I enjoyed your video and commentary. I live in BC and have been a commercial fisherman my entire adult life. To me, that looks like a really healthy salmon run. The strongest fish will defeat the obstacles and reproduce. The fittest fish pass on their genes and that's how it is supposed to work with salmon. Many start the journey but few actually get to spawn. When I was a kid living in Mississauga in1972 there were no salmon in the Humber River and it was heavily polluted. Back then(early '70's) the Lamprey eels had killed most of the predatory fish in Lake Ontario. The introduction of Chinook into the Great Lakes was just in its infancy. It was a frontpage news headline when the first few salmon appeared in the Credit River and Bronte Creek. Cheers.
Thank you for your insights. It is nice to see the salmon come back. At the moment they are trying to get the Atlantic Salmon back but the water conditions of Lake Ontario might still be unfavorable for them. Some of the rivers flowing through the GTA are still quite polluted and get quite a lot of silt specially after rain if these can be cleaned up Salmon could be easily reintroduced in them. I hope that at some point we will see salmon running in all of them just like they did over a hundred twenty years ago.
@@myamazingcanada6661 It never occurred to me that Atlantic salmon were once native to Lake Ontario until I watched your video. I followed that up by doing a little research and it was just as you explained. They were expatriated by the mid 1800's. It may not be an easy task for the Atlantics to compete with the Chinook, Rainbow and Browns which now seem well established. The Atlantic salmon could not breach Niagara Falls so Lake Ontario was the only one of the Great Lakes where they were naturally occurring. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.
@@allancrow134 Another fish that was numerous was the Lake Sturgeon, like the Atlantic Salmon its populations have been decimated but not completely extirpated from the lakes. I once saw a documentary on the lakes where these fish were so numerous people considered them a nuisance catches were even dried and used as firewood!!! Hope these make a comeback too. Getting the ecosystem of the Lakes back in order is still a daunting task but sustainable practices can help so can building public awareness can help. If we take care and nurture these natural resources they will give us rich dividends for generations to come. Here is an article you might find interesting en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_sturgeon
Amazing place!I have been there and enjoyed every minute of it.Be it salmon watch or the autumn colors.It has it all.The vibe of this place is so enjoyable.The knowledge you shared is commendable for a new comer in this country.Too good👍🏻
Those dam walls look very difficult for the Salmon to go and spawn. Remove the walls and install rock bars across the river so the fish can navigate through them.
I recorded this this event a couple weeks ago and on my channel as well. Unfortunately just like your video, I did not see a single salmon make the jump. Couldn’t the salmon ladder have been designed a little shorter in height to promote and help the salmon with their laying of eggs? I know it’s survival of the fittest but I would have loved to see some make it.
Actually at around 11:50 minutes into the video I did get two salmon make the jump one after the other a big one that got through the side and then a small one that leapt right through. But I agree if the salmon ladders were a little shorter it would have been easier for more fish to make it upstream. But its still cool to see them leap out of the water never giving up!!!
Water levels were pretty low. Usually after a decent rainfall the water level just under the ladder raises quite a bit and they scoot up without a problem.
You can see the salmon run end of september to the begining of October but it happens based on weather conditions. So with a bit of luck you should be able to see it. I had to visit this park multiple times before I got a great view of the salmon run.
This is just one of six they have to jump up over. Amazing so many can make the jump. sad thing is back in the 1800, this river would be shore to shore in salmon.
Some anglers do catch and release. Arguably there is some controversy over catch and release as many of the fish develop infections from their wounds and injuries and die anyway. The license fees for fishing also allow the province to restock these streams and fund more improvements. More concern is about the watershed and water quality improvements that will allow the fishery to become self sustaining.
The salmon run usually starts in late September through October and peaks usually in the first two weeks of October. I took the videos in the first week of October. But the salmon run depends on water temperature and other weather conditions. Hope you have better luck next year.
I guess these small dams called weirs are needed to regulate the flow of the river. In many natural situations salmon have to leap over natural waterfalls too.
