The Epistle of Q — Chapter Thirty-Two (Part B)

Continuing the conversation about the Pecha Kucha moment…

A-4
The return of Pacific Salmon, particularly the Sockeye is a very significant restoration to the ecological balance of the entire Columbia system. Back in the late seventies the Salmonid Enhancement Program (SEP) of which my team was an integral part did not look at projects in the Okanagan as we were constrained to the Fraser, Skeena and Stikine watersheds along with Vancouver Island and Haida Gwaii. But we were well aware, especially because of the work of the Okanagan Basin Study(of which I also was significantly involved), that there was potential for salmonid enhancement in the Canadian part of the Columbia system. [Salmonid is a term that refers to those species of fish that are born in fresh water, and then migrate to the sea to grow into adults and then return to the stream of their birth to spawn and then die.]

The Aboriginal leadership in the Okanagan Nation is to be commended for taking up the challenge with the US power corporations connected to the many dams on the Columbia River in an effort to restore salmon in particular to the waterways. It has not been easy nor has it been swift; but, it has been successful. There is now a significant native food fishery in Osoyoos Lake and fish are moving in large numbers through Skaha Lake. And there is a high-tech fish hatchery the Penticton Indian Band operates to help supplement the numbers that can still be impacted by the downstream journey of the juveniles.

The presentation brought a new aspect to the equation. The possibility of removing the last barrier at the Okanagan Dam at the top end of the river channel in Penticton. Restoring a fish ladder at that location would facilitate fish migration into Okanagan Lake. The only concern has really been: what would the impact be on the resident kokanee in the Lake [Kokanee are, in essence, land-locked sockeye — at some point earlier in the evolutionary process these fish quit going to the sea and instead spawn in streams or along the shores of the big lakes]. However, it does not appear to be a major issue in either Osoyoos or Skaha Lake and if the final clearances are obtained the salmon would once again be completely restored to the full Okanagan river system.

There is a personal moment of expectation if this can happen. I now live along a creek than flows into Okanagan Lake. It would be an ideal stream within which to establish some small spawning beds. It is my hope to talk to the fisheries peoples this year about perhaps having the nearby school Ecole Entre Lacs along with some of the citizens in the area partner in the building and maintaining a few spawning boxes. These would enable a number of redds (spawning/birthing locales) to be created and within four years it might be possible to have initiated an annual return to this sub-system.

Of all the presentations at Pecha Kucha, this one makes me personally excited as it validates in a unique way, all the work that I helped lead forty years ago. It isn’t often that one gets to “square the circle” of an innovative study and see real applied results within one’s lifetime. It gives me more than hope for the future!!

g.w.