The Chehalis hatchery issue was initially discussed in late August with the Chehalis First Nation and DFO. Here's what happened:
It was confirmed that this topic had been suggested at the last dialogue session as an agenda item of interest, and that the approach taken was to make initial inquiries to confirm that the topic belonged at the table. In this case, Jessica had talked with Jim Thomas and decided that indeed it was a worthwhile topic because in addition to the Chehalis hatchery issue, it was her understanding that there may be some recreational fishery access issues through Chehalis reserve lands and that this topic might also relate to other First Nations.
The group briefly determined that discussion today would focus on the hatchery issue specifically. Robert Hope and Lester Mussell said they did not need to discuss fisheries access issues at this time. Jim Thomas said he couldn’t speak for Chehalis on this, but thought that if the issue of flow to the hatchery wasn’t resolved, the need to address the issue may arise.
Jim Thomas provided the group with some background on the current situation at the Chehalis hatchery, and explained that things had started with a significant storm event on October 17, 2003. The storm blew out the dyke at the dogleg near the access at Morris Valley Road and changed the flow regime in the Chehalis River causing the hatchery to be dewatered. It also caused some damage to reserve lands and a disruption to angling because the river flowed through the forest. In late 2004, there were minor attempts to change the flow regime back and some water was rerouted back to the hatchery via the old river channel. Angling opportunities had improved because of this. Jim also shared some interesting biological information – last year there were 1.7 million chum salmon in the Chehalis (possibly the largest biological group in North America), which confirms the species’ ability to recolonize the new channel. Jim said he thinks this will lead to an improvement in the resource and doesn’t think the river can be changed back. He reported that the provincial Ministry of Environment is proposing to dyke a large area of the reserve to stabilize the new channel.
Jim confirmed that efforts this year to further increase flow to the hatchery would need to be done soon to fit in the instream works fisheries window (before mid September). There was discussion about whether the changed flow regime was impacting hatchery production. This is believed to be the case, for example, Gwyn Joiner pointed out that the Chilliwack hatchery might supply Chehalis with Chilliwak chinook because the Chehalis can’t get their own with the new flow regime. It was confirmed that Larry Kahl, the Chehalis hatchery manager, needed to be brought onside with any planning.
The group has a lengthy discussion about an approach to instream works. Jim suggested that a small project to dredge a portion of the river to divert some flow to the hatchery might be feasible. Jim indicated that the Chehalis First Nation might be interested in doing this because they are worried about potential impacts from the new flow regime on the Chehalis healing centre. It was pointed out that the Chehalis is a very dynamic system as seen from the numerous channels in the estuary. Any small instream work would probably need emergency approval to get going in time. Matt Foy would be a key DFO contact as well as an engineer. Nick Basok estimated it might cost $4000 to dig a small channel (~3 x 10 x 30 m), but had heard DFO has no money. Bill Wimpney pointed out that if there was group support, we could get funding from the Pacific Salmon Commission. Steelhead Aggregates may also be a source.
Nick Basok summarized the discussion by pointing out that there are broad benefits to improving the flow to the hatchery: more fish returning, more fish for the Chehalis rack fishery, more angling opportunities and less flood risk on reserve.
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Topic: Chehalis??? (Read 14412 times)