A school of young coho salmon was recently spotted in the upper reaches of MacKay Creek estuary on Vancouver’s North Shore, just upstream of where a large concrete weir was removed in September 2013 as part of the Burrard Inlet Restoration Pilot Program.

The red arrow in the aerial photo below shows the location where the coho were spotted and the blue arrow points to the former site of the weir, which had blocked fish from accessing the upper estuary and creek during low tide. Since the weir’s removal, chum salmon have been spotted making their way up the creek, but this is our first look at evidence that coho have successfully spawned in the recently-restored system. Dr. Ken Ashley, HCTF Board member and Director of BCIT’s Rivers Institute, says that with the weir gone (and depending on ocean survival rates), we should start to see the rebuilding of the coho population in MacKay Creek.