With grants running dry, 49-year-old Mossom Creek Hatchery launches endowment fund
The goal? To keep its work afloat for generations to come
Ten years ago, Kevin Ryan, recently retired from CP Rail, read about a fire at Mossom Creek Hatchery and its subsequent rebuild. He decided to check it out.
“I just kind of really clicked with the people who were there. And got really interested in salmon,” he said.
He started volunteering for them. Two years later, he became the organization’s president.
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It has been a “really nice journey for me,” he said.
Now, Ryan is trying to keep the hatchery running for generations to come. In mid-June, the organization launched the Mossom Creek Hatchery endowment fund, with the hopes of attracting donations that will provide them with secure funding for decades.
They want their work — which includes salmon habitat restoration and conservation, environmental education for Tri-Cities kids, on-going hatchery operations, and research — to keep going.
“It’s important because salmon are keystone species, and they’re struggling,” said Ryan. “We see creeks all over the Lower Mainland that are polluted.”
He gave the example of Stoney Creek, a creek that runs between Coquitlam and Burnaby, which is notoriously polluted and has reported fish kills.
“There’s a lot of pressures on salmon, caused by development,” said Ryan. “And I think what hatcheries are doing is critically important to keep the fish levels at a sustainable level.”
While Mossom Creek Hatchery receives some money from Fishers and Oceans Canada, it isn’t enough. Currently, Ryan said he is “writing grants all the time” to keep the hatchery’s operations afloat.
It can also be a time sink.
“I’ve written grants and I haven’t heard boo,” said Ryan.
This is why they started the endowment fund, which is a fund under the Port Moody Foundation and invested by the Vancouver Foundation. Since Mossom Creek Hatchery can only use the interest earned from the fund, they’ll still need to rely on grants and donations for present-day operations in the meantime.
“If you have $50 or $100 or $500, you typically just donate it to our society. And we still encourage that because that keeps us going,” said Ryan.
But he said they are hoping for some larger donations for the endowment fund.
“All it would take is for somebody to donate their property,” said Ryan. “And then we’d be able to live off, hopefully, be able to live off the interest, for many years.”
In 2026, Mossom Creek Hatchery will celebrate its 50th year.
“It’s pretty special,” said Ryan. “[The endowment fund] kind of all coincides with the 50 year anniversary.”
