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Background

In British Columbia, there is a strong and steady stream of support for removing barriers to fish passage.

Many of these barriers, including a number of culverts, floodgates, levees and dykes, were installed prior to provincial legislation introduced to regulate their construction and management. As a result, these barriers are now unclaimed and considered orphans.

In order to clear the way for fish needing to move freely, the B.C. Fish Passage Restoration Initiative is working to restore access to critical spawning and rearing habitat.

The species we are helping with this project include: Chinook, Coho and Sockeye salmon; Bull Trout; Steelhead; and Westslope Cutthroat Trout.

This initiative is coordinated by the Canadian Wildlife Federation and funded primarily through two grants: the British Columbia Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund (BCSRIF) and the Canada Nature Fund for Aquatic Species at Risk (CNFASAR). The duration of this project is four years, with the potential to extend to five years under BCSRIF. Special thanks also to the RBC Foundation Project.

Videos

Four Project Areas

1

Partner

Support collaboration among organizations concerned with fish passage

2

Plan

Expand the scope of planning and prioritization tools for remediation

3

Fix

Remediation of priority barriers

4

Monitor

Evaluate and monitor the effectiveness of remediation

Goal

The BC Fish Passage Restoration Initiative is building province-wide collaboration among federal and provincial governments, NGOs, academic researchers, First Nations and local communities to strategically restore, protect and maintain healthy populations of fish species at risk. The initiative aims to restore the health of freshwater ecosystems by remediating multiple barriers to fish passage. Project proponents will also assess the effectiveness of established and emerging fish passage remediation technologies.

Help restore #fishpassage by supporting conservation efforts.

Updates

2019-2020 Project Summaries

Birk Creek, Branch 100 Creek, Burman River, Ginlukak Creek, Freeman Creek, Nelson Creek, Seymour River, Squamish River.

Download PDF

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Blogs

More Pacific Salmon and Trout Can Now Go Home

An elevated stream culvert may mean nothing more than simple road maintenance to us. But to a Pacific Salmon desperately trying to swim upriver to their native spawning beds, it’s often a dead stop to their trip home… Read

More Blogs

In the News

Media

Video

Be advised that video and b-roll is available to the media. Please contact Heather Robison to request files.

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Get Involved

Do you want to help recover fish species at risk and restore habitat? We are looking for additional information about barriers to fish passage in B.C. to include in our selection process, and we are working with partners to expand the scope of how barriers are selected for remediation.

Complete the form if you or your organization is interested in being part of shaping this selection process:



 

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Interesting Facts

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170,000

Number of road crossings at streams containing fish or fish habitat in B.C.
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92,000

Approximate number of closed bottom structures (culverts) in B.C. that block fish passage and need to be repaired
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45,000 m2

Amount of habitat to be restored upstream at Birk Creek (that’s about 9 km of linear habitat)

Reports and Papers

research paper 1
BC Fish Passage Strategic Approach
research paper 2
BC Culvert Assessments
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BC Fish Stream Crossing Guidebook
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Key principles of healthy and productive aquatic ecosystems
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Hinterland Who’s Who Pacific Salmon video

Additional Resources

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Learn More
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Downloads
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Lesson Plans
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Blogs
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Canadian Wildlife Magazine Feature

Program Lead

Nick Lapointe

Nick Lapointe is the Canadian Wildlife Federation’s Senior Conservation Biologist – Freshwater Ecology. He has a doctorate in Fisheries Science, and his research has focused on the greatest threats to freshwater biodiversity, including invasive species, aquatic habitat loss and alteration.

“Barriers like culverts, dams and dykes have been identified as a critical reason why many fish stocks are in decline. It’s more important than ever that we take a good hard look at these barriers and start fixing them to allow fish to migrate freely.”

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The Canadian Wildlife Federation's free monthly e-newsletter Wildlife Update features current issues facing Canada's wildlife, DIY and Q&As, quizzes and more. Sign up to join over 80,000 readers in this wildlife conservation community. You can unsubscribe at any time.

 

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This project is made possible in part by funding provided by Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Province of BC and through the BC Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund.

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