Bowen Island Fish and Wildlife Organization

Terminal Creek Adult Salmon Spawner
Counting Program

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) engineers have concluded that the current Bridal Veil Falls fish ladders do not allow spawning salmon to migrate from Mannion Bay and the Lagoon up to spawning habitat in Terminal Creek. Until a permanent solution is in place, DFO salmon enhancement personnel assisted by volunteers with the Bowen Island Fish & Wildlife Club (BIFWC) will manage the installation and operation of a salmon trap and counting apparatus. Metro Vancouver Parks has consented to this project, which is located within Crippen Regional Park in the Lagoon at the Causeway.

The salmon trap was installed in October and will be removed later in the fall by DFO when migration is complete. The purpose of the trap is to count adult salmon for enumeration and to provide DFO and BIFWC with an estimation of salmon return numbers into the lagoon. BIFWC volunteers will check the trap daily to ensure salmon safety and proper operation. The trap is intended to have the door OPEN – please do not close the trap door or disturb the fish fence.

PLEASE DO NOT DISTURB THE SALMON TRAP
AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY

If you wish to assist or have questions please contact:

For Emergencies:
Gillian Steele, DFO Community Advisor
(236) 339-5612
Gillian.Steele@dfo-mpo.gc.ca

General Enquiries:
Bowen Island Fish & Wildlife Club
bifwc1967@gmail.com

Restoring Our Eelgrass in Kwilakm/Deep Bay/Mannion Bay

Here’s Bob Turner’s latest video, Restoring Our Eelgrass. Eelgrass is a wonderfully productive near shore marine habitat, home to all sorts of marine life. The Sea Change Marine Conservation Society has worked with our Bowen Island community to restore eelgrass in Mannion Bay just next door to Snug Cove. This eelgrass restoration is both part of a wider effort by Sea Change to restore eelgrass throughout parts of the Salish Sea, as well as part of a community effort to restore the marine health of this much loved bay of ours, which includes work on derelict vessels, sea floor garbage and moorage issues.

Sea Lion Spring in Howe Sound

Here’s Bob Turner’s video, Sea Lion Spring, which he filmed while on a 5 day kayak trip last April, 2018. That’s all the introduction needed because the movie tells the story.

Pink Salmon Run

“This pink run earlier this fall (2017) was in the stunningly clear waters of the Stawamus River at Squamish. The pinks are a beautiful, feisty, gregarious bunch, just a pleasure to watch. This video is part of my ongoing efforts to collect and share the stories of Wild Nature in Howe Sound – Atl’kitsem.”
– Bob Turner, November, 2017

The Salmon are Back!

Over 1,100 chum spawners returned to The Lagoon and Davies Creek throughout October and November, 2016. Most were the result of brood year 2012 chum released in the spring of 2013.

Bob Turner, whose passion for Howe Sound is only exceeded by his passion for the Bowen community, video’d and produced a fantastic film (below) which captures the excitement in the community.

Salmon Habitat Rehabilitation

Bowen Island Fish & Wildlife Club volunteers, with funding from the Pacific Salmon Foundation, technical expertise from Fisheries & Oceans Canada, and support from our other partners and the community of Bowen Island, completed two salmon habitat rehabilitation projects in 2014.

Bowen Island Salmon Habitat Rehabilitation Projects from Tim Pardee on Vimeo.

The short video above will illustrate the work completed at Explosives Creek – Tunstall Beach and at Carter Pond, and point out why it is important to support volunteer salmon enhancement efforts. For more information about each project, read the detailed booklets under the Salmon Creeks section of the website; click here to see the Explosives-Tunstall booklet PDF and here for the Carter Pond booklet PDF.

Run Salmon Run

In the summer of 2015, Cam and Kat Hayduk, supporters of the Bowen Island Fish & Wildlife Club and well known professional film producers, brought entertainers Bobs and Lolo to the Terminal Creek Salmon Hatchery to produce a video for their song ‘Run Salmon Run’. If you haven’t heard of Bobs and Lolo, believe me, your children have! Enjoy.

The Terminal Creek Hatchery

The Terminal Creek Hatchery is located in Crippen Regional Park on Bowen Island. It is operated and maintained by the Bowen Island Fish and Wildlife Club, a volunteer society incorporated in 1967.
The purpose of the Hatchery is to enhance the wild salmon stock in the most natural way possible.The original building was built in 1982 and over the years saw the expansion of the rearing room and also the addition of a meeting and interpretive room. The main yearly funding for the operation and training comes from the Public Involvement Program [PIP] from the Canadian Federal Government, the Department of Fisheries and oceans [DFO].

If you walk the Crippen Park trails you will pass right by our Hatchery.

The original water tower was built by Islanders with a grant from the Pacific Salmon Foundation. The equipment inside the tower was donated by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. In late 2008 a new metal roof was funded by Metro Vancouver Parks and installed by the Parks employees.