Wednesday, June 30, 1999

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_PENINSULA NEWS REVIEW 9

Friends and family of the
late Jim Keeling Sr. gath-
ered after the sixth race
at Sandown Park Satur-
day to present a special
memorial blanket to the
winning horse. Keeling,
who died in May at the
age of 93, is credited

racing to this province.
He was remembered
fondly in articles across
the country at the time
of his passing. For more
on Keeling and his family,
turn to Sports on page
25.

Sarah Sammons —

|

| Review contributor _

' - It seems as though the
Hagen Creek rehabilitation
project is just swimming

along.

JEAN BUTTERFIELD PHOTO According to Fisheries bi-

Bringing Reay Creek back to acceptable levels

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5

ing beds into the lower portions.

Like they did in the upper reaches of Reay Creek, workers will bring in
rock, gravel and woody debris to mimic the creek’s pre-industrial state.
Eventually most of the imported objects will be moved around by the wa-
ter and Reay will start to look and act like a natural stream.

Getting to today’s s level hasn’t been easy and Davis stresses that it will al-

- ways be an ongoing project. The work was made easier, however, by com-
munity participation at several levels. In its early stages, the project was
-made possible only by the joint work of Sidney, North Saanich, the Sidney

Anglers Association and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Even the .
summer water flows are the result of ecoper non from several poopie a

departments:
“When the town of Sidney hooked into the regional [CRD] water supply,

they were talking about ditching the old Sidney. water wells straight: into ©

the ocean,” recalls Davis. “We said ‘ditch it over this way’ and they did.”’

‘Since then participation has expanded to: include the Victoria Airport Au-
Peas thority, whose lands produce a high Percentage of the water running into
oe cethe creek: "
i “This may be the only salmon bearing stream in the world witha an inte :

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2403 Beacon Ave C2 [er [o-|,

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Bob Bailey. Levar now lives in Nanaimo and Bailey, a past president of the
Anglers Association, has since passed away. Even Davis has moved — tak-
ing his fish tackle manufacturing operation to Metchosin — but still returns

.to the Peninsula twice aweek on business and regularly checks in on Reay

Creek.

Displaced commercial fishermen — through South Island Streams and ©
. the Community Fisheries Development Centre — have also become key

contributors to the restoration and maintenance of Reay Creek.

“We're not just doing this so people can look at the fish,” says Gary Tay-
lor, a field supervisor with South Island Streams.

“Fishing has been a way of life for people on this coast for hundreds and

~ thousands of years.”

Taylor got involved as one of many displaced fishermen wanting to put
something back into the industry and he emphasizes that positive results
are as much about education as they are about rebuilding. -

“In one form or another, Reay Creek is now a part of the Salmonids i inthe »
‘Schools program offered at six Peninsula schools and has become a per-.
manent part of the science curriculum (stream keepers modules) at nearby ©
Parkland secondary school.

Learning about what we have is ‘the first step towards getting back to
: ed to: take for: ‘granted, sdf “Says ‘Taylo r

“al Beacon Avenue, $70 Trans Canada “148 Second Street
Sidney Coronation Sq,adysmilh Qualicum
656-5252 245-8212

7524807

1 nce ALL Accessories |

938-9811

Cutthroat trout
count way up in
‘remennes Lagen Creek

ologist Chris Parks, the res-
ident cut-throat trout in the

creek counts this year are

higher than they expected.
Although they are still col-
lecting numbers, Parks says
that there are “fish ofall age
classes: from fr y to sexually-
mature adults.”

Parks, excited with the
healthy turn-out, says that
despite the poor water and
flow qualities of Hagen
Creek, the trout are adapt-
ing well to the changing
conditions.

-Just this week, Parks and
other members of the pro-

; ject are eager to report they
discovered a 30 cm.long

trout. Parks ‘and his: col-

leagues. think even larger

fish inhabit the creek.
The Hagen Creek Project
started over three years

ago. The Department of .

Fisheries and Oceans gave
$7 million as a new initiative

to conserve rehabilitate fish
habitat throughout B.C. and.
“the Yukon... The = Hagen

_ Creek Projecti isa small part

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