History
The name ''Hells Gate'' was derived from the journal of explorer Simon Fraser, who in 1808 described this narrow passage as "a place where no human should venture, for surely these are the gates of Hell." Long before the arrival of Simon Fraser, and as early as the end of the last ice age, Hells Gate was a First Nations congregation ground for settlement and salmon fishing. Archaeological evidence from old occupation sites andHells Gate slide
By the 1850s the Fraser Canyon was transformed from a First Nations andEnvironmental impacts on salmon
Short term
Environmental change triggered by the slide at Hells Gate has led to habitat destruction and depletion of salmon species. The slide altered the environment of the river by increasing turbulence and density, and salmon's ability to swim upstream was seriously disrupted as many fish, exhausted by the journey through Hells Gate, were carried back downstream. Daily alterations of water levels also hindered passage of some fish species, and Evenden even goes so far as to equate the slide to "an enormous dam". The slide's impacts became visible by the decreasing amount of salmon upriver and the constant fish supply bflow led to alternating cycles of salmon’s expansion and decline, with runs coming at the beginning of the seasons faring better in the changed environment than the later runs, which experienced a more significant decline. Unable to swim upriver, salmon relocated into rivers and tributary streams that were not previously used by them, and increased fish concentration spanned up to several kilometers below the Hells Gate passage. Pink salmon have taken greater environmental toll than sockeye, as the pinks are of a smaller size and therefore, weaker swimmers than the sockeye. Salmon were forced to spawn in new places and many died without spawning or did not produce many offspring as the habitat was "unsuitable." Changes in "racial units" upstream, accounted for the majority of salmon population, were traced back to Hells Gate obstruction. As well, the majority of the salmon that did not get through the passage were females (in Spuzzum Creek the male to female ratio was 1:20). Ultimately, in the short term, salmon population declined.Long term
Slide-triggered environmental changes that threaten salmon in the short term can be disastrous in the long run, as a "year's run once eliminated does not return." Decline in salmon was noticeable for about 14 years after the slide occurred. Pacific salmon have a unique four-year cycle, with some years being "big" and some "small"; 1913 was a "big" year, and 1917 should have been as well. However the salmon numbers were especially low in 1917, which signalled changes in the "original cycle." 1913 was estimated to produce 2,401,488 salmon, while 1917 estimates were substantially lower, at 559,702 salmon. By the mid-20th century the slide had destroyed a significant amount of salmon from the Upper Adams River, where restoration efforts had limited success. Salmon depletion was perceived by Babcock as possibly leading to "extermination" of the salmon in the region. Studies done in 1941 mentioned that Hells Gate inhibited salmon passage, where salmon clustering below the passage matured into spawning sockeye. After the fishways were installed the sockeye numbers increased, and pink salmon numbers upriver rebounded. Ultimately salmon "homing tendency is remarkably strong," therefore many sockeye easily fall victim to human triggered changes of the environment.Social and political impacts
The altered river environment threatened the salmon population, which in turn created tension between the Canadian government and the aboriginal peoples of the region. The crisis at Hells Gate triggered changes in aboriginal fishing rights in the canyon. In July, 1914, the aboriginal fishery of the Nlaka'pamux arrived to commence their traditional fishing season. Upon arriving at a traditional fishing spot that they considered to be on their land, they were prevented from fishing by the Provincial Public Works board, who were clearing the post-slide debris from the river. They wrote to the Department of Indian Affairs about the unfair treatment they had received in not being able to exercise their rights to fish. A commissioner monitoring the clearing of the dam told the aboriginal fishermen that the slide had many causes, but that the main concern was to protect the fish. The Nlaka'pamux people blamed the Canadian Pacific Railway for the scarcity of fish, and argued that "all the fish heywould catch in the year would not equal the number caught in one day by the white men at the mouth of the river." They had lost six days of valuable fishing and wanted the Department to reimburse them for the loss. But the Department of Indian Affairs informed the Nlaka'pamux that no action would be taken until an official report had been written by the Department of Marine and Fisheries. This inaction angered the Nlaka'pamux further, who leaked the story to the press with the hope of helping their cause. However, this did not save them from a four-day-per-week fishing restriction imposed by federal Fisheries Officer F.H Cunningham. The post-slide restorations to Hells Gate carried out by the Department of Fisheries were viewed by the aboriginal peoples as unsatisfactory. In 1916, a group of aboriginal people offered suggestions and improvements to the Gate's restoration, however Fisheries officials dismissed them and their ideas were not taken into account. Through regulation and decreased runs, the aboriginal population experienced local famines whilst the commercial fisheries continued to operate downstream. Fishing became less of a contributor to the aboriginal economy and aboriginal communities were forced to turn to the Skeena River system and intensify their moose hunting in order to adapt to the restrictions on fishing. The commercial fishery had a more detached relationship with the issues surrounding the slide. They supported the action taken by the government to remove the physical obstructions, and also their decision to prevent aboriginal people from fishing. The commercial fishery experienced a four-year delay and did not feel the effects of the slide until 1917 when the total catch was 6,883,401 compared to the 31,343,039 Sockeye caught in 1913. The commercial fishery diversified their product lines due to the slide's impacts, at the same time intensifying fishing efforts. At the time,The International Pacific Salmon Fisheries Commission (IPSFC)
After decades of dispute over who should get what quantity of the Pacific Salmon catch, in 1937 Canada and the United States successfully negotiated a joint management and catch agreement, called the Pacific Salmon Convention (PSC). This convention created the International Pacific Salmon Fisheries Commission (IPSFC), which was to carry out the convention's mandate and conduct an eight-year study of pacific salmon. The Commission would shape their mandate based on findings from this research. American researcher William Thompson headed the research team for the IPSFC, which tagged fish at various upstream locations, from which data could be collected for analysis. One of these sites was at Hells Gate, where scientists captured salmon along the banks with fill nets, tagged them, removed some of their scales for racial analysis, and then released them back into the river. In 1938, the IPSFC discovered what appeared to be a blockage of Fraser sockeye salmon at Hells Gate. Fish were turning up in tagging nets more than once, being held up behind the narrow passage of river, and re-appearing far downstream after being tagged. Based on these findings, Thompson decided to place increased emphasis on Hells Gate beginning in 1939. In 1941 something exceptional happened with the Fraser salmon migration. Whereas in previous years it appeared that the fish were blocked for up to a week each spawning season, this year the blockage lasted for months, spanning from July through October. Thompson took this opportunity to significantly increase tagging operations, exclaiming with pride that his was "'one of the most extensive tagging programs of its kind ever undertaken.'" By reviewing historical research data Thompson set his analysis of Hells Gate in a wide historical context, and using his own studies he concluded that the rock obstruction at Hells Gate was the primary cause of the decades long decline in salmon in the Fraser River. As a solution to this problem, the construction of several fishways began in 1944.International dispute
Canadian zoologist William Ricker, who was one of the scientists originally employed by the IPFSC, became an outspoken critic of the decision to build fishways and of Thompson’s research. Ricker challenged the foundational finding of Thompson’s research: that only 20% of fish could pass through Hells Gate. He claimed that these data were so selective that they were unreliable and misleading. Two reasons for this, which Ricker believed could have been easily overcome with adjustments to research methods, were that the fish tagged would have been from a highly selective sample of weaker fish than average, and that tagging itself may impede a fish’s ability to subsequently swim through the rapid water at Hells Gate. Ricker stated that Thompson did not properly address these issues, and that therefore "they may be sufficient to completely invalidate the conclusion that" Hells Gate is a serious obstacle for salmon migration. Ricker also challenged other aspects of Thompson’s research, including his assumptions about the causal relationship between water levels and successful passage through Hells Gate. He further argued that there appears to be evidence (based on sex ratios above and below Hells Gate) to suggest that no significant obstruction existed after the initial clean up. Ricker’s criticisms and Thompson’s subsequent response sparked a major controversy in the fisheries research community. This was seen by both those involved and those in the wider community as a battle waged along national lines. Some believed that because