In December 2018, a natural landslide had caused large rocks to fall from the canyon walls to the British Columbia's Fraser River. About 75,000 cubic meters of rock had created an impassable barrier. But it was not discovered until the following Jun due to its remote location.
The landslide could not have come at the worst time. The wild pacific salmon populations had already suffered a seemingly irreversible decline.
Upon the discovery of the rock slide, government crews, with the help of local First Nations sprang into action and deployed nets, trucks, drones, and dynamite in a frantic effort to help the salmon pass through.
As many as 100 people worked together under the heat of the summer at the site, clearing debris and rescuing stranded fish. Helicopters were also used to airlift as many over the waterfall as possible.
Chinook salmon made it through first and went into the frothy falls to regain their strength before hurling their bodies into the rocks. Then the sockeye and pink salmon began clearing the barriers. All in all, there are 250,000 salmon successfully rescued.
But almost a year later, significant debris remains in the river as the salmon return once more for their annual spawn.
The Salmon's Exhausting Journey
The efforts of the workers to save the fish is somehow dwarfed by the journey many of the salmon undergo. They begin an exhausting journey from the Pacific coast to the rivers and streams of their birth. They could travel up to 1,000 kilometers or 600 miles guided by the magnetic fields and their ken sense of smell.
But the journey harms the bodies of the fish. They stop eating, and their bodies begin to decay and weaken from the moment they first enter freshwater. Their individual life started in freshwater, migrating to the ocean and living for their years in the salty waters, then returning home to reproduce and die, They have deep integration with nearly everything they interact with.
A big part of the ecosystem relies heavily on the presence of salmon each year, and the decline in its population is devastating, The Guardian reported.
It was clear by winter that the mission to rescue the salmon n Fraser was unsuccessful. Many streams in the area had no salmon return, if there are, only a few of them return.
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Fish Ladder and Salmon Cannon to the Rescue
Fortunately, the fish ladder and salmon cannon have brought much-needed hope to the rescue operation this year. The terrace ladder is being built to allow salmon to travel through channels of water flowing slower than the river.
According to the maker of the device, Whooshh Innovations, the transported salmon will then be gently deposited back into the water, past the boulders in the river.
The Yinka Dene Alliance, a coalition of six First Nations affected by the slide, advised the government to send a handful of eggs from the most vulnerable salmon runs to a hatchery. This allows them to revive the population.
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