Clean-up crews with the B.C. Wildlife Federation have pulled almost 45 tonnes of garbage from tidal marshes in and around Delta since 2021 鈥� half of that this spring.

Three successive cleanups in the lower Fraser River have yielded huge amounts of trash and debris, each time blowing through the organization鈥檚 projections, according to a recent BCWF press release.

鈥淓very time we add up how much trash and debris we have removed from the edge of the river and estuary islands, we double our goals for the next season,鈥� project lead and BCWF鈥檚 fish habitat restoration co-ordinator Haiden McDonald said in a press release.

While on one hand that means that BCWF field crews, volunteers and partners have been 鈥減henomenally successful鈥� at removing trash that harms fish and bird habitat and chokes natural vegetation, it also shows that the volume of debris 鈥� including plastic trash, crabbing and fishing gear, boat parts, bottles, Styrofoam, shoes and tires 鈥�  is consistently greater than expected. 

鈥淭here鈥檚 an endless supply of debris coming down the river,鈥� McDonald said. 鈥淲e are making a huge, immediate impact on the environment, but we鈥檙e playing what feels like a huge game of catch-up from all the debris coming downstream.鈥� 

The buildup and types of debris can vary widely depending on location as tidal marshes are a dropping point for floating debris; trash moves in when tides rise and gets dropped in the riparian area when tides fall, damaging vegetation and fish-rearing habitat.

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During Phase 1 of the BCWF鈥檚 Fraser River Tidal Marsh Cleanup project in the summer of 2021, crews removed 9,530 kilograms of trash from the shores of the Fraser.

Phase 2 of the project began in fall of 2023 with the removal of 12,870 kilograms of debris, before resuming this spring and clearing away another 22,780 kg of garbage. 

The collaboration between the B.C. Wildlife Federation, the Tsawwassen First Nation and the South Coast Conservation Land Management Program (a partnership between Ducks Unlimited Canada; the Nature Trust of British Columbia; B.C.'s Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship; and the Canadian Wildlife Service of Environment and Climate Change Canada) was projected to pull 15 tonnes of garbage from the shorelines, marshes, and tiny islands in the lower Fraser River before the end of 2025.

The project has already greatly exceeded its goals by about 30 tonnes and cleaned up a staggering 350 hectares of estuary.

鈥淥ur crews have laid a solid foundation to continue and expand the project,鈥� McDonald said. 

鈥淎 lot of the volunteers are people from neighbourhoods close to the river who just assumed that the area would always be littered with garbage. After taking part in the cleanup, they really started to see the estuary in a new light, as a place they can and should care for.鈥�

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Ladner-based Mad Props Marine lent a hand by providing crews with equipment needed to recover debris in wildlife management areas that are only accessible by boat.   

鈥淲e wanted to focus on areas that are accessible by boat as they get less attention from groups that do beach cleanups,鈥� McDonald said. 鈥淭he volume of debris we are finding in those areas, including several sunken boats, suggests they are the most in need of our efforts.鈥� 

Also helping out was Port Coquitlam鈥檚 Two Guys Disposal, who supplied bins for debris storage and managed the sorting and disposal of the collected garbage once the bins were filled, streamlining the cleanup process and allowing the team to focus on the task at hand without worrying about waste management logistics.

Additional project partners include the City of Delta and Metro Vancouver, and the Fraser River Tidal Marsh Cleanup crew also partnered with Friends of Semiahmoo Bay and Fisheries and Oceans Canada to survey for .

McDonald said the group has applied for additional funding and will continue the cleanup in the spring of 2025 and in 2026.

鈥淲e can now expand the scope of the project to remove contaminated wood in the marsh,鈥� McDonald said. 鈥淲e will also be targeting areas of high wood density that are smothering the marsh.鈥�

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