Raymond Young

The Burrard Inlet Marine Enhancement Society (BIMES) is a charitable organization committed to providing environmental education and stewardship activities in the Burrard Inlet area, including managing the Mossom Creek Hatchery & Education Centre located in Port Moody, BC. Our programs focus on salmon enhancement activities and stream, watershed and marine educational opportunities in the Port Moody Arm of the Burrard Inlet. Mossom Creek Education Centre provides hands on experiential learning opportunities to students and the community. The opportunity for kids to transact with nature in a real and tangible way has meant that thousands of students have actively experienced stewardship activities in local forest, watershed and marine environments. Over the past 4 decades, volunteers and stewardship leaders have taken an active role in providing outdoor nature experiences to the local community. We now have a full education centre that offers a home base for watershed and stream to sea explorations. Mossom Creek Hatchery is a salmon enhancement project supported by Fisheries and Oceans Canada. It was started in 1976 by high school volunteers from local Centennial School in Coquitlam and teachers Ruth Foster and Rod MacVicar. They formed the Centennial School Salmon project which is still an active club at the school. It has received much recognition for its unique and longstanding work. When the hatchery began, there were no salmon left in Mossom Creek. Thanks to the tireless efforts of volunteers over the decades there is now a strong run of Chum Salmon and an increasing run of Coho and Pink Salmon. The hatchery also supplies fish to other streams that drain into Burrard Inlet. By reintroducing these salmon, the hatchery strengthens the surrounding ecosystem at various trophic levels. Every year the hatchery releases approximately 100,000 Chum fry into the area and between 5,000 and 10,000 Coho smolts.