Big Bar landslide response: Salmon fry releases with First Nations
Since 2019, in partnership with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, First Nations have played a critical role in enhancing the salmon stocks impacted by the Big Bar landslide.
In 2021, local First Nations and DFO released over 213,400 Chinook and sockeye fry into the Upper Fraser watershed.
Transcript
Salmon to First Nations is a foundation. It’s a way of life that we can’t lose.
When we can do activities like this and try to help our salmon brothers get back to us, to everyone. It’s more than important, it’s our life.
The Big Bar team conducts enhancement and fry releases in response to the landslide itself.
This work is so important for these fish to give them a helping hand. Fish stocks are important to people and to the environment within BC.
And for certain stocks, especially like the Early Stuarts in some years, we wouldn’t see barely any fish return.
So we don’t want that year line to be wiped out or to be diminished.
So the fry release today, it’s a big part of why I’m working on Big Bar landslide.
We’re still struggling to get salmon by the slide at certain times of the year when the water’s high.
So to me, anything we can do to give nature a helping hand is creating a blessing in the future.
It’s been very important to have our partners be a part of these releases and the enhancement programs.
These fish live in their backyards and within their territories.
The fact that those fish are there and that healthy ecosystem is intertwined with the culture of the First Nations.
It’s part of their histories, part of their current culture, and part of their future.
This fish release to me is giving a chance to our younger generation to hold on to these cultures and traditions.
And I feel that it has a positive impact not only on myself and my family, but my community.
Now my focus is on working towards a better future for the younger generation and to be able to pass on all of our traditions.
Salmon are important to First Nations, it’s keystone. It’s the foundation of who we are.
Without salmon...
I couldn’t imagine my life without salmon.
We need to do every little bit that we can to help with the fry releases here.
You know, it’s part of all the different stories that we have in our culture and our history.
So it’s an important part of our history to keep teaching that, we don’t want it to become a memory.
We want it to become life and living.
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