Campbell River Salmon Foundation

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Campbell River Salmon Foundation The Campbell River Salmon Foundation is a registered charity, governed by a volunteer board of directors.

Our mandate is to promote the conservation, rehabilitation and enhancement of watersheds for Pacific salmonids.

🌍 Happy International Day of Charity 🌍Every September 5, the world pauses to recognize the power of giving back — a day ...
09/05/2026

🌍 Happy International Day of Charity 🌍

Every September 5, the world pauses to recognize the power of giving back — a day set by the United Nations to honour the role charity plays in strengthening communities everywhere.

Here on Vancouver Island, that spirit lives close to home. Local charities and grassroots organizations are the ones doing the hands-on work of protecting our rivers, our fish, and the ecosystems we all depend on — often powered by volunteers who show up rain or shine because they care.

At CR Salmon Foundation, we've had the privilege of supporting some incredible partner projects this year, including recently completed work by:

🐟 Greenways Land Trust
🐟 A-Tlegay Fisheries Society
🐟 The Nature Trust of British Columbia
🐟 Gillard Pass Fisheries Association
🐟 Oyster River Enhancement Society

None of this work happens without community support. Local charities depend on people like you — your time, your donations, your voice — to keep doing what they do best.

Want to see what your support makes possible? Check out our recent partner projects here: https://www.crsalmonfoundation.ca/projects/ and consider donating to help keep this work going. 💙

Every gift, big or small, helps keep our rivers healthy and our salmon runs strong. 🐟💧

🐟 Partner Project Spotlight 🐟Oyster River Enhancement Society (ORES) — Fish Counting, Spawning Gravel, and a New RoofThe...
09/04/2026

🐟 Partner Project Spotlight 🐟

Oyster River Enhancement Society (ORES) — Fish Counting, Spawning Gravel, and a New Roof

The mission of ORES is to preserve, protect and enhance fish and their habitat 🌊 — and for decades that mission has meant turning a once-barren river into one of the most productive, year-round, volunteer-driven salmon producers on Vancouver Island.

Four species, one hatchery 🎣
ORES operates a strategic enhancement hatchery on — you guessed it — the Oyster River, raising Pink, Coho, Chum and Chinook salmon, blending low-tech know-how with state-of-the-art tools to get the job done.

Eyes underwater 📹
With funding from the CR Salmon Foundation, ORES installed underwater camera systems at two fish trap channels, replacing the labour-intensive process of physically dipnetting and counting salmon by hand. The cameras were successfully deployed in September 2025 — a total game-changer (and back-saver!) for the team.

📊 4,450 pink salmon counted through September 2025, with a single-day peak of 802 fish on September 28

🙌 10+ volunteers built and installed the system, replacing manual dipnetting of 10,000+ fish

🔧 More upgrades to the system are already planned

Infrastructure gets some love too 🏠
A new roof went on the main cabin and office this year, and Channel 2 got a facelift of its own with fresh spawning gravel — small changes that add up to a healthier, more resilient operation.

Healthy hatcheries mean healthy rivers 💧 — and healthy rivers support everything downstream, from the salmon themselves to the eagles 🦅 and bears 🐻 and forests that depend on them.

CRSF is proud to be a long-time partner with the Oyster River Enhancement Society. 🙏

🐟PARTNER PROJECT SPOTLIGHT🐟Greenways Land Trust — Simms Creek Fish FenceFor years, the Simms Creek fall fish fence has t...
09/03/2026

🐟PARTNER PROJECT SPOTLIGHT🐟

Greenways Land Trust — Simms Creek Fish Fence

For years, the Simms Creek fall fish fence has tracked salmon returns in the Campbell River watershed — and 2025 gave us results worth celebrating.

🐟 Coho counts: With CRSF and DFO funding, Greenways Land Trust transitioned the fence to a video-based counting system in 2024, letting spawners pass (and maybe some other guests - check out image 2!) through undisturbed instead of being physically handled.

This year's count: 773 total coho, smashing the previous Simms Creek record of 116 set in 2023.

📹 First 'reel' look since 2023: Vandalism and technical issues meant 2024 didn't produce usable footage — so this year is the first true picture of what spawners have been doing on Simms Creek in years.

🙌 306.5 volunteer hours: The Simms Creek Streamkeepers (aka Rockstars!) reviewed every frame of footage, putting in work that simply wouldn't have been possible on staff capacity alone.

One standout moment: on October 18, 2025, 167 coho moved upstream in a single day — a striking sign of just how much this system change has revealed, and how many coho this creek can support.

Healthy coho runs mean healthy rivers — supporting everything from eagles and bears to the forests along their banks.

CRSF is proud to help fund this work with Greenways Land Trust and Fisheries and Oceans Canada building a clearer picture of salmon returns on Simms Creek.

🔗 Learn more about our partner projects at the link in our bio.

🐟 PARTNER PROJECT SPOTLIGHT🐟Gillard Pass Fisheries Association Radio-TaggingFor 40+ years, the Gillard Pass Fisheries As...
08/28/2026

🐟 PARTNER PROJECT SPOTLIGHT🐟

Gillard Pass Fisheries Association Radio-Tagging

For 40+ years, the Gillard Pass Fisheries Association (GPFA) has been protecting Chinook salmon in the Stuart Island / Bute Inlet area — and the results are inspiring.

