The Salmon River Watershed

The Salmon River Watershed

Historical

The Salmon River has an important place in the history of British Columbia . John Cherrington, in his book "The Fraser Valley: A History" states that for the Sto:lo of the Fraser Valley "...the most important communication route to the outside world was the Salmon River . The aboriginals paddled down the Salmon, portaged over to the Nicomekl River , and then floated down to Mud Bay to greet their Nooksack cousins and engage in trade."

The river and portage were known as the Tsalkwakyan. The portage is said to have been approximately 8,000 yards over marshy areas near what is now Glover Road in the Milner area of Langley . This same route was used by the Songhee, Semiahmoo and the Saanich in yearly migrations in the other direction to share in the rich harvest of salmon. The village near the junction of the Salmon and the Fraser (or near present day Fort Langley) became a centre for trade and was one of the few permanent village sites in the Lower Fraser region. The local Kwantlen tribe became rich and powerful.

The Tsalkwakyan also plays a large part in the early history of the fur brigades. Simon Fraser is said to have stopped briefly at a large aboriginal village near Fort Langley (possibly on McMillan Island ). Then in November, 1824, a party of 39 led by Chief Factor James McMillan made their way from Fort George on the Columbia, north to Mud Bay and then via the Nicomekl and the Tsalkwaykan to the salmon River floodplain and the Fraser. When McMillan returned in 1827 to establish a permanent base, he naturally returned to near the junction of the Salmon and the Fraser to establish Fort Langley (originally at Derby Reach then later moved to the present site).

As the name would suggest, the early settlers soon found the Salmon River and surrounding waterways an abundant source of salmon. By 1829 the fort had established a trade in salmon with the aboriginals and in the 1830's a thriving trade in fish curing was established, with salmon dried and packed in barrels (hardwood for the barrels was obtained across the Fraser from the area now known as the Stave River) for shipment to Hawaii. The area south of Fort Langley (Milner prairie) was developed for farming with the produce being floated down the Salmon River on barges.

Ecological

Unfortunately, extensive fish harvesting eventually led to the extinction of the Salmon River 's pink and chum salmon stocks. The Salmon River remains, however, the most productive stream for its size in the Lower Fraser Valley for coho and for cutthroat trout. Steelhead and at least 12 other fish species, including the rare and endangered Salish Sucker, make their home in the Salmon. Even the chum have made their way back into the river with counts as high as 800 per year in the last decade.

The Department of Fisheries has declared the Salmon an index river for coho thus preventing reintroduction of pink or stocking of coho or other species. Historically, the wild coho stocks of the Salmon River Watershed have shown much higher survival over their life cycle than stocks in other streams. Returning numbers, however, have dropped in recent years to 1,200 from highs of 8,000 to 10,000 in the 1980's. The lower Salmon River and associated Fort Langley floodplains have also been an important migratory wetland for wildfowl.

The Salmon River Watershed was selected by Howard Parish as early as 1980 for special study in regard to Salmonid Enhancement. He identified the Salmon as being one of the few remaining productive systems in the Lower Fraser Valley but as being on the "leading edge" of urban development and thus in danger of significant habitat degradation. The Watershed has been extensively studied by Westwater Research of UBC in regard to water quality and its effect on fish populations. In addition, the Salmon River was selected by the Fraser Basin Management Project (a coordinated effort by many levels of government to promote sustainability) in 1993 as one of its six special demonstration projects with the development of a watershed Management plan completed a few years later.

Recreational

The floodplain portion of the Salmon River continues to be an important recreational area for bird watching, for fishing and for canoeing and boating. Larry Pynn of the Vancouver Sun floated down the Salmon River from Trinity Western University to the mouth of the river approximately 10 years ago and recommended this historic paddle as being one of the best in the Lower Mainland. He was especially impressed that the Salmon River has escaped major drainage projects and thus is one of the very few rivers in the Lower Mainland which retains its natural meanders and oxbows.

The world distribution of this inconspicuous fish is confined to a small area in northwestern Washington State and the adjacent Fraser Valley of British Columbia. This contrasts sharply with the range of its nearest relative, the Longnose Sucker, which is found across northern North America and into Siberia.