Pacific Salmon Foundation Update – Hatchery Upgrades at Chapman Creek on the Sunshine Coast

Chapman Creek Hatchery

Paper Excellence is proud of the support we give to the Pacific Salmon Foundation (PSF). We value the work PSF does to preserve salmon habitat and restore the salmon population because it supports our commitment to protecting freshwater and marine ecosystems. One of the ongoing projects that Paper Excellence funding helped make possible is the hatchery upgrades at Chapman Creek, Sechelt. Read PSF’s project update below:

Hatchery Upgrades at Chapman Creek on the Sunshine Coast

Hatcheries are an important conservation tool to support Pacific salmon populations. The Sunshine Coast Salmonid Enhancement Society aims to assist, encourage, and promote salmonid enhancement in the streams of the Sunshine Coast and facilitate public education on salmonid habitats, life cycles, and their vital role in the ecosystems that depend on them. The Chapman Creek Hatchery is responsible for producing up to 50,000 coho, 70,000 Chinook, 90,000 chum, and 250,000 pink salmon every year with the goal of safeguarding the genetic diversity of wild Pacific salmon for generations to come.

This May, the hatchery was able to release approximately 29,000 chum salmon fry, 39,000 coho smolts, and 65,000 Chinook smolts into Chapman Creek. To best continue supporting and enhancing salmon populations across four species, the hatchery is undertaking some crucial upgrades to their plumbing and water intake systems. This will benefit the overall operations of rearing and incubating of fish, as well as supporting the countless volunteers that keep the hatchery running and enabling the hatchery’s ongoing educational programming for young people.

With support from the Community Salmon Program, the Sunshine Coast Salmonid Enhancement Society has been hard at work upgrading vital equipment at their local hatchery to keep the facility active in bringing the next generation of Pacific salmon to their local streams. Grant funds have allowed the hatchery to update their plumbing to repair and replace a leaking water line pipe that sources the creek water. They have also been able to install a Shut-off Valve at the Intake Water Culvert, allowing the hatchery to complete maintenance on piping and future work without sandbagging the flow, with the added benefit of acting as flooding control.

Pacific Salmon Foundation is a nonprofit environmental organization dedicated to the conservation and restoration of wild Pacific salmon and their habitats in British Columbia and the Yukon. They work with all members of the ‘salmon community’ to advance the collective efforts, promote awareness of this keystone species, and guide the sustainable future of wild Pacific salmon and their habitat. As a vocal advocate for salmon, PSF helps action priorities that support the conservation of this vital ecological resource.

Learn more about Paper Excellence’s support of the Pacific Salmon Foundation: