Researchers at the University of British Columbia say they’ve found evidence suggesting high levels of road salt in B.C. streams can cause death and deformities in young salmon.
Zoology students Carley Winter and Clare Kilgour at the university say they’re three years into a five-year study on the impacts of road salt on freshwater streams in the Lower Mainland and how they affect salmon eggs and young fry.
Kilgour says the results are not yet peer-reviewed, but their research has found that salt levels in dozens of streams peak during the winter months and exceed water quality guidelines when “pulses” of salt enter freshwater systems where salmon spawn.
Winter says researchers exposed coho salmon eggs to salt after they were fertilized and to young fry after they hatched, finding that exposure to a “salt pulse” above recommended levels can cause eggs to die and a small percentage of fry to become deformed.
She says high levels of salt, eight times above recommended concentrations, caused 70 per cent of salmon eggs to die after exposure.
Winter says the results suggest that winter road salting is potentially “dangerous to coho and chum salmon,” as they spawn in streams and their embryos develop when road salting activities ramp up.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 2, 2025.
