For years, monitoring salmon at Simms Creek meant physically handling fish as they moved through a counting fence. In 2024, the Campbell River Salmon Foundation and Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) supported a major change: transitioning the Simms Creek fall fish fence to a video-based monitoring system.
The new approach allows spawning salmon to pass through the fence naturally, without being captured or handled. An underwater camera records the fish as they move upstream, and the footage can then be reviewed to identify and count the returning salmon.
After some initial technical challenges, the new system delivered its first complete set of usable results in 2025 — and the numbers gave us plenty to celebrate.
711 Wild Coho counted at Simms Creek
The 2025 monitoring season recorded 711 wild coho passing through the Simms Creek fence, including:
| Species / category | Count |
|---|---|
| Wild Coho | 711 |
| Hatchery Coho | 27 |
| Coho Jacks | 35 |
| Chum | 70 |
| Chinook | 1 |
| Pink | 6 |
| Cutthroat | 144 |
| Unknown Salmonid* | 173 |
| Sculpin | 6 |
*Some observations remain classified as “Unknown Salmonid” because poor visibility — including sediment in the water — made species identification difficult. These numbers may therefore be updated as the footage is reviewed further.
A dramatic increase in Coho
One of the most striking results is the number of coho recorded in 2025.
Previous Simms Creek records included 116 coho in 2023, compared with 35 chum and 33 Chinook in 2016. The much higher coho numbers observed with the new monitoring system suggest that the creek may be supporting a considerably larger coho return than previous monitoring indicated.
There are several possible reasons for the increase.
Under the previous trapping system, salmon could become reluctant to enter the trap as it filled. Some fish may have found ways around the fence or spawned downstream rather than entering the trap. This phenomenon, known as trap aversion, can result in undercounting.
The new video system removes much of that problem. Salmon can simply swim through the fence and continue upstream on their spawning journey.
There may also be less opportunity for predators such as river otters to access concentrated fish, since salmon are no longer held in a trap box.
167 Coho in a single day
Perhaps the most remarkable observation came on October 18, 2025, when 167 coho were recorded moving upstream through the fence in a single day.
That one-day total provides an incredible glimpse into the productivity of Simms Creek — and highlights why accurate, low-impact monitoring is so important.
For the Campbell River Salmon Foundation, these results reinforce the value of investing in monitoring technologies that help us better understand the salmon populations returning to our local watersheds.
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Getting the new system up and running wasn’t without its challenges.
Vandalism and technical problems meant the 2024 footage wasn’t usable, making 2025 our first opportunity to see what was happening at Simms Creek since the 2023 monitoring season. Learning a new monitoring system also came with a few growing pains.
But the project was made possible by an incredible volunteer effort.
The Simms Creek Streamkeepers contributed 306.5 hours reviewing video footage to produce the 2025 count. That is an extraordinary commitment, and one that couldn’t have been achieved through staff capacity alone.
Their work demonstrates the importance of community-based monitoring and the dedicated people who help us better understand the area’s salmon-bearing streams.
Looking ahead
The 2025 season has given us an important first look at what video monitoring can reveal at Simms Creek. The system will continue to be refined, with the goal of making future monitoring more efficient and getting salmon-return numbers available sooner.
Most importantly, the new approach gives salmon the opportunity to move through the fence naturally, without unnecessary handling, while providing valuable information about the fish using the creek.
The Campbell River Salmon Foundation is proud to support this work alongside DFO, the Simms Creek Streamkeepers, and everyone who contributes to salmon conservation in our community.
The 2025 Simms Creek results are a great reminder that sometimes, changing how we count the fish can change what we understand about them.