Alouette Adult Sockeye Enumeration Project Receives $16,028 for 2017!
This vital project has been funded by BC Hydro for 10 years, the first 8 years under the Alouette Water Use Plan and the last 2 years by the Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program. Again, ARMS has been successful in its application to continue this vital work with the generous support of BC Hydro’s Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program.
Each year ARMS and BC Corrections Allco Fish Hatchery staff and inmates, erect a fish fence in the South Alouette River, approximately 5 kilometres below the Alouette Dam in Maple Ridge, to direct and trap any returning adult sockeye salmon. These sockeye adults are then sampled for their DNA and scales, which are then sent to the Fisheries and Oceans’ Pacific Biological Station in Nanaimo. The results which come back inform us as to the origin of the sockeye (are they from the Alouette or are they strays into the Alouette system?), their age (how long did the sockeye spend in the marine environment?) and their parentage.
