Habitat connectivity project on Fraser Estuary – documenting the second phase
"The best investment both for chinook salmon and for southern resident killer whales is in restoring wild salmon populations..."
Tomorrow I head back to the Fraser Estuary with Raincoast Conservation to document the second phase of our habitat connectivity project which involves creating breaches in a hundred year old jetty.
The jetty blocks salmon smolts from reaching safe, marshy habitat before they head out into the big Pacific. In the spring it was so amazing to see young salmon using those breaches, where before they would’ve been swept out to sea, making their transition from river to ocean very challenging due to salt and predators.
The best investment both for chinook salmon and for southern resident killer whales is in restoring wild salmon populations — getting away from hatcheries — and getting the habitat back so the salmon can come and spawn in the places they have spawned for thousands and thousands of years.
Misty MacDuffee, wild salmon program director
