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Salmon keep swimming

Town and Streams Society use temporary fix on Reay Creek
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Peninsula Streams Society members Reg Kirkham and Ian Bruce look over dead salmon that were trapped during high water.

Town of Sidney staff and members of the Peninsula Streams Society are looking into temporary solutions to the problem of Coho salmon getting stuck at a spillway on Reay Creek.

As the News Review reported in its Nov. 9 edition, recent high water incidents and an early return of the salmon have combined to trap fish in a concrete spillway at a dam on the creek. Once the water drops after a rainfall, some salmon have been trapped and have died.

To try and stop this from happening, the society and town have placed sandbags and a tarp at the spillway, in an effort to prevent the Coho from entering the area. A main spillway next to where the fish are becoming trapped is still open for the fish to access the pond and upper portion of the creek.

Streams executive director Ian Bruce said the temporary fix is all they could do at this time, as provincial and federal regulations prevent work in the stream that could affect the spawning salmon. The goal would be, he continued, to build an inexpensive barrier that would keep the salmon from becoming trapped. That work is not expected to start until after the spawn and when the two levels of government give the green light.