Pending environmental approval, the culvert is slated for replacement in 2023
An aging culvert that became blocked toward the end of this year’s salmon spawn at Spanish Bank Creek will be replaced in 2023, according to the B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure.
Passersby began noticing several chum salmon attempting without luck to enter the culvert in late November after those salmon had made their way up the 50-metre stretch of creek from Burrard Inlet to NW Marine Drive, under which the 15-metre wooden culvert runs. The creek flows for about a kilometre upstream from the culvert in a steep ravine in Pacific Spirit Park.
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Some salmon passed through the culvert earlier in the month as the spawn began, but after a heavy rainfall event, the downstream end of the culvert was almost completely blocked by silt and sand, while the upstream end was completely open.
By the end of November there were around 25 dead salmon in the creek and on the bank below the culvert.
Spanish Bank Creek is one of the few remaining creeks where salmon still go to spawn, after being day-lighted in 1999.
Metro Vancouver is responsible for the creek in the park, the Vancouver park board is responsible for the creek from the culvert to the inlet, and the B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure is responsible for the culvert. The DFO is the agency responsible for the overall scheme, supported by volunteers from Spanish Bank Streamkeepers.
On Nov. 17 a DFO biologist visited the site and “found that not all the dead chum found downstream of the culvert had successfully spawned.”
In a statement, the DFO said it had been a challenging year to spawn in the Spanish Banks system.
A Vancouver park board spokesperson said that work this summer to improve the lower portion of the creek stopped at the culvert due to “the risk to stability of the road should all the sediment be removed.”
Chum salmon generally return to the spawning site four years after they leave and, in 2004, 65 fish returned. However, subsequent years have had much poorer returns.
According to a 2020 UBC research proposal, there were fewer than five returns for most years from 2008 to 2020, with no returns from 2016 to 2019. The report said coho returns have been stable.
In a statement, the ministry of transportation said “The ministry is currently working on a detailed design to replace the culvert at Spanish Bank Creek, which will improve the passage of salmon upstream. Pending environmental approval, the culvert is slated for replacement in 2023.”
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DFO says chum salmon not being blocked from entering Spanish Bank Creek
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