I am writing from the shores of the Stellaquo River. The water is a chilly 8 degrees Celsius and clear. There are about 150,000 sockeye in the river which is far less than Sharolise Baker, Fisheries Program Manager for the Stellat'en First Nations would like to see. Not too long ago there were 800,000.
These sockeye appear slightly smaller than the Adams sockeye and they have traveled 1,500 km to reach this beautiful spawning ground. The yellow birch trees, dark sky and red fish made for quite a sight.
First Nations gathered on the banks of the river for a rally, drumming and speeches in support of our paddle down the Fraser later this month the coming together of many people to walk to the Cohen Inquiry into the sockeye. People from Fraser lake are going to be coming to Vancouver with the signs that they have made. They fought the Kemano two project and won. They are another example of salmon people of the rivers who have taken a stand and protected wild salmon for all of us and the future.
The Chief Louie Paddle Company gave us two beautiful paddles with Salmon are sacred engraved in them for our big paddle down the Fraser.
A young boy at the rally said "Grandma called this the red river, but it doesn't look red to me," his mother said, "It will again, it will." The salmon that come to the people of this area have to experience the most human impact. They travel most of the Fraser River, they pass the salmon feedlots and their spawning grounds are alongside a dirt road where mining trucks pass every few minutes. But these people are doing their best to protect this valuable spawning ground. They told us everyone must pull together. I am thankful to them.
