"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"

Newsroom

More Restoration Completed on Shelly Creek

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Planting31The partnership between Snaw-naw-as First Nation and MVIHES continues in the restoration of salmon habitat on Shelly Creek with the planting of over 1230 trees and shrubs between November 23 and 26.  Planting was completed on the 200 m section of creek that was restored this summer for fry and smolt rearing, as described in a previous article. 

Andrew McNaughton, consultant for the Snaw-naw-as, had his team of Megan Peruzzo and Steven Moore measure the planting area and determine the species and number of plants that would produce the best riparian area for bank stability and shade for the fish. Other critters will also benefit from the diversity of plants. 

Some of the 21 selected species include Bigleaf Maple, Douglas and Grand Firs, Hemlock, Sword Fern, Salmonberry, Snow Berry, Red Elderberry, Hardhack, Swamp Gooseberry, and Stink Currant.

The plants were purchased from Streamside Native Plants by the Snaw-naw-as and delivered to the site in a container truck driven by Chris Bob, Councillor and Project Leader for the Snaw-naw-as. Over the course of four days, 19 MVIHES volunteers planted trees and shrubs alongside Steven, Megan, Chris and Chris' son Logan. Katie Schulze, a practicum student for Andrew McNaughton who is taking a post-degree Diploma course in Fisheries and Aquaculture at Vancouver Island University, got some practical experience planting with us. Our MLA, Adam Walker, and his daughter joined us as well. All but the last three photos were taken by our awesome new Social Media Co-ordinator, Polina Iudina. Watch the awesome video Polina produced here.

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  Megan Peruzzo                                                                                                                                                      Shelley Goertzen

 

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 Steven Moore (l.) and Chris Bob (r.)                                                                                                                                Ben McManus

 

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Adam and Addison Walker                                          Bob Williams                            One of two bridges supplied by Chris and Logan Bob

Chris Bob brought some delicious smoked Sockeye Salmon from his community to keep us energized. What a treat!

MVIHES volunteers included Alex Grant, Tom Whitfield (Qualicum Beach Streamkeepers), Austin Peterson, Stephanie Gabel, Ben McManus and his neighbour Keith, Shelley Perry, Bob Williams, Shelley Goertzen, Brian Lea, Terry Baum, Maggie Estok, Mark Hutchinson, Rick Walz, Dick Dobler, Pat Ashton, Heather and David Ranson, Linsday Orr, and Barb Riordan.

Many thanks for a great job done by everyone! 

Bridge Over Troubled Water?

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MVIHES is participating in a very important monitoring program run by the BC Conservation Foundation (BCCF).

 

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You may have already heard of a chemical that comes from vehicle tire wear called 6PPD-quinone. 6PPD is a tire preservative which becomes 6PPD-quinone when it reacts with ozone in the air. This chemical, which  collects in rain water, is lethal to Coho and Chinook Salmon in concentrations of parts per billion.

 

                                                                                                                                                                                         Photo Credit: Hannah Letinch, The Nature Conservancy Washington State

 

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Bridges that cross creeks and rivers often have stormwater drains that empty directly over these waterways. When it rains, stormwater flushes whatever is on the bridge through the drains into the water below, including 6PPD-quinone. There is a term for a die-off of salmon caused by flushing this toxin into waterways: Urban Runoff Mortality Syndrome (URMS).

 

 BCCF is partnering with stewardship groups on the east coast of Vancouver Island to learn what extent 6PPD-quinone exists within our waterways, focusing on those that are utilized by salmon. Sampling events are based on weather, particularly heavy rain following a 48-hour dry period when contaminants are most likely to be flushed into waterways. Our sampling site is the Englishman River at the Orange Bridge in Parksville.

MVIHES volunteers were trained and have already collected water samples during two rain events. The samples were sent to Vancouver Island University’s Applied Environmental Research Lab which has developed a rapid, cost-effective method to analyze for 6PPD-quinone. We have received our first set of results which indicated no 6PPD-quinone was detected.

BCCF will use the data collected across the east coast to determine mitigation measures needed to protect salmon. According to biologist Dave Clough, piping the drainage from bridges into vegetation on the side of the road will remove a lot of the 6PPD-quinone before it reaches waterways. One method of reducing the production of 6PPD-quinone is reducing tire wear by replacing worn tires and swapping out snow and all-season tires for summer tires as early in the season as possible. Inspections of transport truck tires could be more important than ever.

Many thanks to BCCF and our volunteers Dick Dobler, Ben and Janet McManus, and Barbara Wildman-Spencer.

2022 Annual General Meeting

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On October 1, we held our Annual General Meeting  at the Parksville Community Centre on 223 Mills Street from 10 am to noon. 

During the business section of the meeting we elected officers to the Board for the coming year while saying goodbye to Peter Law who is stepping down from the Board.

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Peter Law (left-hand photo) was on the Board for more than a decade and at different times served as Secretary, Vice President, and President. Pete contributed a great deal to the progress and growth of MVIHES.  But there's no escaping us since he continues to volunteer with MVIHES. Thank you Pete for your years of service to the Board! See you on Shelly Creek.

 

 

 

 

President Barb Riordan gave a presentation on our projects and activities for the year which can be viewed here.

Our Guest Speaker was Nikki Wright, Executive Director of SeaChange Marine Conservation Society, an organization that works to conserve and restore marine nearshore eelgrass habitats in BC in partnership with coastal communities, from Boundary Bay to Haida Gwaii. Nikki gave a fantastic presentation on Eelgrass which can be viewed from the link below.

Re-visiting Eelgrass in Parksville/Qualicum: What Can it Tell Us?”

The video included in Nikki's presentation can be viewed here.

EelgrassEelgrass has been described as a “secret weapon” against Climate Change for its ability to sequester carbon. It provides habitat for young fish and crustaceans, protects our coasts from erosion, and is good for water quality. MVIHES was involved in mapping Eelgrass in the Englishman River Estuary in 2008 and is interested in doing this again to determine if changes have occurred and if restoration of Eelgrass beds is required. We will be relying on Nikki's expertise to get this done. If you are interested in this project and haven't yet signed up, send us a note at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

 

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