Hundreds of salmon are making their way back to local rivers and streams, offering residents of the Sea to Sky and North Shore a chance to witness one of nature’s most remarkable migrations.
The Pacific Salmon Foundation’s (PSF) new Salmon Spotting map now makes it easier to find the best viewing spots in the area. This interactive tool highlights spots where you can witness the salmon’s migration as they return to their birthplace to spawn.
Salmon have already been seen at the Capilano Hatchery and in several local streams.
The annual migration, which runs from late summer to early winter, sees salmon leave the ocean, travel upstream, and return to the waters where they were born to reproduce and complete their life cycle.
PSF’s Salmon Spotting map features over 90 family-friendly viewing locations across the Sea to Sky, Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley, Vancouver Island, and other regions of B.C. These areas have marked trails and public viewing spots, making it easy to observe salmon in the wild.
When heading out to watch salmon migration, it’s important to protect the fish and their habitat–
•Stay out of the streams, as salmon nests (redds) are in the streambeds, and stepping into the water can crush their eggs.
•Dress for the weather and bring polarized sunglasses to better spot the fish.
•If you’re bringing a dog, keep it on a leash and away from the water, or leave it at home to avoid disturbing the salmon.
•Approach quietly—salmon can see you, and throwing rocks or sticks into the water can disrupt them.
To support salmon conservation, consider volunteering with local streamkeepers.
“Pacific salmon overcome so many obstacles on their epic migration from ocean to stream,” says Michael Meneer, PSF president and CEO said in a news release. “Getting out to local creeks and streams to see salmon return home is a chance to celebrate this iconic natural event and be part of protecting one of British Columbia’s keystone species.”
Here are some top spots to see salmon in the Sea to Sky and the North Shore:
Tenderfoot Creek Hatchery (Squamish)
Mamquam Spawning Channel (Squamish)
Capilano Hatchery (North Vancouver)
Maplewood Farm, Seymour River Heritage Park (North Vancouver)
Bridgeman Park, Lynn Creek (North Vancouver)
Mosquito Creek Park (North Vancouver)
Mid-October to early November is an ideal time to see coho, chum, and pink salmon returning to local streams. With recent rains raising water levels, PSF urges people to be careful around rivers and creeks.
Here are some salmon migration fun facts from PSF:
Pacific salmon are anadromous, meaning they live in the ocean but return to freshwater to spawn. They can travel more than 3,000 kilometres to reach their natal streams—a distance comparable to driving halfway across Canada.
They navigate back to their birthplaces using pheromones and their keen sense of smell, which allows them to detect chemicals in the water at concentrations as low as one part per million.
Salmon can leap up to two metres to overcome obstacles in rivers, a feat comparable to Olympic high jumpers.
Female salmon build gravel nests called redds in the stream bed where they lay their eggs. Depending on the species, a female may lay anywhere from 1,500 to 7,000 eggs.
B.C.’s watersheds support five species of Pacific salmon: sockeye, pink, Chinook, coho, and chum, which spawn in more than 400 genetically distinct populations.
Bhagyashree Chatterjee is The Squamish Chief’s Indigenous affairs reporter. This reporting beat is made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.
