What is a Fishway?
Jacobsen Creek fishway is designed as a rock ramp that gently meanders and ascends for salmon to bypass the obstruction that had previously impeded them, a perched roadway culvert.
Jacobsen Creek Fishway
Previously, salmon would try and try again to jump to bypass the perched culvert; but none could make it past the approximately 4-foot high barrier.
The survival of salmon depends on long journeys of migration between freshwater rivers and the ocean. Salmonids, such as Chinook salmon, Coho salmon, and Steelhead, all start their lives in freshwater rivers, migrate downstream to the ocean as juveniles, and migrate back upstream as adults to spawn and produce the next generation. Physical obstructions in rivers such as perched culverts and dams, that impose a height barrier for fish, have the potential to impede or even stop fish migration. A fishway is a built structure that allows migrating fish to pass an obstruction on the river. It can provide a detour route around an obstruction, or it can remove the obstruction altogether. But the idea behind it is the same, the fishway is a passageway that is swimmable for fish.
Jacobsen Creek, a tributary of the Tatalu (Little Campbell River), once provided spawning and rearing habitat for Pacific salmon along its entire length. However, for over 30 years, fish access to almost four kilometres of the creek has been impeded by a perched roadway culvert that created an insurmountable height barrier to migration and spawning.
Salmon play a critical role in healthy ecosystems. When salmonids are blocked from rivers, forest and freshwater ecosystems are at a loss. Forests are less productive without the infusion of nutrients that come with the salmon. Wildlife such as bears and eagles that require salmon for sustenance go elsewhere or otherwise disappear from the landscape. Humans lose a food source as well.
A bald eagle enjoying a salmon carcass (photo credit: Jerry McFarland)
How We Did It
1. Work in the creek was completed during a time with the least risk to salmonids to reduce impacts on fish and fish habitat. After live trapping and relocating fish from the construction site, the site was de-watered.
Fish biologists move aquatic species to outside the construction area
Juvenile coho salmon salvaged from construction area
The streambed build begins
2. Using large boulders and rock, the streambed was raised to the elevation of the culvert while also retaining pool habitat.
Boulders and rocks form the sides of the fishway
Before
After
3. The fishway has a natural, meandering design, and ensures water flows even during the dryer summer months.
The fishway imitates the meander of a natural stream
4. The streamside was planted with fast-growing willows wrapped in coconut matting to help reduce erosion and quickly increase bank stability. Additionally, invasive plant species, such as Himalayan blackberry, were removed and a variety of native species such as Oregon grape, Nootka rose, and Vine maple were planted. These native plants add biodiversity to the ecosystem and also provide food and refuge for birds, insects, and other species, thus benefiting the health of the stream.
Vine maple (Acer circinatum)
Nootka rose (Rosa nutkana) photo credit: Susannah Anderson
Oregon grape (Mahonia aquifolium) photo credit: H. Zell, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
How's the Fishway Today?
Immediately after construction was completed, during the fall of 2023, we observed 20-30 salmon upstream of the newly constructed fishway, having successfully swam past the culvert they would have not been able to pass for over 30 years.
A salmon swimming upstream in the fishway
A salmon resting in a pool before continuing their journey upstream
These salmon will complete their spawning cycle, contribute their nutrients to the surrounding ecosystem, and begin to re-establish salmon populations to benefit not only Jacobsen Creek but the entire Tatalu watershed.
After salmon spawn, they only live for hours to days before they die. Their carcasses feed forest animals from large carnivores like bears to small invertebrates like beetles, their bodies nourishing the entire ecosystem.
Reconnecting salmon to these areas results in healthier aquatic and forest ecosystems; benefiting birds, insects, and mammals, and indirectly, benefiting human health and wellbeing.
Our Partners
We thank our funder, Pacific Salmon Foundation for supporting our project. Thank you as well to the Fisheries and Oceans Canada Salmonid Enhancement program, British Columbia Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund, and Investment Agriculture Foundation for additional support.
This project was made possible through Farmland Advantage, an IAF Program. Farmland Advantage is funded by IAF, the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership, the Government of Canada, and the Province of British Columbia.
“IAF, the Government of British Columbia and the Government of Canada are pleased to participate in the delivery of this project. We are committed to working with our industry partners to address issues of importance to the agriculture and agri-food industry in British Columbia. Opinions expressed on this page are those of A Rocha Canada and not necessarily those of IAF, the Government of British Columbia or the Government of Canada.”
