Salmon Come Home looked a lot different this year with reduced numbers as part of the event plan.

Due to the high demand and limited event space due to Covid event planning guidelines, the Salmon Come Home event, operated in collaboration with the City of Coquitlam was at capacity within a few days of opening registration.

Most years, the City and the Hoy-Scott Watershed Society (HSWS) celebrate the return of salmon to local creeks inviting local environmental groups to take part. That was not the case this year.

“We were excited to have this event back, as the residents so enjoy it,” said the president of the Society, Robbin Whachell. “This year with health guidelines we opted to focus on the salmon, the hatchery and the work of the Society.”

The City handled the registration for a walk-through event highlighting salmon talks with live coho and chum supported by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

DFO representative, Brandon holds a mature live coho salmon.

The reduced attendance, along with the registration created the right mix for a nice steady and easy to manage flow of people. Residents had lots of time to ask questions of HSWS volunteers and lots of space to see the coho fry up close as well as the mature coho and chum.

“We did not have many fish in the stream this year, but a couple of chum held out under the bridge for a good part of the event to the delight of families salmon-spotting,” said Whachell.

Chum salmon can usually be seen into mid-November so there is still time to go out and explore.

Coho salmon run into mid-December. Check out our salmon-spotting tips HERE.

The City has provided a family-fun guide and map of salmon-viewing locations (PDF) along with a scavenger hunt to help you explore nature and enjoy the outdoors.

Check out our Facebook photo album for more images.