Burnaby’s waterways are flush with spawning salmon.
More than 400 salmon – mostly chum and a few coho – have moved through the fish counter at the Cariboo Dam on the Brunette River, according to Mark Angelo, the former head of the fish and wildlife program at BCIT.
“Several hundred” more fish have also made their way into Stoney Creek, and there are still two to three weeks left in the salmon run, he added.
“It’s just wonderful to see salmon returning to spawn right in the midst of our city,” Angelo told the NOW. “I think that says much about the incredible natural values we still have in Burnaby. It’s one of nature’s great spectacles.”
Compared to the 2016 run, numbers are slightly down, he said. Around 500 fish came up the Cariboo Dam the same time last season, which saw a record-breaking 1,800 salmon return.
Angelo encourages local residents to get outside and check out the fish in either Still Creek, Guichon Creek, Deer Lake Brooke, Eagle Creek or Stoney Creek.
“There’s lots of vantage points,” he said.
The Brunette River empties into the Fraser and is habitat for coho, chum, pink and steelhead salmon and cutthroat and rainbow trout. The Brunette is also home to the Nooksack dace, an endangered minnow found in only a handful of waterways.