📍 Phillips River: Hatchery-supported since the 1980s, this population is now back to WILD status, with returns averaging 2,000+ fish a year.

📍 Southgate & Homathko Rivers: New research launched after the Elliot Creek landslide is filling major gaps in our knowledge of Bute Inlet salmon. GPFA is scaling up to 100,000 tagged smolts released annually — and last year, tagged fish were recovered as far away as Southeast Alaska.

Salmon don't just feed people — they feed orcas, bears, sea lions, and even the forest itself. Protecting Chinook means protecting the whole coastal ecosystem.

CRSF is proud to partner with GPFA, helping fund the radio-tagging work that's building the science behind Bute Inlet salmon management.

👉 Learn more about our partner projects at the link in our bio.

ConservationPartners

Dolly Parton wasn't just the Queen of Country Music — she was an empress of giving back.Through her Imagination Library,...
08/25/2026

Dolly Parton wasn't just the Queen of Country Music — she was an empress of giving back.

Through her Imagination Library, she put more than 250 million free books into the hands of kids around the world. Through the fires that swept her home region in 2016, she showed up for her neighbours with direct, practical help. Through decades of quiet generosity, she proved that fame is only as meaningful as what you do with it.

Real change happens when people who love their community show up for it — not for recognition, but because it matters. 

Dolly showed the world what that looks like on the biggest stage imaginable. 

Rest well, Dolly. Thank you for showing us that doing good never goes out of style. 💛

🐟🐟Partner Project Spotlight 🐟🐟 The Nature Trust of British Columbia & the Xwésam (Salmon) River Estuary Floodplain Fores...
08/25/2026

🐟🐟Partner Project Spotlight 🐟🐟

The Nature Trust of British Columbia & the Xwésam (Salmon) River Estuary Floodplain Forest.

We're proud to share the successful completion of thia project, a major conservation milestone for one of our region's most important salmon-bearing estuaries.

**What Was Accomplished 💪

With this funding and NTBC's stewardship they:

✅ Completed the fee simple purchase of 42.7 hectares of private land

✅ Expanded the conservation complex to 420 hectares total

✅ Cleared old infrastructure as part of initial restoration work

✅ Completed the legal boundary survey

**Why It Matters for Salmon 🐟

Estuaries are where rivers meet the sea — biodiverse, critical habitat young salmon depend on as they transition from freshwater to ocean life.

By permanently protecting the Xwésam River Estuary floodplain forest, we're strengthening the connectivity and resilience of sensitive estuarine and riparian ecosystems — safeguarding salmon habitat for generations to come.

👉 Full story at the link in our bio.



Thanks to and Sledge N' Shovel for the surveying and demo work! 🚜🔨

🐟🐟Partner Project Spotlight 🐟🐟 Tracking the Next Generation of Quinsam SalmonThis spring, A-Tlegay Fisheries Society tag...
08/20/2026

🐟🐟Partner Project Spotlight 🐟🐟
Tracking the Next Generation of Quinsam Salmon

This spring, A-Tlegay Fisheries Society tagged nearly 2,700 young salmon and steelhead heading out to sea from the Quinsam River.

From March to June, staff ran juvenile enumeration at the Quinsam hatchery fence, then PIT-tagged out-migrating smolts between April 24 and May 29:
🔹 545 hatchery Coho
🔹 1,900 wild Coho
🔹 224 Steelhead

Why it matters: when these fish return as adults, PIT arrays in the river will track exactly how many made it back — giving real smolt-to-adult survival data. Combined with the out-migration counts, this helps guide hatchery production and predict future returns.

The Quinsam faces real pressure — dam operations, hatchery influence, warming water, and lower flows are all stacking up against juvenile salmon. This work is part of the broader "Bottlenecks to Survival" initiative building long-term data on what's limiting survival in the watershed.

💙Grateful to support A-Tlegay's continued monitoring efforts. 💙

👉 Full story at the link in our bio.

A huge congratulations to James Hansen, the winner of the 2026 Discovery Pier Fishing Derby! James recieved his grand pr...
08/18/2026

A huge congratulations to James Hansen, the winner of the 2026 Discovery Pier Fishing Derby!

James recieved his grand prize from Jon Knudsen of Tyee Marine, Jodi Boyd of Discovery Pier Concession and CRSFs own Tyler Schofield.

The 30lb 7oz Chinook took him about 20 minutes to bring in and ran the line almost to the end! 🎣😲🎣

James said he used 20lb test, 9ft rod and a PENN Battle III reel from Tyee Marine... but is keeping the lure a secret 😎

The Derby was sponsored by Tyee Marine 🎣 and Discovery Pier concession and raised $1000 for the CR Salmon Foundation.

Jon from Tyee Marine said they saw more people fishing on the pier this year than in years past. Additionally they sold more rods to kids getting out to fish for the very first time then in most other years.

It was a wonderful opportunity for everyone to get outside and have some fun!

Plans are already underway for Derby 2027.

Another fabulous 🎣 was added to the Tyee Marine Tyee Marine Discovery Pier Concession Fishing Derby! Just 3 days left!📍S...
08/06/2026

Another fabulous 🎣 was added to the Tyee Marine Tyee Marine Discovery Pier Concession Fishing Derby!

Just 3 days left!

📍Sign up at Tyee Marine: 800 Island Hwy 📍

08/06/2026

Jaime got a bite last night! Sadly, the little guy was a smidge under so got released back into the chuck.

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