"Committed to the recovery of wild Pacific salmon in mid Vancouver
Island watersheds through habitat restoration and community engagement"
"Committed to the restoration of wild Pacific salmon in mid Vancouver
Island watersheds through habitat restoration and community engagement"

2020 Coho Smolt Count

holysmoltsCome out and help us count the Coho Salmon smolts as they migrate out of Shelly Creek to the Englishman River.

Every spring, for six weeks, we set up a smolt trap in Shelly Creek to count the number of Coho smolts and fry that overwintered in the creek to escape the turbulent flows of the Englishman River. We usually count several thousand in a season but one year was exceptionally good when we counted over 8000 smolts.  Rainbow and Cutthroat Trout also venture into the trap, along with the occassional frog, salamander and duckling. An otter  visited us in 2018 to steal our smolts.so you never know who's going to show up.

The smolt trap is on Martindale Rd where Shelly Creek crosses under the road. We start counting at 9 am every morning and are usually done by 10 am.