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HSWS volunteers, Dulce, Robbin and Edmond in the planted area
Riparian work by Hoy-Scott Watershed Society along Hoy Creek on November 22nd below the Coquitlam fire hall. Hoy-Scott Watershed Society planted 100 native trees provided by the City of Coquitlam.
A healthy riparian area supports a healthy stream, providing bank stability and shade in the summer months.
Thanks to Rodney, Robbin, Edmond and Dulce for the work put in.
(Photo: Dulce Paulino)
(Photo: Robbin Whachell)
Society volunteers, Malcolm, Nathen and Kyle provided information about our efforts to attendees of the Salmon Festival in Port Coquitlam
Hoy-Scott Watershed Society volunteers participated in the annual Hyde Creek Salmon Festival once again on November 15th. The festival is held at the Hyde Creek Community Center and provides a wonderful opportunity for the community to visit the local Hyde Creek Hatchery, view the creek itself, and learn about many aspects of the environment through the myriad of community groups that participate each year.
Left to right: Kyle, Mia, Coquitlam mayor Richard Stewart, and Dulce
Thanks goes out to our Society volunteers, Dulce, Kyle, Mia, Malcolm, Nathen and Robbin who helped man our booth at the event. See MORE photos here on our Facebook album.
Scott and Maurice from the Department of Fisheries show live coho salmon and answer questions
VIDEO CLIP BELOW:
Check out the video clip of a bald eagle with the Orphaned Wildlife Rehabilitation Society
Photo: Robbin Whachell / HSWS
Mushrooms are a wonderful sight to see in the watershed.
Here are some we've seen along Hoy Trail and Hoy Creek. Some even grow in the gravel beside the Hoy Creek Hatchery.
Photo: Robbin Whachell / HSWS
Photo: Robbin Whachell / HSWS
Photo: Robbin Whachell / HSWS
Children paint a mural with the Coquitlam River Watershed Roundtable to welcome home the salmon.
The chum salmon started arriving back in Hoy Creek around mid-October, and on October 25th the community of the Tri-Cities came out to celebrate at the annual Salmon Come Home festival put on by the Hoy-Scott Watershed Society and the City of Coquitlam. The festival is environmentally-themed and designed to promote public awareness about conservation and spawning salmon that migrate back to Coquitlam.
The weather was optimal and approximately 2200 people passed through to get a glimpse of spawning chum salmon in Hoy Creek and take in the activities set up around Hoy Creek Hatchery. The event was held during a dry weather spell so the chum numbers could have been higher for viewing, but people were able to see one or two throughout the day. The Society also had several large chum in the hatchery's Capilano trough for closer viewing, as well as several on-land demos with live salmon where held as Maurice Coulter-Boisvert from the Department of Fisheries answered questions.
Cookies made by Melanie Lee
There were many other educational displays and activities for the entire family. Salmon educator, Chris Hamming provided an ongoing tutorial about the salmon over by the rearing pond, and other participating groups who provided interesting activities and education were Burke Mountain Naturalists; City of Coquitlam - Bad Seed, Solid Waste and Recycling, Urban Wildlife, and Water Conservation; Coquitlam River Watershed Roundtable; Coquitlam Riverwatch; Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC; Friends of DeBoville Slough; Hoy/Scott Watershed Society; Hyde Creek Watershed Society; Kintec; Maple Creek Streamkeepers; South Coast Conservation Program; Vancity Pinetree Branch; Fisheries and Oceans Canada; and the Port Moody Ecological Society.
Jay Peachy serves up Spirit Bear coffee while Etienne Siew performs.
The day would not have had such a festive-feel if it were not for the music! The Canadian Sound Therapy Arts Society's Wild Salmon Creative Café were out providing piping hot Spirit Bear Coffee, and entertainment by The Bird and the Lion, Etienne Siew, and a DJ.
The four-hour event had kids crafts, costume parade and story telling with Angela Brown, as well as a prize fish pond provided by Kintec. Children enjoyed painting a mural with the Coquitlam River Watershed Roundtable.
Everyone oohed and awed over the salmon cookies made by HSWS member, Melanie Lee, with all sales from the cookies going toward the Society.
Hoy Creek Hatchery manager Rodney Lee holds up a salmon during the on land demonstrations led by the Department of Fisheries
Hoy-Scott Watershed Society would like to thank all those that made the event possible! A big thank you to our partners at the City of Coquitlam, in particular Caresse Selk. Thanks also to CKPM FM Tri-City Radio; the many volunteers who lent a hand; and all the community groups that took part.
