WILSEY DAM 

THE LADDER MOVES A STEP CLOSER

A SPORT FISH CONSERVATION ARTICLE BY:      W. J.(Jim)J. Fisher  Vernon, BC

Thanks to the Federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans, four Shuswap River Salmon Hatchery employees, and five volunteers from Vernon's Kalamalka Fly Fishers Society, the construction  of a ladder to provide spawning Chinook Salmon with access to the upper Shuswap River is now a little closer to becoming a reality. From August 21st until September 4th, a program of capturing migrant Chinook Salmon from the river below Shuswap Falls has been in effect. The fish have been caught using conventional angling methods and small barbless hooks. Initially, the captured salmon are placed in small net pens anchored in the river. Each afternoon a specially equipped tank boat picks up the fish and conveys them to the hatchery. From there, the salmon are transferred to one of two tank trucks, and transported approximately five kilometers above Shuswap Falls, where they are tagged and released into the river.

    Wilsey Dam was constructed by a private company on Shuswap Falls in 1927 to produce hydroelectric power for the Lumby area. Concerned sportsmen at that time, lobbied unsuccessfully for a ladder to allow for the passage of spawning anadromous fish.  The power plant was subsequently acquired by BC Electric in the 1950's and eventually transferred to BC Hydro and Power Authority. The promise of a Fish Ladder around the Dam has as yet been unfulfilled, but recently, both BC Hydro and D.F.O. have expressed renewed interest in the project. A well designed ladder is expected to cost in the neighborhood of a million dollars, and before any government agency is prepared to commit to funding, they must be assured that a ladder would be cost-effective.

    A five year program of truck-transport of Spawning Chinooks around Wilsey Dam was originally conceived by Shuswap Salmon Hatchery Manager Szcepan Wolski, and D.F.O. Three hundred fish were mover around the Dam in 1993, but in 1994 the program was put in hold, because of budget constraints. This year money was also scarce, and it initially appeared no fish would be able to be moved around the dam. Thanks to the generosity of the Kalamalka Fly Fishers Society however, the project was able to proceed, and 289 Salmon were transported in a fifteen day period.

    In the spring of 1996, Shuswap River Hatchery personnel will again install two fry traps immediately above and below the dam to monitor Salmon Fry production and migration. This will provide valuable information as to the feasibility of providing spawning Chinooks with passage around Wilsey Dam, and permanent access to the ten miles of rich river-gravel beds between Shuswap Falls and Sugar Lake