Canada: Massive landslide in British Columbia could cause flooding and create problems for struggling salmon

An expert on British Columbia's salmon populations says the massive landslide that blocked off part of Canada's largest sockeye salmon run has created an unprecedented situation potentially putting the already struggling fish at even more risk. Scott Hinch, the associate dean at the University of British Columbia's Pacific Salmon Ecology and Conservation Laboratory, said the debris piled 30 metres high and 600 metres long blocking the Chilcotin River could cause problems for chinook and sockeye populations both while the water is being held back, and when it eventually bursts free. "These are natural events, but what's unusual about this event is it's occurring at a time when the rivers are way warmer than they used to be," he said in an interview Thursday. "And that creates this unprecedented lack of understanding of what's going to happen to these fish." The sockeye are on their way to Chilko Lake, where they will spawn. But to get there, they have to get through Farwell Canyon, ...