Hoy-Scott Watershed Society has been in operation since 2002 and is a volunteer run society that operates a small salmon hatchery, and conducts a salmon enhancement program in partnership with the City of Coquitlam, with technical expertise from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada. The Society also works to restore and maintain the riparian habitat in the watershed by removing invasive plant species and re-planting with native plant species. Learn more about the Society at
HSWS founding member and salmon educator, Chris Hamming
Approximately 2200 came through to enjoy SALMON COME HOME at Hoy Creek Hatchery on Hoy Trail
Hoy-Scott Watershed Society is pleased to receive a Community Grant from Vancity Pinetree Branch.
The grant will help Hoy Scott support our salmon enhancement program, watershed restoration, and our Salmon Come Home festival on Sunday, October 25th.
Thank you!
The salmon are back in Hoy Creek! Join the City of Coquitlam and the Hoy-Scott Creek Watershed Society to celebrate their return at the annual Salmon Come Home gathering at Hoy Creek Hatchery on Sunday, October 25th from 11 am to 3 pm. Bring your family and friends to participate in this exciting community event which attracts thousands of people to view spawning chum salmon in-stream, and learn about this amazing fish through educational demonstrationsand displays.
Enjoy music, children's crafts, costume parade and story telling with Angela Brown, prize fish pond, face painting, music by Tri-City Radio, 98.7 CKPM FM, and the Creative Café will be serving up fun and Spirit Bear Coffee.
The free, family event runs rain or shine and provides a great opportunity to learn about the Hoy-Scott Watershed Society's salmon enhancement program, as well as the work of many other local stewardship groups. Participating is: Burke Mountain Naturalists; City of Coquitlam - Bad Seed; City of Coquitlam - Solid Waste and Recycling; City of Coquitlam - Urban Wildlife; City of Coquitlam - Water Conservation; Coquitlam River Watershed Roundtable; Coquitlam Riverwatch; Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC; Friends of DeBoville Slough; Hoy/Scott Watershed Society; Hyde Creek Watershed Society; Kintec; Maple Creek Streamkeepers; South Coast Conservation Program; Canadian Sound Therapy Arts Society - Wild Salmon Creative Café; Vancity Pinetree Branch; Fisheries and Oceans Canada; and the Port Moody Ecological Society.
Hoy Creek Hatchery is located off of Princess Crescent, west of the City Centre Aquatic Complex and the Pinetree Community Centre in Coquitlam. Parking is available at City Hall or at Douglas College David Lam Campus where you can enjoy a short walk inland to the hatchery via Hoy Creek Trail. To find the location on your cell phone map app, Google "Hoy Creek Hatchery." Location via Google maps.
Hoy Trail has a several entrances:
- Walk in from Princess Crescent;
- Walk in from behind Douglas College;
- Walk in from Guildford Way (between Johnson and Pinetree);
- Walk in from Walton Avenue, or behind Walton Elementary;
- Walk in from the foot of Lasalle Place.
Salmon Come Home, 2014
Join our Facebook Event Page to keep updates, and be sure to invite your family and friends... Our event hashtag is #salmoncomehome.
Hoy/Scott Watershed Society has been in operation since 2002 and is a volunteer run society that operates a small salmon hatchery, and conducts a salmon enhancement program in partnership with the City of Coquitlam, with technical expertise from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada. The Society also works to restore and maintain the riparian habitat in the watershed by removing invasive plant species and re-planting with native plant species. Learn more about the Society at hoyscottcreeks.org
Salmon Come Home is environmentally-themed and designed to promote public awareness about conservation and spawning salmon that migrate back to Coquitlam. For more information on Salmon Come Home, please visit coquitlam.ca/enviroevents
it's the fall excitement that never gets old! The first sighting after the anticipated return of salmon to our local creeks!
On October 9th, 2015, chum salmon were spotted for the first time this season just south of the Hoy Creek Hatchery making their way upstream. View the video above.
Chum salmon in Hoy Creek, Coquitlam in mid-November 2015 (Photo: Ed Paulino)
And of course, with the return, there is death. Salmon return to the place they were born to spawn, thus completing their life cycle.
A dead chum salmon in Hoy Creek, Coquitlam (Photo: Robbin Whachell)
Hoy Creek on September 11th, 2015 at 3:30pm (Photo: Robbin Whachell)
A similar spill to that in August was reported to the City on September 11th.
