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The fence installation on Tuesday, September 17th went in without a hitch. A well-deserved "pat on the back" to all those who turned out to help put it up and get things read. Now all we need are fish!
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We have added a new link on our website where you can now easily download and read the monthly mail out of "The Water Ship News". Please click on the image below, to link to our new page on this site, and to download your own copies, read archived newsletters or visit the "salmoninschools.ca" link for additional information.   Photo By: @MountDougPark on Twitter The annual Salmon Carcass Transplant/Toss, Coho smolt transplant and riparian planting were a super success this year! "At the edge of Douglas Creek in Mount Doug Park on Saturday, small but mighty volunteers are heaving frozen salmon as far as they can.
These salmon aren’t going to come back to life, but it’s still a resurrection of sorts. “It’s really part of the ecosystem to have, basically, salmon fertilizer, what it amounts to, in the creek,” said Darrell Wick, president of Friends of Mount Douglas Society. This annual fish flinging is an attempt to replenish nutrients in the area and boost the future salmon stock." <<< READ MORE & WATCH THE NEWS RELEASE VIDEO>>> - THE GLOBE AND MAIL - Midwives of the river: The volunteers who keep B.C.’s salmon coming back1/8/2019 CLICK HERE to read the full article on Salmon Enhancement in The Globe And Mail! "At a Vancouver Island hatchery, dozens of people give their time to raise new salmon for British Columbian rivers. But with Ottawa’s coming changes to fisheries policy, will free labour be enough?" Article by: Justine Hunter Photo by: Chad Hipolito  Salmonid Enhancement on Bear Mountain's 15th Hole - Student Educational Field Trip to Osborn Pond1/10/2018 Wednesday, November 29th 2017 " Five thousand juvenile coho salmon were released into the Osborn Pond located on the 15th hole at the Bear Mountain golf course on Wednesday morning. And students from Grade 3 and Grade 4 at Lakewood Elementary School went to witness the event. The salmon went in as part of a larger conservation initiative to strengthen the numbers of salmon in the waters off the southeasterly tip of Vancouver Island. “Osborn pond has been shown to be really really rich of benthic production which is the production of insects and creatures on the bottom of the pond in which these juveniles feed," said Peter Mccully, technical advisor for the Goldstream Volunteer Salmon Enhancement Association. But Wednesday's demonstration was about more than just salmon release. The experience will help the students as they begin to learn about the cycle of the salmon from beginning to end. "It's important that they learn where they are coming from and where they are going I mean most of them, they see it is in a grocery store or their parents putting it on their plate but they have no idea what the real system is like,” said class teacher Sherry Fawcett. While the field trip was meant to be fun, it was really about the bigger picture. "They are the future and if they understand the rigours and difficulties that these creatures faced in the course of their life perhaps they will be more in tune to those environmental needs that the fish have," said Mcully. That way salmon populations stay plentiful for generations to come. " ~ Re-posted from cheknews.ca << CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE FULL STORY THAT WAS FEATURED ON CHEK NEWS >>   
On Friday Oct 27th, students in the Ecology class of the Royal Roads Business and Sustainability program were introduced to the wonders of salmon by Peter McCully. Their field trip started along Goldstream river, where Peter explained about the role salmon play in nutrient cycling. Moving down to the estuary, the students heard about the ecosystem services provided by the estuary and the pressures of human activity on these delicate and vital habitats. Next, the group went to the hatchery to learn more about the salmon rearing process and reasons for salmon enhancement. Luckily that morning, some juveniles were being marked as ‘hatchery fish’ and the students were able to view the adipose fin clipping process as well.
