Volunteers wade in to support Oyster River pink salmon broodstock collection

Volunteers wade in to support Oyster River pink salmon broodstock collection

Published 11:30 am Tuesday, September 29, 2026

Dozens of volunteers waded, swam and hauled buckets along the banks of the Oyster River this September as the Oyster River Enhancement Society (ORES) launched its 2026 pink salmon broodstock collection.

The picking marks the start of a season-long effort that helps sustain salmon runs returning to the Salish Sea.

The hatchery, located between Campbell River and the Comox Valley, has been collecting and rearing salmon for more than 40 years. Terry Lawrence, ORES President, said many of the fish returning to the river today are descendants of that decades-long effort.

“You’re looking at fish that for the most part are ours, back from generations,” Lawrence said, noting that not only fish, but also some volunteers have returned to help with the collection for those four decades. “Those fish? They’re really the great, great, great, great-grandchildren.”

The Society, which is largely self-funded, relies on support from several sources including the Pacific Salmon Foundation, the Campbell River Salmon Foundation, Fisheries (CRSF) and Oceans Canada (DFO) and a contract with the Comox Valley Regional District (CVRD). But the bulk of the operation depends on volunteer labour, from egg collection and infrastructure work to shovelling snow through the winter, since the hatchery runs year-round.

Hatchery operations lead Lyle Edmunds walked volunteers through the process before crews headed into the water. Two trucks fitted with water tanks were used to transport fish from the collection site back to the hatchery, along with seine nets, buckets, garbage cans and floating net pens.

Edmunds estimated as many as 10,000 pink salmon were holding in the pool being netted, but organizers set a target of 300 males and 300 females.

“We don’t want too many fish in the pen,” Edmunds said, explaining that overloading a pen risks sinking its supporting cork line. Once fish were pursed up in the seine net, volunteers with dip nets sorted them by sex into the pens, calling out “boy” or “girl” to a pair of volunteers tallying the count by hand. Any Chinook caught in the process were set aside and transported separately to round holding tanks.

From the river, fish were moved a few at a time in water-filled buckets and passed hand-to-hand up the riverbank in a bucket brigade to the waiting trucks. Once a tank held 75 fish, the truck departed for the hatchery while a second truck was filled in its place — a cycle organizers planned to repeat several times to reach the day’s 600-fish target.

At the hatchery, the fish were unloaded, netted again and moved into holding pens near the facility’s No. 1 trap, where they will remain as part of the broodstock program. Organizers said the pace will pick up through October, when larger numbers of returning salmon are expected.

The day drew a wide range of participants, including members of the We Wai Kai and We Wai Kum First Nations Guardians programs, who were among the divers and swimmers working in the river, along with DFO staff from multiple offices, the CRSF, Comox Valley Regional District (CVRD) and the Comox Valley Flyfishers club.

Also on hand was Colin, a youth participant with the Youth and Ecological Restoration program, who worked alongside program coordinator Graham Hilliar during the picking.

The program, open to youth aged 12 to 18 living in the Comox Valley, pairs participants with local environmental groups so they can learn from and assist staff and volunteers on projects like the broodstock collection. Participants finish the program with a presentation on what they’ve learned and what’s happening in the community as well as 20 hours of work experience, a reference letter, a certificate of completion and a $50 cheque. The program is funded by the Ministry of Children and Family Development, School District 71 and the Comox Valley Regional District.

Organizers said turnout this year was among the highest they’ve seen. “Way more than we’ve ever had,” said Lawrence, prompting Edmunds to joke there might almost be as many volunteers as fish.

The pink salmon and other species raised at the Oyster River hatchery contribute to runs that support recreational and commercial fisheries, as well as First Nations food, social and ceremonial harvests, throughout the Campbell River and Comox Valley region and the broader Salish Sea.

The society and volunteers also fin-clipped roughly 80,000 Coho salmon the following week.

“We are always looking for more volunteers, especially ones with younger legs and (who) like to swim in the river,” Lawrence said.