While a fishway is undergoing repairs at the Bonaparte River, officials will be using a “fish taxi” to help move Chinook upstream.

Jason Hwang with the Pacific Salmon Foundation says staff with the Bonaparte Indian Band and Secwepemc Fisheries Commission will start the job on July 1, with support from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

“Essentially what they’re doing out there, is catching the fish with whatever means they need to downstream of the damaged fishway, and then they’ll load them into a tank on the back of a truck and drive them, essentially up the hill, around the damaged fishway, and then release them back out into the river to carry on their journey to their spawning areas.”

The foundation has also granted groups involved $40,000 to build a fish fence to help catch those Chinook.

The fishway in the river, near Ashcroft, was damaged last summer by high stream flows, and depending on weather repairs should be done by the end of this summer.

“If for some reason they’re not able to repair the fishway (by then) the Secwepemc Fisheries Commission have a proposal into us to do the same thing they’re doing for Chinook right now for Coho in the fall,” Hwang says, adding this “fish taxi” strategy isn’t something crews want to do, but right now has to be done.

“We have these stocks, with a problem like this, and especially when they’re experience the significant problems from effects of the wildfires (Elephant Hill wildfire), potential drought this year and all kinds of other things, where the populations are really approaching serious conservation limits. We want to make sure that we’re part of the solution to doing everything that can be done to help these fish.”

The fishway was damaged by “unprecedented” high stream flows last summer, according to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. And during the “low flow” season last winter, crews weren’t able to do repairs because the river running 500-to-600 per cent faster than normal.