Cottonwood Island Park is a 33-hectare city managed public park within the city limits of Prince George, British Columbia. Cottonwood Island is separated from the mainland by a highwater side channel. This side channel is approximately one kilometer long and during high water it is used by many salmonids and other fish species as a place of refuge and provides spawning habitat. When the highwater level recedes, the side channel drains, trapping fish in disconnected pools that will eventually be void of oxygen, leaving fish stranded in the sediments or even leaving them to be picked off by predators.
Each year a small group of volunteers monitor the stream year round, visiting the channel every two weeks. It was found in the winter of 2022 that the channel was not a safe winter refuge for salmon, so each fall volunteers set traps, and remove all the salmon caught within the channel to a better area.
This project will continue to move forward, and we look forward to providing more updates in the future! If you would like to volunteer on this project, please email us at sprucecitywildlife@gmail.com
Partners on this project include:
- Pacific Salmon Foundation
- The Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada
- The Pacific Salmon Commission
