Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the provincial government say all options are on the table to help salmon migrate past a “significant” rock slide in the Fraser River, near Big Bar, west of Clinton.

The rock slide is in a remote area with no road access and limited access by helicopter, and it likely happened on June 21 or June 22, but was discovered on June 23.

Officials previously said the slide created a five-metre waterfall and noted today that that chinook salmon are holding below the slide and having difficulty getting up past the falls.

DFO Regional Director of Fisheries Andrew Thompson says the concern is whether any fish can pass through the blockage.

“Chinook, Steelhead, Koho and Sockeye that would migrate about this barrier for spawning,” he said. “This potential blockage could have an impact on their spawning success so that’s what’s really at risk here, is further impairment of these stocks that are already in a critical zone.”

Acoustic monitoring equipment has been installed to determine how many fish, if any, are able to pass through on their own. Thompson says a few fish might be successful but officials want more data before deciding what the next steps will be.

“The run that would be most prominent migrating to that area would be Chinook at this point, and we think its in the early part of their migratory window currently,” Thompson said.

“Later on, we expect to see a very large number of Chilko sockeye move up in that area, upwards of potentially a million fish, so you know depending on the stock numbers there could be quite a number of fish that would be below this barrier.”

One option is to transport the fish by truck. Others include seeing if fish can pass through the area when the water level drops naturally in a few weeks, or if reducing the velocity of the water or the height of the falls would work.

Engineering and rock is another option that is on the table.

“We want to make sure that we are looking at the outcomes that will be most favourable to the fish,” added Bonnie Antcliffe, also with the DFO.

The blockage will also likely impact the dozens of local First Nations that rely on the salmon for food.