Winning the Battle in Douglas Creek

By Amy Dove
News staff
May 04 2007

The salmon are returning, with a little help from the Friends

There is a distinct look of pride on Bob Bridgeman’s face as he holds up a coho fry in a plastic bag.

“It’s the Douglas Creek miracle – it really is,” he said while standing ankle deep in the creek the Friends of Mount Douglas Park Society spent the last 11 years restoring.

The work wasn’t for not. Tiny coho and chum fry are emerging from the rocky creek bed and making their way to the ocean this spring – something that hasn’t been recorded since the fish disappeared close to 50 years ago.

Sharon Tiffin/News staff

Longtime Friend of Mount Doug Bob Bridgeman holds up some salmon fry that have hatched from the streambed at Mount Doug Thursday.

After restoration work saw the first coho return in 2003, the number has slowly risen. A smolt trap was installed in February with no great expectations over the number of fish that might pass through after a rough winter. A fine mesh net stretches the width of the creek and the only way a fish can continue downstream is through a four-inch pipe that feeds into a locked box.

Water continues to flow through the trap, while volunteers check the box daily to count and release the fish inside. At last tally, 460 chum, 15 coho and 80 scuplins (a fish native to the creek) went downstream this year.

The fish are winning the upstream battle, but a lot of work remains to be done. The society continues to plant native tree species along the creek path and gravel is carted in to mimic naturally forming spawning beds.

With parts of the creek underground in pipes, the water flow is disturbed. It effectively stopped the natural process of moving gravel down the stream, Bridgeman said. The problem is compounded by excessive storm-water entering the creek in the winter. Water rushing off parking lots and roofs causes the winter flow to hit extremes, pushing gravel out to sea without more coming downstream.

“If we can control the storm water we can have a sustainable creek in a couple of years,” Bridgeman said.

A management plan has been drawn up, and the group is waiting on local politicians and developers to get on board.

“We have been working on this thing for years. It’s just we can’t seem to get it happening – it’s not an easy sell,” he said.

Transplanting fry into the creek is another important step towards making the habitat sustainable. Each year, roughly 40,000 fry are released in the creek. The fish take three years to mature and the ones that survive won’t make their way back until 2010 at the earliest.

Inviting the community to help release the fry builds the partnerships that make the project work, Bridgeman said, lisitng support from community groups, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, local hatcheries and Saanich.

“Without them we are back to a filthy creek with pollution pouring down it. It’s important to remember that,” he said.

The water is cleaner now and a natural tree barrier along its path offers solace for the creek bed. Glancing towards the creek mouth, Bridgeman lowers the tip of the bag back into the water, letting the coho slip out into the current. Within seconds the small fish is gone.

“Hopefully we will see him again in about three years.”

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2007 Chum release

An influx of fry will join those already making their way downstream Sunday, May 6. The Friends of Mount Douglas Park Society will be releasing 40,000 chum fry into the creek thanks to the Howard English Hatchery.

The public is invited to help release the fish at 11 a.m. at the weir by Robinwood Drive. The event is family friendly. If you need directions to the weir call Bob Bridgeman at 477-7646 or e-mail rbridge@shaw.ca.