Spawning Chum Salmon

We are into the peak spawning weeks for the Chum salmon which return each year to spawn in the Bella Coola River and it's tributaries.  They have been out to sea for 3, 4 and 5 years and return in July, travelling through the outer coast where some are caught in seine and gillnet fisheries and then into Burke and Dean Channels where a few more are caught in the gillnet fishery in late July and August.  They are an important part of the history of the commericial fishiery in the Central Coast.  Only a few are caught in the river in sport fisheries, most fishermen preferring the earlier Chinook or later Coho. 

The bears really appreciate this time of year though as these are the weeks to put on lots of pounds as they start the home stretch into the late summer and fall.  Grizzly