Tucked in amongst the forest, along the rocky banks of the Quesnel River, a hidden gem is quietly working away to support salmon and forest ecosystems.
The UNBC Dr. Max Blouw Quesnel River Research Centre (QRRC) is a living testament to the power of community and to pushing back against what might be the short-term thinking of decisions made based on numbers, not people or the places they live, by government officials thousands of miles away. The centre is named in honour of Blouw because he was the vice-president of research at the time and helped carry the project forward to sustainability as a research centre.
The more than 21-hectare salmon hatchery and research facility was built in the early 1980s by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), to the tune of millions of dollars at the time. There were six full-time staff and as many as eight seasonal staff on site.
But during a round of major cost cutbacks, in the 1990s, the federal government announced it would be shutting the facility down and demolishing it, along with some other hatcheries.
"The community got engaged and said, this is crazy, this is an asset, not only do we need it now, but possibly in the future," recalled David Zirnhelt, who was the provincial MLA (NDP), a member of cabinet and also a resident of nearby Beaver Valley.
Zirnhelt said the community was clear, they wanted this asset to stay in Likely and while it was only one of many files he was dealing with at the time as an MLA, for him it was an important file.
Pressure to keep the facility came not only from the community of Likely but also others in the broader region, and from the Xatsull First Nation (previously known as Soda Creek First Nation).
"[Xatsull First Nation] were instrumental in making sure the place didn't disappear," said Richard Holmes, a biologist who has played a key role himself since the community got involved, as the first manager of the QRRC and he still runs the hatchery part of the facility today.
Zirnhelt said the federal government eventually agreed to turn over the facility to the province sparing it from the bulldozer and DFO turned it over to the province in 1995. In the meantime, the community had to come up with a plan to run it.
For the interim, Zirnhelt was able to secure a small amount of funding to be able to maintain the facility, and a group of passionate local advocates formed the Quesnel River Enhancement Society (QRES).
The group was able to secure some additional funding to keep the facility going on a shoestring for a number of years, but by 2000, it was essentially mothballed, said Holmes after years of uncertainty and volunteer time.
It was Forest Renewal BC (FRBC) funds which were key in eventually providing long-term financial security for the facility.
The concept behind the FRBC program was to take some of the forest income and put a small amount of this back into ensuring the resource sustainability.
"Forests are more than just trees, but the revenue mostly comes from trees," said Zirnhelt, who was the BC Minister of Forests for four years starting in 1996.
"However you want to frame it, watershed ecology is important in forest management," he explained.
This was also the time when the critical importance of salmon returning to the streams where they were born to spawn became better known.
DNA research had been able to show how spawning salmon are a major factor in forest ecosystems, bringing the nitrogen they build up over their time in the ocean back to the interior watersheds to fertilize trees, and feed bears, eagles and other species up and down the food chain.
So the timing was right to build more support and Brian LaPointe, a member of the QRES, spoke with Zirnhelt, who suggested they look at the possibility of a multi-million-dollar endowment for the facility. This would depend on the facility being connected to a university. LaPointe said he then loaded up his suburban with other members of the QRES and they all drove up to pitch the idea to the president of the University of Northern BC, Dr. Charles Jago and Vice President Dr. Max Blouw.
A proposal was developed and by 2002, the facility had sustainable funding under an endowment to UNBC, with the interest providing operating funds for what then became the Quesnel River Research Centre.
The QRRC has since become a thriving research facility, with a functioning Chinook salmon hatchery and a regular rotation of visiting researchers from institutions across Canada and beyond. Since partnering with UNBC and researchers there, studies and baseline data have helped build the understanding of forest ecosystems and watershed ecology.
When the Mount Polley Mine disaster struck in 2014, thanks to the proximity of the QRRC, researchers were on the ground within a day, gathering data on the spill.
The DFO also returned to the site in 2020 and is a collaborator in the ongoing work at the QRRC. Thanks to this renewed partnership, upgrades have taken place to improve the capacity and modernize some of the operation.
Having the QRRC in the community nearly 30 years after it would have closed has also had many benefits to Likely itself, a small, rural centre of around 350 people. The centre has attracted researchers and is helping to increase training and education in the community. Dr. Jason Raine is the current operations manager of the facility and brought his family to the community in 2021 for the role.
"It's where we've always wanted to be, we just didn't realize it," Raine said of coming to Likely to live.
When hatchery operations were ramped back up in response to the Big Bar Landslide in 2020, local community members were trained up to fill the need. Ongoing education and outreach work takes place as well, with students from the nearby school attending the facility for tours and area high schools also touring as part of a salmon program. A partnership with First Nation communities saw a one-week program provide training and experience for participants.
Researchers from universities and different branches of government utilize the QRRC to study everything from the impacts of climate change on salmonid development to modelling how diluted bitumen or oil sands oil would act if an instream spill occurs. Genetic profiles are being compiled of different stream populations through the hatchery's ongoing work.
Raine is working on overseeing the addition of a new wet lab and classroom spaces for both research and educational programs and said the capacity of the seven-bedroom house on the site for staff and researchers may need to be increased. He said there are two large research groups using the facility at the moment.
As of the Tribune's visit, there were 200,000 Chinook salmon eggs incubating, with the expectation more would be arriving as hatchery staff prepared to capture brood stock from their target streams this fall. Upgrades to the water cooling system and other aspects of the hatchery operations are ongoing, and they are currently working on raising stock for nine Chinook salmon streams in the Upper Fraser impacted by the Big Bar slide. There were 75 separate salmon populations impacted by the slide.
"What we are trying to do is stop extirpation (total extinction of salmon from specific streams)," said Holmes, adding he is hopeful the work they are doing now will mean the salmon runs will one day return to larger numbers, even if he may not see results in his lifetime.
"What's really key is DFO stock management," said Holmes, noting the laws and regulations are already in place to support salmon protection and recovery, but there needs to be oversight and enforcement.
"It's really in their hands."
Holmes credited both Zirnhelt and Xatsull First Nation with having the vision to see the vital role the QRRC could play both then, now and into the future.
"It feels great that there's this capacity," said Zirnhelt, of the bustling research centre today. He said he is proud of what the people in the community initiated and he hopes the funding can be there for the centre to not only continue, but to grow into the future.
