The black dots represent eyes of soon-to-be hatching Chinook Salmon. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Ian Holmes

big numbers

‘It’s insane to be totally honest:’ Pink Salmon return in droves to Big Qualicum River

Nov 10, 2023 | 4:18 PM

QUALICUM BEACH — A river typically filled with salmon has been taken to a new level on mid-Vancouver Island, featuring a historic year for one particular species.

Roughly 101,000 mature Pink Salmon returned to spawn during the late summer/early fall migration period, according to Big Qualicum River Hatchery manager Aaron Burgoyne.

The veteran Fisheries and Oceans Canada employee said long gone are the days of only 1,000 to 1,500 Pink Salmon returning to the river prior to 2010.

“It’s insane to be totally honest, I’ve been here for almost a decade now and I’ve never seen anything like this. Previous to this year our high was around 70,000 pinks,” Burgoyne told NanaimoNewsNOW during a Friday, Nov 10 site visit.

The Pink Salmon boom in recent years is being done without the benefit of millions of eggs fertilized and incubated under the watchful eye of hatchery staff, who pay special attention to coho and chinook populations.

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“We don’t do any enhancement on the pinks, which is also remarkable that they are surviving this well. We’re trying to learn more about how they are surviving,” Burgoyne said from the river’s banks.

Burgoyne said data collection efforts will hopefully help explain why Pink Salmon numbers are surging on the east side of Vancouver Island and other areas of the coast.

“It is possible a lot of these pinks are strays that are returning here because we have nice cool, flowing water.”

While Pink Salmon numbers are soaring and enhancement efforts for Chinook and Cohos are leading to strong returns, Chum Salmon are faltering.

A 1.5-kilometre side-channel stream primarily used by Chum Salmon in the Big Qualicum River has seen returns well under 10,000 for the past several years, including this year.

Big Qualicum River Hatchery manager Aaron Burgoyne stands near a side-channel where mature Chum Salmon are living out their final days. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

Burgoyne noted Big Qualicum River, naturally a Chum Salmon hotbed, used to attract in the range of 100,000 of those fish annually to its spawning grounds.

He said Chum Salmon, like all salmon species, are important for food, social and ceremonial purposes for their Qualicum First Nation partners.

What most people don’t realize is the Big Qualicum River, according to Burgoyne, is connected to Horne Lake via a nearly 2,000-foot-long tunnel carved into a mountainside.

Built in the early 1960’s, a pair of generator-powered valves controls the amount of water tumbling eastward toward the Salish Sea, while the infrastructure also includes temperature control capability.

“We’ve got total flow control, which allows us in theory to have the best possible spawning conditions for the fish, it doesn’t always work that way with the storm events, but we have the ability to basically keep a pretty reasonable flow in here the whole time.”

A two-valve system near the top of Big Qualicum River is an integral asset in controlling streamflow, which comes in handy during droughts and the storm season. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

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Ian.holmes@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @reporterholmes