Thursday - Oct. 10, 2024 - Good news for some salmon species

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Good morning!

Technology loves to change. I hate it. I avoid iOS updates on my phone at all costs. I am still using Windows 10, despite Microsoft saying they won’t support my computer anymore.

Technological change is why some of you are noticing that our traffic and weather updates periodically disappear. The program we use to make our newsletter has “improved,” but that has increased the data size of each email. That wouldn’t be an issue, except that providers like Gmail cut off particularly large emails part way through, leaving you unable to see the full newsletter. To avoid clipping, we have been cutting every ounce of fat off the newsletter—usually in the form of extraneous links. Our traffic and weather links are often among the items that have to go. (Although we’ve continued linking to a single forecast at the top, like you see today.)

Some of you don’t like that! And that’s reasonable. So we’ll give you all a choice (although of course, Tyler and I will have the final say).

– Grace

NEWS

What Fraser Valley mayors want from the provincial election

BC’s party leaders are making expensive and flashy promises on the campaign trail in an attempt to woo voters. But the Fraser Valley’s mayors are also concerned about how the next government will support unsexy projects like building new sewer systems and acquiring more industrial land.

During our mid-term interviews with a majority of the Fraser Valley’s mayors, we asked what they hoped to see out of the upcoming provincial election. Many said they wanted continued collaboration between the province and local governments; but they all also had specific local issues they wanted to address.

The mayors of geographically small communities like Hope and Langley City called for more support for infrastructure like water and sewer systems. Abbotsford’s mayor emphasized flood mitigation and the need for more industrial land. And in Chilliwack, the city’s mayor called for more bricks-and-mortar support for people with mental health challenges.

• Today, we share what mayors in the region are hoping to see from the 2024 provincial election.

• You can read our full mid-term interviews with each of the mayors here: Hope Mayor Victor Smith | Chilliwack Mayor Ken Popove | Mission Mayor Paul Horn. Our interviews with Langley City Mayor Nathan Pachal and Abbotsford Mayor Ross Siemens will be published in the coming weeks. We are working to secure mid-term interviews with the Fraser Valley’s other mayors as well.

• In the days before the election, we’ll also be sharing a Fraser Valley-specific breakdown of what, exactly, each of the three major parties are promising in their platforms.

Need to Know

🐻 An advocacy group is offering $1,000 for information about who poached two bears floating down the Harrison River [Chilliwack Progress]

🏠 Mission council rejected a proposal for a 56-unit apartment building downtown [Mission Record]

🚓 Two men targeted the wrong home during a recent break-and-enter in Abbotsford, cops say [Abbotsford News]

🚒 A homeless camp in Langley caught fire Monday; there were no injuries [Langley Advance Times]

🥫 Ruth and Naomi’s in Chilliwack needs more food donations [Fraser Valley Today]

🥚 Join BC’s egg farmers in celebrating World Egg Day on October 11. Looking for a new recipe to enhance your celebrations? Visit BC Egg’s website today.*

🚀 Launch your creative journey. KPU’s Entertainment Arts Programs connect you with industry pros in 3D Animation, Game Development, and VFX—bring your talent to life!*

*Sponsored

🗳 Election 2024

The BC Election campaign continues until election day on Saturday, Oct. 19. Advance voting begins today (Thursday, Oct. 10). Find everything you need to know by visiting our election hub.

The latest

👉 BC’s party leaders debated health care, vaccines, and paper straws at the televised debate Tuesday night [CBC]

👉 The moderator for tonight’s all-candidates meeting in Chilliwack has been replaced after CBC found the planned moderator was associated with the BC Conservatives [Chilliwack Progress]

SPONSORED BY THE TYEE

The election stories you won’t find anywhere else

Confused about what’s happening in B.C.? Make sense of the political moment by subscribing to The Run. The Tyee’s award-winning election newsletter is back, aiming its laser focus on the political future of the west coast. Twice weekly this fall we’ll bring you the story behind the headlines, and break down key election themes happening across the province. It’s a free newsletter full of smart voices unpacking key issues, fact-checking politicians and exposing disinformation to clarifying light. Know what’s at stake when you cast your vote by subscribing today to The Run.

Subscribe for free.

The Agenda

Good news for some salmon species; others still in decline

Several salmon species in the Fraser River region are facing concerning declines—but for chinook, coho, and pink salmon, the current outlook is promising.

According to the Pacific Salmon Foundation’s 2024 State of Salmon report, the Fraser River region has seen declines in the number of spawning sockeye, chum, and steelhead returning to the river this year. Sockeye salmon, which were subject to a federal inquiry in 2009 because of low returns, had been doing relatively well in the early 2010s. Their numbers have now sagged below the 2009 returns, the Pacific Salmon Foundation said, although it’s unclear if this decline will continue long term.

Chum and steelhead are doing even worse, with both short-term and long-term trends for the species pushing their populations down. In 2024, spawning chum were about half of the long-term average, while spawning steelhead were 82% below average. (Steelhead experienced a boom in the 1980s, but the last three generations of fish have experienced precipitous declines.)

Coho salmon, on the other hand, are showing signs of recovery after years of decline. Current spawning numbers are 78% above the long-term average, and above returns last seen in the 1990s, before the population crashed. Chinook are also seeing some success, after what the foundation called an “exceptionally high return” to the Fraser in 2023. It’s not clear if that return was part of a longer-term trend, or a one-off anomaly.

With the onset of autumn, salmon are beginning to return to local rivers, streams, and creeks to spawn. The Pacific Salmon Foundation has put together an interactive map to show people where to see salmon spawning. In the Fraser Valley, these places include Williams Park in Langley (coho and chum), the Great Blue Heron Nature Reserve in Chilliwack (coho and chum), the Chilliwack River (coho, chum, chinook, and steelhead), and Thacker Regional Park in Hope (coho, chum, and pink). The full map can be found here.

🗓 Things to do this week/end

🎃 Pumpkin patch: Langley's Aldor Acres is open daily until Oct. 31 with access to its pumpkin patches. Advance tickets are highly recommended on weekends. Details online.

🎤 All candidates: The Chilliwack Cultural Centre hosts an all-candidates meeting for Chilliwack North and Chilliwack-Cultus Lake today. Admission is free. Details online.

Want even more? Insider members get a comprehensive events listing every Thursday, plus a weekly Saturday round-up edition with behind-the-scenes content. Becoming a member costs less than $2 a week and helps support the ongoing production of The Current’s newsletters and in-depth journalism. Become a member here.

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