We’re fortunate on the North Shore that we have an amazing community dedicated to volunteerism and service.
Since 1987, the Seymour Salmonid Society has released thousands of coho, steelhead, pink and chum salmon into the Seymour River each year to enhance local fish stocks. In addition to running the Seymour hatchery, the society has been instrumental in providing educational programs to elementary students across the Lower Mainland. I’m really proud that the provincial government supports them with an annual grant of $20,000.
These initiatives provide a unique hands-on learning experience for students, teaching them the importance of habitat, ecology and conservation. The Seymour Salmonid Society and its more than 300 members and volunteers make an invaluable contribution to our community and continue to promote education and conservation.
In December 2014, a massive rock slide caused 50,000 cubic metres of granite to block part of the Seymour canyon, cutting salmon off from an important spawning estuary. Over the past year, the society and its volunteers have been busy rescuing the salmon that have been cut off, capturing and ferrying them upstream, one by one, so they could make it to the estuary to spawn.
Despite these ongoing efforts, the lasting impact of the rock slide is threatening the Seymour’s ability to remain a salmonid-bearing body of water, which is why the society is partnering with the Squamish Nation to build an aluminum fence to trap and move fish upstream and developing a plan to use explosives to slowly chip away at the blockage.
The society’s president (and constituent of mine), Shaun Hollingsworth, asked for help. So I arranged for the Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resources, Steve Thomson, to join MLA Naomi Yamamoto and I as we hiked to the site to see it firsthand.
The society needs significant funds to help blast through the blockade, and there was no hesitation from the North Vancouver MLAs to fight for these dollars. We were excited to be able to hand the society a cheque for $50,000 this past April. While the society as a whole needs to be recognized for the work, Hollingsworth’s dedication, hard work and constant lobbying have led to direct action. It’s no surprise this past February he was awarded with the Tim Jones Community Achievement Award as a recognition of his relentless support of community efforts on the North Shore.
On behalf of the community, I want to thank the society and its volunteers for continuing to promote education and conservation, and for protecting a precious resource that belongs to all British Columbians.
Learn more about what is happening in our riding by subscribing to my monthly MLA report at janethornthwaitemla.bc.ca/subscribe. Contact me by e-mail at [email protected], or by phone at 604-983-9852, on Facebook or stop by my constituency office.
