A Coho Haven

Written by Charlotte Brown, Tatalu Conservation Resident, pictured above.

Tatalu (Little Campbell River) running through the A Rocha BC Centre

On a Saturday afternoon in the middle of July, all my work for the week had been completed.Β 

Sun rays beamed through the maple leaf canopy as I paddled upstream, the hum of 16th Ave fading and the birds and river singing louder. While resting my feet in the cool water, the Coho salmon fry curiously investigated my toes and pecked at macroinvertebrates stirred up in the silt.Β 

Coho salmon fry will spend the first 16 months of their lives in tranquil rivers and streams, before making their journey to the vast ocean to grow into adults. The rivers are a calm haven with few predators and abundant food, where the young Coho can grow strong and prepare for a much larger set of challenges inhabiting the ocean.Β 

I pondered how A Rocha, with the Tatalu (Little Campbell River) running right through it, has likewise become a haven for me. As a young ecologist, here I am nurtured and guided by the kindness, wisdom, passion and patience of the Conservation Science staff and fellow residents. I’ve grown confident in the positive impact that love for creation, its Creator, and people have on the community, stirring up infectious care for all living beings.Β 

A Rocha, DFO, SSIGA and volunteers banding together to rescue stranded Coho salmon fry

The following week, the Conservation Science team headed out to a stretch of the river that dries out in the summer, leaving Coho fry, sculpin, and cutthroat trout among many aquatic creatures stranded in pools, rapidly becoming deadly cooking pots. We worked all morning with seine nets to catch and transport them downstream in the river.Β 

Sometimes choosing to shelter in a familiar pool, refusing to take the risk of leaping into the unknown of a faster-flowing river a destination unknown becomes a detriment to ourselves. We remain stuck, unable to move, our only hope being an outstretched hand.Β 

Salmon aren’t ocean fish that travel into rivers to lay their eggs they are river fish that travel to the ocean to become something greater than they could ever be staying within the river.Β 

Despite the river being the perfect environment for young fry to grow, by daring to venture into the ocean, they can grow much larger much faster than the trout who remain in the river.Β 

Soon I will need to return to my ocean, but for now, I rest in the haven with my fellow Tatalu Conservation Residency fry family.

Find out more about the Tatalu Conservation Residency here.