Hundreds of thousands of BC salmon fry found dead
The Duck Lake Hatchery in Powell River, British Columbia is dealing with the death of 700,000 salmon fry that were destined for local water ways.
Vandals broke into the Duck Lake hatchery in late December and turned off valves and removed pipes which cut water supply and oxygen to incubation tanks filled with newly hatched chum salmon.
90 percent of the salmon fry died due to lack of oxygen and low water levels. 10 percent of the stock was saved by relocating the fish to other tanks that still had some water.
The deaths will mean less fish in the ocean for this particular cycle and the effects will be especially evident in four years.
Community engagement
“Local residents have responded with outrage and support,” said Ed Oldfield, president of the Powell River Salmon Society.
“Our best security is our education program, and we are trying to build a culture where the people of Powell River value what we do. The community engagement here has been tremendous,” said Oldfield.
The Tla’amin Nation, the local First Nation, offered to help restock and transfer 200,00 eggs to the society. By the time arrangements for a transfer were made, the eggs had started to hatch and could not be moved.
Powell River Police said in a news release that the vandalism occurred sometime between Dec. 28 and Dec. 31, but they have offered no other details about the break-in at the hatchery .
The hatchery is raising funds to purchase equipment to increase security in the future.
The Duck Lake Hatchery is located in Powell River on the northern Sunshine Coast of southwestern British Columbia. The hatchery is used for incubation purposes as well as rearing in the spring. This site is critical to the imprinting process for hatchery production pertinent to Lang Creek in Powell River. The site sits fallow over the summer months primarily because of high water temperatures experienced over summer months.
