GOLDSTREAM Civic election 2011
NEWS GAZETTE
KUMON CENTRE of LANGFORD-WESTSHORE
250-474-4175
The Gazette’s annual salute to Canadian military veterans. Inside today Watch for breaking news at www.goldstreamgazette.com
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Chinook nearly gone from Goldstream Chum return in healthy numbers for annual fish run
Colwood strip gets a makeover City plans beautification project to match View Royal
Charla Huber News staff
Edward Hill News staff
carbons remain in the river, but with erratic salmon return rates in past years, it will be difficult for river watchers to discern the long-term impact of the fuel on the run. In the meantime, while some salmon are waiting for rain before coming upstream, kids and nature lovers are filing into the park in large numbers, largely due to the nice weather. “The colour of the park with all the maple leaves and the sunshine, you can’t beat it,” Roberts said.
Colwood plans to spruce up its section of Island Highway — also known as the Colwood strip — before time runs out on a government grant. The project would extend sidewalks and bike lanes along both sides of the road from the Great Canadian casino to Wale Road. The work would flow into new sidewalks sections installed by View Royal and West Shore Parks and Recreation. Work also includes creating a crosswalk with warning lights across five-lane Island Highway, on the south side of the vehicle entrance to the recreation centre. “This area is our main entrance to the city,” said Coun. Judith Cullington. “With all the work done by View Royal we’re starting to look like a poor cousin in comparison.” Colwood council gave the goahead for its engineering department to tender the project. The City will match a $395,000 provincial grant with the same amount of cash accumulated from road development cost charges. The project needs to be finished by March 31, 2012 or the grant expires. City engineer Michael Baxter stressed that the project won’t bump up taxes in 2012 or cause an increase in the roads maintenance budget.
PLEASE SEE: Salmon run, Page A10
PLEASE SEE: Missing pieces, Page A11
Charla Huber/News staff
Tracey Bleackley, a Goldstream Park naturalist, holds up a salmon with a full egg sac. Mild weather has drawn scores of kids and adults to this year’s Goldstream spawning run. chum return is this weekend. As for coho salmon, the run is off to a slow start, but McCully is waiting for the numbers to improve when the water levels rise due to seasonal rains. The coho run usually spans through November and December. “The salmon like lots of water so we do need some rain,” remarked Goldstream park naturalist Alli Roberts. Hatchery volunteers have counted 80 coho salmon in the river. Last year at this time, there were 400, but McCully said it’s too early to be worried. The 42,000 litres of gasoline and 700 litres of diesel that
“Some years we’ve had chinook counts as high as 300 to 500. Now they are barely hanging on. We are seeing the end of the chinook.” –Peter McCully Goldstream Hatchery
gushed into Goldstream river on April 16 doesn't appear to be affecting this year's salmon run. Trace amounts of hydro-
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Colwood struggles with division, and Langford and Colwood candidates outline their platforms. Election, Page A3, A6-A9
After a few more seasons, chinook salmon are expected to be gone for good from Goldstream River. The Goldstream chinook run is over for the year and volunteers have counted less than 20 of the fish at the hatchery’s Japanese weir fish trap. “The chinook run was dreadful, it’s on the verge of extirpation (local extinction),” said Peter McCully, a fisheries technician with the Goldstream hatchery. “Some years we’ve had chinook counts as high as 300 to 500. Now they are barely hanging on. We are seeing the end of the chinook.” While chinook are on the demise, spawning chum are coming in strong at Goldstream Provincial Park. A total of 9,000 chum, alive and dead, have been counted in the river. It's healthier than last year’s disastrous return of 4,800 fish, but still nowhere near previous years. In 2009, 19,000 chum made their way to their spawning grounds and 32,000 swam up the river in 2008. “This time last week we had 1,200. So they are starting to take off,” McCully said last week. “We’ve already exceeded last year’s numbers. Last year was terrible.” Numbers could increase once rain starts to pour. An ideal year for chum would be about 20,000 fish returning to the river. “We are partially there,” McCully said. The peak time for the
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