Officials have started using a fish wheel to transport salmon through the site of a rockslide in a remote section of the Fraser River.

B.C. Forest Minister Doug Donaldson says it will take time before it’s fully operational, as personnel will need to follow a specific safety plan.

Officials are also moving some salmon by helicopter, and they are also restricting access for some fisheries in the river.

“Salmon are being monitored through radio tagging and undergoing sampling for stress-testing and health assessment. It’s good to hear that we have some fish being moved through the use of helicopters, dip netting and seining. It’s important that we are working to bring all our strategies to fruition, and as we’re doing everything we can to help our stories pass through.”

Two million salmon are still expected to get to the rockslide site sometime this month.

Federal Fisheries Minister Jonathan Wilkinson says 90,000 salmon have been recorded at site since late June when the slide happened. Today, he called the event a natural disaster, and says crews have been challenged by high water while trying to clear a route for salmon.

“There is a clear urgency for us to respond, and we are certainly operating under a very strict timeline,” Wilkinson says.

The slide happened sometime around June 22 in the river north of the Big Bar reaction ferry, in a narrow, remote section of the Fraser, creating a 15-metre waterfall.

(Photo: Twitter – DFO_Pacific)