Last night we had a great meeting Kalamalk Fly Fishers!
This morning we drove up to Shuswap Falls in Lumby and watched sockeye try to get up the falls created by the 1929 Wilsey hydroelectric dam. They could not make it. There has been a plan to build a fish ladder here since the year after the dam went in.....in 1929, but so far it has not been built. It affected all of us deeply to see the fish relentlessly beat themselves up trying to reach historic spawning grounds.
We then walked part of the Lumby Salmon Trail. A wonderful initiative and a beautiful and informative walk. We talked with many truly motivated people who want the economic development of Lumby to respect wild salmon. They share my sense that a town that works with the wild salmon benefits the people far more than heavy industrial activity.
These folks and others are determined to make it possible for Shuswap salmon to return to their easternmost spawning grounds. I hope they achieve to the benefit of all of us on this coast. We had an impromptu meeting with the regional district and they too seemed to understand the importance of wild salmon. It feels like maybe the Shuswap salmon will be able to make it all the way home soon.
We stopped downstream of the dam and found salmon couples happily paired up and spawning.
It was very clear to see how the salmon had cleaned up the gravel. Note the fine silt on the rocks in the foreground and the circle of clean gravel where the salmon have cleaned it up.
I am very thankful to the people of the Shuswap River for standing guard over the spawning grounds of this area. Lumby is a beautiful valley and the people of this area have a vision of thriving alongside of the salmon they love.