Campbell River Salmon - Pink count double of last year's
Dan MacLennan, Campbell River Courier-Islander, Friday, August 31, 2012
The latest estimates from the Quinsam River Hatchery suggest this year's pink salmon return could be more than double last year's.
"The guys swam (Wednesday) and came up with some pretty good numbers," acting operations manager Eric Fortkamp told the Courier-Islander yesterday. "It looks pretty good."
Wednesday's pink salmon estimate came to 285,000 pinks, up from 276,000 in the last count two weeks ago. Combined with the 62,000 already counted through the hatchery fence, that brings the 2012 return up to almost 350,000 pinks.
Pink returns have varied widely in recent years. Numbers surged after the Quinsam 'cascades' project of 2005 saw channels carved through bedrock about 13 kilometres upstream from the hatchery to open up another 14 kilometres worth of prime spawning habitat upriver. More than 900,000 pinks poured into the river in 2009, an unprecedented number in recent memory, but severe flooding the following spring devastated the egg count. That resulted in a return last year in the 140,000 range, a number more in keeping with recent pre-cascade years.
The total return could still climb higher, but Fortkamp expects the bulk of the pinks are now in the river system.
Meanwhile chinook salmon numbers are picking up as well, although it's far too soon to say how big this year's return will be.
"Chinook were up quite a bit to 912," Fortkamp said of Wednesday's swim.
That's up from the Aug. 15 swim, which found 370 chinook, and into the same range as last year's count at this time.
Hatchery staff also counted 15 steelhead, six coho and three sockeye salmon.
