Pacific Blasting: Save the Salmon!

In June of 2019, a rockslide just West of Clinton, B.C. trapped tens of thousands of migrating Salmon in the Fraser River (Article). The rockslide was believed to have occurred in October or November of 2018, which drastically impacted the Salmon of the Fraser in the 2019 season. “Just 275,000 Salmon were able to make it upriver in the 2019 season, down from an early-season estimate of nearly five million. Many of those who did clear the slide were unable to spawn, according to government officials.” From those numbers, only 5.5% of the estimated Salmon population made it through, and even less of that percentage was able to spawn. This caused an awakening to our government and the communities who rely on Salmon, that this rockslide needed to be cleared and quick. “The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) said time was of the essence in restoring the river, warning that ‘unless sufficient rock debris is removed’ before water levels rose in the spring, early migrating salmon populations could be “significantly affected.” (Article)