Our third annual Salmon Spawn Watch contest wrapped up on November 15! Each year we enjoy seeing entries come in from all over the province highlighting salmon returns. 

Our lucky prize winners for this year are:

• David Bradford won a prize pack courtesy of Nimmo Bay Resort x Confluence x Anian
• Quinn Klassen won a women’s Patagonia Torrentshell Jacket
• Ray Maichin, Fernando Lessa, Hunter Jarratt, Tanja Tomlinson, Bonnie Cunningham, Jamie Long, Abby Violet, Charlie Roberts, Syndi, and Michael Knight won Watershed Watch prize packs

This year we received dozens of entries featuring spawning salmon, including some at Stamp Falls, pink salmon in the Squamish River, sockeye in the Bulkley River and chum in the Alouette. We want to give a big thank you to everyone who participated, as well as thank our corporate sponsors Confluence at Nimmo Bay, Nimmo Bay Resort and Patagonia for donating merchandise to support our engagement events. 

Though this contest is to celebrate returns and the resiliency of wild salmon, this was another tough year for fish, with ongoing drought conditions persisting in many watersheds well into the fall. While some runs, such as Fraser River pinks, returned in abundance, others struggled.

By getting out to our local waterways to witness returns, we can help build understanding and awareness of the current conditions facing wild salmon in watersheds across the province.

Though our contest has ended, wild salmon are still spawning in some areas of B.C. and we encourage you to continue to go out, document the returns and share online with the #SalmonSpawnWatch hashtag.

Below are some of the photos contest participants and Watershed Watch staff took of the returns!

Credit: Jamie Long

Credit: Quinn Klassen

Credit: David Bradford

Credit Michael Knight

Credit: Bonnie Cunningham

Credit: Quinn Klassen

Credit: Stan Proboszcz

Credit: Meghan Rooney