Fisheries Committee on March 10th, 2020

[Rebecca Reid]

We're expecting a freshet sometime in April, and a lot of the work that's under way right now we expect will be under water. By then, we want to have a natural fishway in place and have the infrastructure that we need in place for other contingency measures—for example, a fish pump and a way to trap and transport if necessary.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

Thank you, Mr. Weiler. Your time is up.

We'll now go to the Conservative Party.

Mr. Calkins, please, you have five minutes or less.

[Blaine Calkins, Conservative, Red Deer—Lacombe, AB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'll just get right to it. You basically told us today that plan A is not going to be as good as you had hoped it was going to be. Am I correct in saying that? Plan A is to remove the rock and blast so that we can restore the river back to as close to an original fish passage as possible.

[Rebecca Reid]

That's correct. Plan A will be extended to the winter.

[Blaine Calkins, Conservative, Red Deer—Lacombe, AB]

Just for clarification, on your timeline here it says that 140,000 fish in September got past the slide. Is that correct?

[Rebecca Reid]

We transported 60,000, but some actually did manage to pass themselves.

[Blaine Calkins, Conservative, Red Deer—Lacombe, AB]

That was my question. Out of the 140,000, 60,000 were what you moved, and another 80,000—

[Rebecca Reid]

They swam.

[Blaine Calkins, Conservative, Red Deer—Lacombe, AB]

That would be for all species. It's not indicative of one particular species.

[Andrew Thomson]

It was mostly coho at that point.

[Blaine Calkins, Conservative, Red Deer—Lacombe, AB]

Mostly coho got by, so the chinook and the sockeye were basically....

[A voice]

Wiped out.

[Andrew Thomson]

The chinook and sockeye migrate earlier, so they were there at a time when the flows were higher.

[Blaine Calkins, Conservative, Red Deer—Lacombe, AB]

Okay. That's good to know. The coho population, we expect.... Actually, it is not suffering nearly as badly as the other species. Is that right?

[Andrew Thomson]

The interior Fraser coho population has been in some difficulty for a period of time, regardless of the slide.

[Blaine Calkins, Conservative, Red Deer—Lacombe, AB]

Right.

So, genetics.... If you catch a fish below the slide, do you know what river or stream it should actually be going to?

[Rebecca Reid]

Yes.

[Blaine Calkins, Conservative, Red Deer—Lacombe, AB]

You'll be able to take those fish, use them as hatchery spawners and then imprint them in the correct stream. Is that correct?

[Rebecca Reid]

As I'm sure you know, salmon are extremely specialized in where they live and survive. Fish are adapted to where they were born. As we pick up fish for enhancement, we want to make sure we can take them back to their natal stream—their home stream.

[Blaine Calkins, Conservative, Red Deer—Lacombe, AB]

I understand. If you know the genetics and you know what stream it is, when you catch a fish below the dam because it can't get past, you should be able to know where it should be imprinted if it was used for brood stock. Is that correct?

[Rebecca Reid]

Yes, we would be able to.

[Blaine Calkins, Conservative, Red Deer—Lacombe, AB]

What's the current status of the mothballed hatcheries that were on the upper Fraser? Have those been stood up?

[Rebecca Reid]

Are you talking about Quesnel?

[Blaine Calkins, Conservative, Red Deer—Lacombe, AB]

There is Quesnel. There's Eagle River and Dome Creek. I don't even know the list of those that would be community-based hatcheries that might be mothballed.

What's the status?

[Rebecca Reid]

We are developing enhancement plans and looking at all available capacity, including Quesnel. I don't believe Dome Creek has the water available at this point to be able to use it effectively. We are looking far and wide because we do think enhancement is going to be an important part of our strategy this year. We need to create room for those fish.