Coho salmon returned to the South Alouette River earlier than usual this year.
“We have seen sightings of coho in the river since mid-October, which is earlier than usual,” said Greta Borick-Cunningham, executive director of the Alouette River Management Society.
"The return of the coho is always an exciting time. Their beautiful, silvery bodies with a flash of red on the sides are super-streamlined for swimming upstream," said Sophie Smith, also with ARMS.
“October was extremely wet, with 27 out of 31 rainfall days, which makes the river levels high and murky. Coho like to travel in turbid, murky waters or at night, as they are a shy species and are able to hide from predators more easily this way,” she added.
Borick-Cunningham said it's important to remember that people fishing in the Alouette River can take only one hatchery marked coho per day between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31, and only one chum from the same dates downstream of Allco Park.
• For more information about the Alouette River Management Society and how you can become a member of this organization, visit alouetteriver.org, or contact arms@alouetteriver.org or 604-467-6401.