Hoy-Scott Watershed Society was notified by the City of Coquitlam and were advised that at approximately 1:45 p.m. a resident reported a white milky substance in Hoy Creek visible along Guildford Way.
The City began immediate investigation and said they had narrowed the source area to between the Hatchery and Pinewood Avenue. A director of Hoy-Scott Watershed Society took the photos seen here at 3:30 pm.
We were later advised that a member from Environmental Services Division (ESD) walked a large section of the creek between Guildford and Pinewood, all inspected areas were cloudy/turbid. The fire department confirmed that the turbid water entered the channel below Pinewood Ave. The water appeared to be clearing when ESD was on site around 2:30 pm.
The City's Drainage Department inspected the 4-5 outfalls around Walton, Pinewood Ave and White Pine Pl. We were told that the water was all pretty clear and they could not identify which outfall the cloudy/turbid water originated from. Drainage also drove around some of the neighbourhoods in the catchment area looking for evidence of material being dumped into a catch basin but did not find anything suspicious. The spill was also reported to the Ministry of Environment.
Unfortunately the source was never found.
The rearing pond at Hoy Creek Hatchery, 3:30 pm, September 11, 2015 (Photo: Robbin Whachell)
See more photos on our Facebook page
Hoy Creek Hatchery manager, Rodney Lee spreads adhesive to secure a stick-on yellow fish marker to mark a storm drain in Coquitlam. (Photo: Robbin Whachell)
The Hoy-Scott Watershed Society has begun storm drain marking on the streets of Coquitlam.
"Storm drain marking is a great tool to help the public draw the connection between the storm drain and the stream," said Hoy Creek Hatchery manager Rodney Lee. "The water that goes into a storm drain doesn't get processed through a sewage system like household water does, but goes directly into our waterways."
In previous years yellow fish were stenciled on with paint near storm drains, but the HSWS volunteers are using a new method with supplies provided by Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Bright-yellow sticky peel-off decal fish are now used and put in place with added glue. A rubber hammer is used to ensure they are secured them to the concrete.
Supplied by Fisheries and Oceans Canada, adhesive stenciled fish are glued to the ground and pounded on with a rubber hammer to secure. (Photo: Robbin Whachell)
Residents are also encouraged to keep the storm drain area free of trash and cigarette butts.
To enhance public education, the project involves hanging pamphlets on door knobs of houses on streets that have received the new hammered stencils. These pamphlets also educate about ground water in one's own yard, and ask residents to ensure that when emptying hot tubs or swimming pools that they do so 'slowly' into the ground.
"Storm drain marking is a nice opportunity to help educate the public and draw attention to an important issue to help keep our streams clean and our fish safe!" said Rodney Lee.
For more information on local recycling and collection facilities, contact the BC Recycling Hotline at 1-800-667-4321 or 604-732-9253 in Greater Vancouver.
See more of our photos on our Facebook album.
An educational pamphlet will be left on the door in areas where stenciled fish have been placed. (Photo: Robbin Whachell)
Hoy-Scott Creek Society members stand with some of the debris pulled from Scott Creek
(Photo: Ed Paulino)
Volunteer members of the Hoy-Scott Watershed Society took to Scott Creek on Saturday, August 22nd to remove debris in-stream. This work is reserved for late summer, the best time to ensure fish are not being disturbed.
The area covered was between Lansdowne Drive and Barnet Highway. The most littered area was near Runnel Drive close to the Value Village.
Items found in stream were a patio table and umbrella, a computer, bike, blanket, pillow, ironing board, old clothes, window blinds, shoes, a crock pot, and lots of bottles and cans.
A very rusty fire extinguisher was also found. Most of the garbage picked up on the first part of the creek were plastic containers from Starbucks, Burger King and McDonalds.
Click this photo to read more about the Watershed
As the team crossed Runnel southward they found a bicycle, a grocery cart, a garden table, and a big pile of black turf decaying under the brush.. Also a computer back up power supply battery.
"The commercial area definitely had more garbage," noted one Society member. "Patrons of McDonalds, would later dump their bags in the bush, and it ends up in the creek. Household items and clothes, perhaps planned to donate to Value Village, were left across the street in the bushes. It's sad to see the garbage, even a small cigarette end up in the creek."
The community is reminded to use receptacles for their trash, and drop larger items at the proper depot facilities, or contact the City for disposal of larger items. We all need to be reminded and mindful that these varied types of debris can pollute our streams, which are vital habitats and spawning grounds for fish.
See our complete photo album on Facebook HERE.
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