A Review of Fish Habitat Issues in the Fraser River System

Abstract

Abstract The 1,253 km-long Fraser River drains a 230,400 km2 area of British Columbia and has a mean annual discharge of 2,700 m3 s−1. The river currently supports the most valuable salmon runs in western Canada. However, the system has the capacity to produce approximately 70% of the sockeye and chinook, 50% of the pink, 35% of the chum, and 10% of the coho salmon in British Columbia, if potentials were realized. The majority of British Columbia’s population lives within the watershed, and this has led to widespread changes in aquatic, and terrestrial, habitats. Physical impacts have occurred, for example, due to dyking intertidal areas, from water regulation and abstraction, land filling and dredging. Contaminants enter the river system from various sources, such as from industry (pulp mills) and urban developments (sewage), through the use of pesticides, from terrestrial activities (logging, silviculture, agriculture) and in “stormwater”. Concerns associated with these activities and the discharge of contaminants are documented in relation to their effects upon aquatic habitats and fishery resources.