in. A total of 17 kʷikʷəƛ̓əm sockeye have returned over the past two years combined (13 last year and four this year).  

Broodstock collection is expected to run through early November.

Please scroll through the photos below to check out what it looks like to fish (and transport) residualized sockeye in the Coquitlam Lake.

The creation of the Coquitlam Dam had major impacts on salmon runs in the Coquitlam River, according to former Chief Johnnie. To read more about the history of the dam and its impact on the Nation, please visit our history page here. 

There are multiple tanks at the kʷikʷəƛ̓əm t́ák̓ʷ Hatchery — these tanks hold "ripe" or "green" residualized sockeye, fish that are not ready to be spawned yet. 

On the morning of Oct. 28, crews started fishing the lake around 4:00 a.m. with the help of Metro Vancouver (who supplied the boat). That morning, the team collected just over 50 residualized sockeye, mostly males. The crew also fished the lake again later in the day, which saw an additional five sockeye added to the hatchery.

The process works like this: one net is placed in the water using lines, buoys and anchors. Once the first net is set up, the crew motors to a second spot in the lake—usually near a creek—and place another net in the water. After an hour or so, the team will then pull second net up and place any caught fish in a bucket filled with water and oxygen, which you can see below.

The process is repeated for the first net. (On this day, the first net was left in the water longer in the afternoon because many fish were caught in that spot in the morning.)

The boat has a monitor that tracks coordinates and the depth of Coquitlam Lake, among other features. 

Once the fish are caught and safely in the oxygen tank, Rodney Lee, seen above, will delicately transport them into the holding tanks at the hatchery.