Bare Earth: Saving the Fraser Salmon Migration

The Fraser River in British Columbia is host to one of the most important salmon runs in the world, where millions of salmon famously come each year to spawn. But this run has narrow margins, literally, as just one major landslide in the wrong place threatens to block the river and wipe out the entire Fraser salmon migration. Fortunately, First Nations community leaders along the Fraser have together with a group of researchers spent the last two years studying the Fraser in immense detail with the help of some high-flying tech to make sure we always have a plan in place when disaster strikes.
Hey, teachers! Here’s a cheat sheet of what’s included in this episode of Bare Earth:
- The Fraser River
- First Nations: communities along the Fraser River and their relationship to the river and salmon, Indigenous knowledge
- Salmon: migration, spawning, life cycle, their contribution to the river and nearby forest ecosystems, the effects of landslides on salmon (including genetic diversity and its impact on salmon resilience)
- Landslides: Hells Gate, Big Bar, river barriers created by landslides, effects of these barriers on salmon populations, predicting future landslides, managing landslides and their impacts
- Climate change, atmospheric river
- Dating the age of rocks, cosmic rays that cause chemical changes in rock
- Airborne Coastal Observatory, LiDAR, mapping, surveying
- Multidisciplinary scientific collaboration, the interconnection of landscapes and ecosystems
- River rafting
This episode is part of our series Bare Earth, where we set out to see what the bare-earth landscapes of our coast will reveal when seen from above-way, way above.
Created by the Hakai Institute
Produced by Katrina Pyne and Meig Henry
Edited by Katrina Pyne
Narrated by Katrina Pyne
Videography by Bennett Whitnell
Additional videography by Grant Callegari, Will McInnes, Eiko Jones, Kristina Blanchflower, Derek Heathfield, Evan Byrnes, and Storyblocks
ACO motion graphics by Nick Viner
Additional visuals provided by the Royal BC Museum, Vancouver City Archives, Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Special thanks to:
Jeremy Venditti, Simon Fraser University
Shawn Chartrand, Simon Fraser University
Brian Menounos, University of Northern British Columbia
David Patterson, Fisheries and Oceans Canada/Simon Fraser University
Kendra Robinson, Fisheries and Oceans Canada/Simon Fraser University
Mike Hawkshaw, Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Derek Heathfield, Hakai Institute
Kim Menounos, Fraser Basin Council
Greg Witzky, Fraser River Aboriginal Fisheries Secretariat
Elizabeth Dingle, Durham University
Ben Koop, University of Victoria
Isaac Larsen, University of Massachusetts
Jonathan Moore, Simon Fraser University
Gregory Owens, University of Victoria
Sara Wuitchik, Mount Royal University
Erin Seagren, Simon Fraser University
Aaron Steelquist, Simon Fraser University
Jeff Larimer, Simon Fraser University
Matteo Saletti, Simon Fraser University
Evan Byrnes, Simon Fraser University
Julia Carr, Simon Fraser University
Kim Sivak, Simon Fraser University
Morgan Wright, Simon Fraser University
Kyle Kusack, Simon Fraser University
Dan Murphy, Simon Fraser University
Max Hurson, Simon Fraser University
Tingan Li, Simon Fraser University
Tasha Peterson, Fraser Basin Council
Nick Viner, Hakai Institute
Will McInnes, Hakai Institute
Keith Holmes, Hakai Institute
Steve Beffort, Hakai Institute
Santiago Gonzalez Arriola, Hakai Institute
Rob White, Hakai Institute
Taylor Denouden, Hakai Institute
Darwin Baerg, Rivertec
Jake Baerg, Rivertec
Will Baerg, Rivertec
The ongoing research is funded by:
British Columbia Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund (BCSRIF)
Hakai Institute (Tula Foundation)
Environmental Program, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Big Bar Slide Monitoring Program, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
River Dynamics Laboratory
Simon Fraser University
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)

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Thank you so much for your hard work and love for our earth. I enjoy all your videos. They educate us so much and in a beautiful way. I wish more people knew about your work and your wonderful and educative videos. They are a must for everyone.