The students in this group are at the beginning of a program aimed directly at developing business people of the future that have an environmentally-responsible ethic. Having an opportunity to be with Peter and experience the salmon return has made a huge (and hopefully lasting) impression on them. They are starting to see just how important it is to work with nature rather than against it. Clearly, all the students gained a far deeper understanding of how salmon are connected to our ecosystem and the variety of pressures they experience both natural and man-made. We all very much appreciated Peter sharing his time and experience with the class. Blog Article By: Alison Moran At Goldstream Hatchery, we are always searching for new techniques to enhance salmon populations. Our specific area of focus has always been community based initiatives that are consequently "low tech" and inexpensive to encourage active involvement. This particular approach is one that groups might utilize to enhance salmon populations in small streams where the sponsoring group does not have a hatchery infrastructure in place and the site is logistically challenging, ie: no road access and difficult terrain for equipment etc. All that's required is a stream with good water quality parameters, good substrate (spawning gravels) and access to eyed eggs. The base of a large plastic recycled drum was cut and used as a cylinder form to pile gravel and coho eggs. Layer by layer the eggs and rocks were stacked until volunteers were ready to remove the form. This artificial redd is now left alone for the remainder of the egg incubation period. For additional information, please contact Peter at Goldstream Hatchery. Please Note: Such activities must be coordinated with the local DFO Community Advisor.
It was a successful transplant of 400 coho parr into Douglas Creek on Saturday, March 4th 2017.
50 volunteers, young and old gathered to introduce these salmon into their new habitat where they will mature and eventually head out to sea. Special thanks to the Pacific Salmon Foundation for continued creek restoration support, Saanich Parks, Saanich Creeks & Waterways and Friends of Mount Douglas Park. Photo Credit: Darrell Wick We had a great time on Saturday, January 14th “tossing” carcasses into Douglas Creek, which flows south to north through the easterly portion of Mount Douglas Park in Victoria, BC. "The 2017 Douglas Creek Carcass Transplant was possibly the best yet. We had around 70 participants and well over 100 carcasses. We are indebted to the Howard English Hatchery at Goldstream for the carcasses and their on-going support of our Douglas Creek restoration. http://mountdouglaspark.ca/web/PhotoAlbums/2017-CarcassTransplant/index.html Peter McCully from the hatchery provided us with an entertaining and educational overview of the importance of these carcasses in the restoration process and how it mimics natural processes in other streams. Also, a big thank-you to the volunteers from the hatchery for their work there and also for bringing the carcasses and their help at the event. Saanich Councillor Dean Murdoch, chair of the Parks & Rec committee accepted a cheque for $10,000 on behalf of Saanich for their creek restoration work last summer. The funds are from a grant from the Pacific Salmon Foundation. PSF funding support and also project endorsement have been instrumental in the successful restoration - salmon are returning every year; thank you PSF! A long time local resident reported that in the early 1960s the creek was full of spawning salmon and also cutthroat trout, but that was when the Gordon Head watershed was mostly farmland where rain soaked into the ground replenishing the water table. Urbanization started shortly after that, along with impermeable streets and rooftops sending rain water into the storm pipe system causing huge surges that washed out all the spawning beds and eroded the stream banks. Our restoration has been armoring the banks to stop the erosion and creating new gravel spawning pools. Thanks to all the participants and supporters! -- Darrell Wick, President Friends of Mount Douglas Park Society":  Photo's above were graciously supplied by Shanna Baker / Hakai Magazine & Ben Eardley
"Join us on Saturday 14 January 2017 for our seasonal salmon carcass transplant. We meet at the Edgemont access to Mount Douglas Park at 10:30 a.m. rain or shine. Special thanks to the Howard English Hatchery volunteers at Goldstream who will bring approximately 100 salmon carcasses - partially thawed! - which we will put into Douglas Creek. This transplant mimics the results of a large return of salmon to Douglas Creek. The carcasses will decompose into the aquatic ecosystem delivering marine derived nutrients to riparian vegetation and invertebrate populations thus setting up the system for productive trophic webs. This activity does not take a long time. If we have a good turnout one and a half hours will do it.
Additionally, the good folks at the Goldstream hatchery will bring roughly 500 coho parr or chum fry which will be transferred to the creek at the same time. - PLEASE CLICK HERE TO VIEW LAST YEARS PHOTOS FROM 2016 - Wear rain gear, or old clothing, and rubber boots if you have them. We will supply cotton gloves. These are both great event for older children, but the creek banks are muddy, slippery and steep and the creek can be dangerous at high flows so all under 16 must be accompanied by parents. " Source From: http://mountdouglaspark.ca/ |
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