A contribution of about $90,000 will allow steelhead to return to their spawning and rearing grounds on the Coquihalla River near Othello Tunnels.
The Habitat Trust Conservation Foundation, Freshwater Fisheries Society of B.C., Province of B.C., and Steelhead Society of B.C. provided that donation, and work to remove a rock and some concrete will be done by the BC Conservation Foundation, around August, likely with blasting, subject to a geotechnical engineer’s decision.
“But it has to be done very carefully because we don’t want all other species going in,” said spokesperson Shaun Hollingsworth. “This is a unique river for steelhead, so it’s important that it be done carefully.”
They are choosing August because it will be in time for the steelhead summer run.
Hollingsworth represents a coalition of B.C. organizations — the Wildlife Federation, the Federation of Drift Fishers, Steelhead Society and Fly Fishers.
In 2014, a rockslide put a rock into the Coquihalla River and some pieces of a failed bridge foundation into the Coquihalla River, blocking the migration of the steelhead, said Hollingsworth. Spring freshet moved the rock into a location that blocked the passage of the fish, he added.
The location of the blockage is past the first tunnel.
In the three years, Hollingsworth said only about 350 steelhead go up the river, and only a third were able to get up.
“This is devasting, if they are not permitted to get up there to spawn, soon that run will be no longer. It will be wiped out,” said Hollingsworth.
