Sockeye reach the Adams
Salmon Arm Observer, Oct 9, 2014
Some 3.5 million sockeye are expected to spawn in the Adams River, and the majority of them will be arriving this weekend.
“There’s lots of fish, with more coming,” said Stu Cartwright, acting area director of the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans for the B.C. Interior, on Wednesday. “The peak should be happening now.”
Sockeye that are viewed from the new viewing platform are waiting to get into the spawning grounds.
“It’s like cabs at the airport; the line can be pretty long on some days and faster on others,” he says. “We don’t know what the magic is that has them go into the river.”
As to recent complaints from some visitors that while they are not allowed to go in or near the river at Roderick Haig-Brown Park while people are fishing on the other shore, Cartwright says the anglers are engaged in a legal catch-and-release trout fishery on the gravel banks.
As of Oct. 1, the Fraser River Panel estimated there were in the neighbourhood of 19.6 million salmon overall in the Fraser River.
“Of that number, 9.6 million are considered to be late sockeye; some of them will go to the Adams River and Shuswap Lake,” he said. “After catch and all other fisheries, we’re expecting about 3.5 million on the Adams.”
Cartwright acknowledges the dominant run in 2010 had eight million sockeye return to spawn, but says that was an exceptional year.
‘It’s a cycle and there could be a number of contributing factors about why stocks come back at different levels – weather when they’re juveniles migrating out to sea, out at sea, migrating back to spawn, predators and other environmental conditions,” he says. “We’re not disappointed with what’s coming back.”
Cartwright notes some five million sockeye have already been removed from the run through First Nations, commercial and recreational fisheries.
“The sockeye are probably midway through the migration or slightly past that, with a lot moving through Kamloops Lake and the South Thompson,” said Cartwright last Thursday, noting rain and cooler temperatures have provided a better environment for the salmon. “We expect to see continued high numbers migrating over the course of the next 10 days.”
That should make this Thanksgiving weekend the optimum time to see the highest number of fish at their Adams River spawning grounds.
Event co-ordinator Jeremy Heighton reminds visitors to keep all dogs on a leash and out of the river, approach the river bank slowly and quietly and don’t throw anything in the river, including sticks and rocks.
Heighton also recommends polarized sunglasses to reduce the glare from the water and allow for better viewing of the salmon swimming below the surface.
Visitors are advised to stay out of the river, not only because it could disturb the spawning salmon, but because the rushing river is a dangerous place.
Safety and protecting the environment are also reasons why visitors are asked to stick to the well-laid-out trails and away from riverbanks.
Take time explore the various food vendors, souvenir tent, local artisan market, salmon interpretive displays and perhaps witness the occasional fish dissections taking place out behind the salmon society’s log cabin.
A beautiful Salute to the Sockeye programme contains information relevant to very young and older visitors, history and beautiful photography for $10.
A fee of $6 per car will be charged to cover the costs of special services for the event.
