How Burnaby’s Guichon Creek is becoming hospitable to salmon

A small Burnaby waterway has been home to a remarkable sight recently.

“We’re seeing chum salmon that have moved into this stretch of the creek. It’s only been the last couple of years that we’ve been seeing them here, for the first time in many, many decades,” says Mark Angelo, the founder of World Rivers Day.

Angelo says this in front of Guichon Creek, an important tributary of Still Creek. For decades it had been sterile for salmon, impossible for them to use.

“This stream’s path was severely damaged. We built roads over it, we put in lengthy culverts and paved over large sections, so the stream was hit really, really hard,” said Angelo.

But work by different levels of government has been underway for years in restoring the waterways in the area, and fixing the upper reaches of Guichon has been a big priority.

“This was a small steel culvert which was undersized and very difficult for fish to access,” says Robin Taylor, Hemmera Environmental Manager, as she stands in front of a culvert at the Trans-Canada Highway.

“It was also dark and fish don’t like to go into dark places unless they can see a light at the end of the tunnel.”

But today, fish can pass under the highway.

“We replaced the culvert that was there with these big box culverts, which have national substrate in the bottom of them, which is much more conducive to fish using them.”

The final step in restoring the traditional path for salmon along Guichon Creek is opening a 700 metre culvert that runs under Canada Way and the BCIT – too long, says Angelo, for fish to make the journey.

“But if a stretch on the other side of the road were opened up, we know they would move through,” he says.

That may be close to reality. Last month, BCIT announced they would daylight and restore the creek on their campus in the next couple of years.

It gives hopes to Angelo that if the Guichon can be restored, so can any urban creek.

“We should never give up on any stream. I’d like to think what we’re seeing here will happen on other urban waterways as time goes on.”