of their success in discovering the Hells Gate blockage, Ricker held a grudge against Thompson and the IPSFA. They alleged that this discovery shamed Ricker and the Biological Board of Canada, of which he was formerly a part, who should have discovered the blockage. They saw Ricker's criticism as an expression of this grudge, and "an attack on all biological fisheries work on the Pacific coast." Thompson, too, believed that Ricker’s motivations were not based on scientific grounds. He believed he therefore had a duty to expose these intentions for what they were, so his response shifted the debate away from Hells Gate to the merits of Ricker and his fellow Canadian fisheries researchers. Thompson argued that the Fisheries Research Board of Canada had intentionally or unintentionally overlooked the fact that something was amiss at Hells Gate after the initial cleanup. Either possibility was an insult to Canadian scientists. Beyond these criticisms of Ricker and Canadian fisheries science, Thompson maintained that as fish numbers were improving, the fishways were a success and clearly necessary. The two sides to this dispute each advocated for different remedial action. Thompson argued that environmental factors were to blame for the decline of Pacific salmon, and that the best remedy was to repair the damage to the migration pathway. Ricker believed that over-fishing was the primary threat to the Fraser salmon run, and that it would be a "gamble" to rely solely on the fishways as a means of conservation. Instead stringent regulations should be placed on salmon fishing, lest they be threatened by over fishing. Further, he feared that conservationists and fishers alike may take the construction of the fishways as an excuse to relax their vigilance, which would consequently threaten the survival of the Fraser salmon.Restoration efforts
By 1943, the IPSFC had found 37 obstructions that were impeding the salmon run along Hells Gate. After receiving an official proposal from the IPSFC that included both biological and engineering data, both the Canadian and US governments approved a plan to construct a set of fishways at Hells Gate in 1944. In 1946, construction of the fishways on both banks was completed, offering easy passage for salmon at gauge levels between 23 and 54 feet. However, problems still remained at certain water levels. At high levels of 50–65 feet, and low levels of 11–17 feet, salmon encountered difficulty migrating upstream. In response, two high-level fishways were built beginning with one on the right bank in 1947 that operated between 54 and 70 feet as well as a fishway on the left bank that operated at the same levels and was completed in 1951. Yet some issues remained, and the fishway on the left bank was extended to operate at levels up to 92 gauge in 1965. The last addition was the construction of sloping baffles on the left bank in 1966 that aided salmon passage below gauge 24. The total cost of the entire fishways project was $1,470,333 in 1966 which was shared by the US and Canadian governments equally. Adjusted for inflation, this is roughly $9,800,000 in 2010. Ultimately, the fishways were a successful endeavor as the upriver runs past Hells Gate had already increased fivefold in the short period between 1941 and 1945. From 1946-1949 the IPSFC put several severe restrictions on the Fraser River fishing industries, including delayed starts to the fishing season as well as ending the season early. The severe strategies that preferred maximum protection were a success as the salmon population continued to increase into the early 1950s. Some argued that these restrictions on the salmon harvest were more beneficial to salmon re-population than the construction of the costly fishways, criticizing the decision to build them. After the general success of the IPSFC’s restoration efforts, the Canadian government began pushing for a pink salmon treaty. Eventually signed in 1957, the Pink Salmon Protocol sought to assure that the pink salmon runs remained sustainable while also stipulating that the Canada and the US had to share equal portions of the salmon run.Outcomes
Some argue that installation of fishways at Hells Gate caused more than just an increase in Fraser salmon, claiming that it was also a tactic to reduce the likelihood that the construction of futureClimate
Hells Gate has a Warm-summer Mediterranean climate ( Köppen climate type ''Csb''). It is located in a transitional climate zone, separating the coastalHells Gate Airtram
Hells Gate Airtram starts at the parking lot of the Trans-Canada Highway and descends to its lower terminal on the opposite side of Fraser River next to the pedestrian suspension bridge, where there is an observation deck, a restaurant, a gift shop and other tourist attractions. It was built in 1970 by theCultural References
"Hell's Gate" is a type of beer brewed in British Columbia and is named after the area.See also
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Works cited
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