Low snowpack expected to impact B.C.'s salmon population

Coho salmon swim at the Fisheries and Oceans Canada Capilano River Hatchery, in North Vancouver, on Friday July 5, 2019. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck)

This winter has been drier than normal throughout British Columbia, and the impacts are expected to felt by the local salmon population.

“We’ve seen some low snowpack years here and there," said Aaron Hill, executive director of Watershed Watch Salmon Society. "This is the lowest I remember ever seeing it."

The provincial snowpack has remained extremely low since the beginning of February, according to B.C.'s Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship.

Snow levels are 39 per cent below normal, drastically worse than this time last year, when levels were still 19 per cent below normal, according to a B.C. River Forecast Centre report released Thursday

The lower amounts of snow are particularly bad in the southern province and on Vancouver Island.

“If we have a low snow pack going in to the summer, it can be dissipated much earlier and then we rely on rainfall,” said Hill. “If we don’t get rainfall then things get really bad – rivers get low, water heats up and fish can die.”

Salmon at every life stage are impacted during low river levels, he added.

A low salmon population could affect First Nations who depend on salmon for food security, commercial fishing or guided angling. There could also be an impact on wildlife tours that depend on seeing bears out feeding on the fish.

Hill is urging governments to make proactive drought plans, encourage conservation and "crack down on illegal water use."

He also pointed to healthy forests as an excellent way to preserve snow melts.

“We need to keep trees on land, that buffers the snow melt and makes the snow pack last longer," Hill said.

With recent wildfires, bug infestations and logging, Hill said he's concerned about how quickly what’s left of the snow could melt.