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Big Bar landslide response information bulletin

November 27, 2020

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Early Stuart and Bowron sockeye embryos have hatched

The Early Stuart and Bowron sockeye eyed eggs that were incubated at Cultus Lake Research Laboratory and transferred to the Inch Creek Hatchery have now hatched and are growing as alevins at this facility. Alevin is the intermediate life stage of a salmon between an egg and a fry.

Hatchery technicians will soon commence thermal marking the 120,000 Early Stuart juvenile fish in early December. Thermal marking is expected to take up to two weeks to complete. This work will help scientists identify the hatchery-produced sockeye when they return to their natal streams in four years’ time.

These Early Stuart sockeye alevins will be reared alongside the 12,000 Bowron sockeye alevins at the hatchery until their expected release in 2021.

First batch of Chinook juveniles ponded

At the Quesnel River Research Centre, hatchery technicians “ponded” the first group of 5,000 Chinook fry by moving them from the incubation trays to juvenile rearing containers known as “Cap troughs”. At this stage, the fish have not fully absorbed their yolk sacs nor started eating, but will be ready to start the feeding regimen soon. Three additional Chinook stocks are expected to be ponded in the coming weeks.

Onsite Operations

The arrival of snow and cold weather has transformed Big Bar, with nearly 30cm of snow falling this week. Despite the continued challenges posed by the winter conditions, demobilization of the West Beach is complete and work is progressing with rock fall protection and archeological assessments. The West Pavilion Road continues to be maintained by Peter Kiewit Sons ULC and the Government of British Columbia to ensure that equipment can be safely transported to and from the site.

As of November 24, the remaining upper Fraser Watershed telemetry monitoring stations have been decommissioned.

Current images of work being done at the landslide site

A grader plows snow off the West Pavilion Road.
A grader plows snow off the West Pavilion Road. Click to enlarge.
Demobilization of equipment at West Beach is complete.
Demobilization of equipment at West Beach is complete. Click to enlarge.
Upper Fraser Fisheries Conservation Alliance biologist Rick Holmes checking incubation trays at the Quesnel River Research Centre hatchery.
Upper Fraser Fisheries Conservation Alliance biologist Rick Holmes checking incubation trays at the Quesnel River Research Centre hatchery. Click to enlarge.
Newly hatched Early Stuart sockeye alevins will be thermally marked in the coming weeks.
Newly hatched Early Stuart sockeye alevins will be thermally marked in the coming weeks. Click to enlarge.

Additional images of the work underway as part of our response efforts can be seen on the Government of BC’s Flickr channel.

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