Salmon Run in Adams River 2014

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Adams Rivers is one of BC's most well-known salmon spawning location. Salmon Run most often occur in early October, when over 100,000 salmon making their journey upstream to spawn and die. This is definitely a must-see for any visitors or Canadian. I visited Adams Rivers in October 2014 to see this famous event, and I was definitely impressed. The 10m wide river is almost filled with sockeye salmon, and a lot of caresses on the river banks.

Stream condition and riparian habitat is a crucial factor in determining salmon production rate, because only a fraction of the juvenile salmons can make it back to the ocean. Water temperature, water contamination level, oxygen level, the amount of shade, and sediment level can all affect the survival rate of the salmons.

During this trip, I have also visited a First Nation Heritage site, a sub-group of the Secwepemc called the "Sxste'lln". On the heritage site, there were houses that are almost under ground and they were called the "pit houses". I learned that the majority of the Secwepemc people lived in a nomadic lifestyle, moving from place to place following their food source. They build winter and summer lodges to live comfortably, or they lived in these permanent pit houses, and winter homes.

This is the first time that I have ever learned about First Nations' life styles, and it was fascinating to me. They are a key component of the history of Canada and still is an important aspect of Canada. Due to the fact that I came from China, that is consists of many different nations, I seldom realize the fact that there were first settlers. However, I am truly amazed by how much the Canadian government values the opinions of the First Nations people.

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