One of the biggest events on the calendar for the Kanaka Education and Environmental Partnership, a community celebration of salmon, is coming up.
Goodbye Chums is an annual spring salmon release and family event that is taking place this Saturday, April 27. It’s a day that sees children with white pails full of water and chum salmon fry pour the fish into Kanaka Creek to watch them swim into nature. The fish are reared at the Bell-Irving Hatchery, and will start their journey to the Pacific Ocean.
KEEPS spokesperson Ross Davies calls it a “bucket list” event.
He said there will also be fun and educational activities and displays for all ages at Kanaka Creek Regional Park, at 11484 - 256th St. It will run from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m.
This is an event that has been happening for 40 years.
In recent years, the event has drawn crowds of more than 500, and they will release some 20,000 fry into the waterway.
Parking can be tight, and there is a free five-minute shuttle from Webster’s Corner Elementary (25554 Dewdney Trunk Rd.
KEEPS is a non-profit that maintains the health of the Kanaka Creek watershed, and the event is presented in partnership with Metro Vancouver Regional Parks. Through the year, KEEPS will release hundreds of thousands of chum and coho salmon, and pink salmon on odd years.
KEEPS will also be holding its annual general meeting on May 2, voting in new board members for a two-year term, reviewing the past year’s activities, and hearing from a guest speaker from Fishers and Oceans. Anyone is welcome to attend and learn more about the group at the Stewardship Centre, at Kanaka Creek Regional Park, starting at 7 p.m.
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