When you are planning your trip to see the Adams River Sockeye Salmon spawn remember:

Dominant years (2010, 2014) you can see millions of sockeye return to spawn in October.

Subdominant years (2011, 2015) you can see 100,000+ sockeye return to spawn in October.

Post-subdominant years (2012, 2016) you can see 100′s of sockeye return to spawn in October (smallest returns).

Pre-dominant years (2009, 2013) you can see 10,000+ sockeye return to spawn in October.

Find us at Roderick Haig-Brown Park (2300 Squilax Anglemont Rd, Lee Creek, BC), in the Log Cabin Interpretive Centre Wednesdays and Sundays, from Victoria Day Weekend until Oct 17, 2012 (10 am to 4pm). The park is open year-round and has 26 km of trails! Pink salmon spawn in the Adams River in September on odd years only; Chinook salmon spawn here in Sept/October; Sockeye salmon spawn in the Adams River in the first few weeks of October, followed by coho salmon in late October and early November:

Directions to Roderick Haig-Brown Park from Chase, BC

Check out and LIKE our new Facebook page to view our posts on your news feed (home page) and to learn up-to-date news about wild salmon, as well as cultural and natural histories of the Adams River and Roderick Haig-Brown Park (including Plant of the Day and more):

Adams River Salmon Society Facebook Page

October 2012 News:

by Celia A Nord

education@salmonsociety.com

As expected, October was a busy month in the log cabin Interpretive Centre in Roderick Haig-Brown Park. The free interpretive walks given three times daily throughout Thanksgiving Weekend were a big hit with locals, European and Asian visitors, Albertans and more. Each day of that weekend, the number of cars parked in the lot averaged at about 85 or 90 throughout the day. Interest in the free interpretive walks throughout the rest of the month was also high. Numbers of school groups joined me for walks and talks about the cultural and natural histories of the park with a special emphasis on the role of local ecosystems in the survival of salmon. Even though the numbers of sockeye that returned were so few that it was rare to see any in the river at any given time (our trails only allow us to see 20% of the river as it is), there was a large return of chinook visible about a 5 minute walk upriver from the main parking area. The low numbers of returning sockeye was not too unexpected since the number of returns of sockeye, four years ago, in 2008 was only about 150.

As most of you are aware, because of the sockeye 4 year cycle, within a 4 year span in the Adams River, there is a dominant year (in the millions, the last being in 2010), followed by a sub-dominant year (in the hundreds of thousands, as there were last year), then (this year) a post-subdominant year (usually in the thousands, though for the last few cycle it has been in the hundreds) and a pre-dominant year (in the 10’s of thousands), which will be next year. You can view a pdf of the numbers of returning sockeye to the Adams River on our website (www.salmonsociety.com), on the Learn More page, by clicking on a hyperlink called Adams River Escapements (a DFO term to refer to the numbers of sockeye that returned to spawn). This will give you an idea of how the patterns have played out since 1938. You will notice that, after the US and Canada, built the fishways at Hell’s Gate in the 1940’s, the numbers increased back to those similar to what we see now.

It can often be disappointing for visitors to come expecting to see millions of sockeye return to spawn every year. We are doing our best to inform people of the variations in the runs, via email requests for information, data posted on our website, news releases and one on one contact in the park. Myself, and board members from the Salmon Society, attended a stakeholders meeting about proposed upgrades by BC Parks to the day-use area of Roderick Haig-Brown Park. We are looking forward to having a major role in the upcoming changes that will enhance the experience of the park in non-spawning seasons and non-dominant years.

I had direct contact with about 2,000 people throughout the summer and fall, in the cabin and on walks. The interpretive centre is now closed for the season. I look forward to connecting with all of you next year.