Cortes Island Streamkeepers released nearly 20,000 chum salmon fry into Whaletown Creek on Cortes Island on Saturday, March 19, in an ongoing effort to bring back the natural fish population for a healthy ecosystem.

Fry are fish in the juvenile stage when they are able to feed themselves, after depleting the nutrients in the yolk sac attached to their bodies at the time of hatching. The fish had grown within a specialized metal case placed directly into the stream in December containing eggs from the Tla’amin Nation hatchery. The newly released fry will gradually make their way from the creek to the estuary, then the bay and finally into the open ocean.

The case held two shelves of 10,000 chum eggs each. Slits in the sides let the creek water flow through. Photo by Anastasia Avvakumova.

Cec Robinson, one of the volunteer Streamkeepers, said the fish will typically return in four years to spawn in the same stream using their built-in geolocation abilities.

"The survival is not great by our standards," he said, "perhaps 1 per cent, but that's still a few hundred fish," and significantly more than the approximately 30 individuals the volunteers have seen return in recent autumns.

Special guest Joey Ojeck from Nipissing Territory spoke traditional Anishinaabe prayers and sang an Anishinaabe Water Song before the fish were released into the wild.

Joey Ojeck playing the Anishinaabe Water Song. Photo by Anastasia Avvakumova.

Similar releases into other streams on the island will happen throughout the spring.

Listen to the full CKTZ News report below, created in honour of World Water Day on March 22, which underscores the importance of fresh water and the need for protection and access to clean water worldwide: