News

School kids aren’t the only ones making a return before the end of summer.

Two sockeye salmon were spotted just below the Coquitlam Dam last week and transported to the kʷikʷəƛ̓əm t́ák̓ʷ Hatchery, marking the first sockeye to be caught in the Coquitlam Watershed this year.

The salmon — one male and one female — were captured in a trap below the dam and transported to the hatchery to use as hatchery broodstock. Biological sampling was conducted on these fish and DNA tests will determine the heritage of the fish and whether they are kʷikʷəƛ̓əm sockeye.

It’s a historic first for the hatchery, said Rodney Lee, project coordinator of fisheries and hatchery. In years past, the fish would have been sampled, and released into Coquitlam Lake.

But with the kʷikʷəƛ̓əm t́ák̓ʷ Hatchery fully operational, the Nation can now use the returning sockeye to spawn the next generation of salmon.

“It’s great, we’re excited and officially running with sockeye in the hatchery,” Lee said.

The recent returns come one year after a record number (13) of sockeye were recorded in the Coquitlam River.  The rate of return may seem small compared to this time last year, but it’s actually right around the norm.

A handful of sockeye typically return to the Coquitlam Dam in the summer months, the peak season for kʷikʷəƛ̓əm sockeye return rates, according to Lee. (Salmon return to their birthplace when they want to spawn, using smell and the earth’s magnetic field to find their home stream.)

It’s hard to explain why the return rate in the Coquitlam River is lower this year compared to last. In short, every year and every fish is different, according to Lee. Even though the Fraser River is experiencing a higher-than-expected run of salmon this summer, it’s hard to compare those stats to the Coquitlam River, which is a tributary of the Fraser River.

The jury is still out on whether the two recent returns are kʷikʷəƛ̓əm sockeye.

Yes, salmon have a unique ability to smell and return home — but sometimes fish that return to the dam are not always from the Coquitlam Watershed. That can be explained by the species’ ability to stick around for millennia.

As the Earth changed and glaciers receded, salmon sometimes strayed to different river systems, explaining why non-native species may end up in a particular watershed.

DNA tests from the two recent sockeye to return are expected to come back next month.

Nonetheless, the two fish will be used as “broodstock,” mature adults that can reproduce offspring. Lee is currently adapting the hatchery to suit the new salmon, adjusting water temperatures and sanitizing stations. The steps are important as it could take months for the salmon to be ready to spawn.

August is still “peak season” for adult kʷikʷəƛ̓əm sockeye to return up the river, meaning there’s a chance the new fish will have some company.

“It’s hard to predict,” Lee said. “We’re hopeful that we’ll see more fish and the two we’ve seen this week are an indication that there’s still more to come.”