Interesting article on supporting stream ecology

Yes he does love this!
Our main problem here is that dfo, moe, psf and everyone else has turned their back on stream ecology. I have been trying to initiate the concept of enhancing stream inverts to feed wild salmon but even among the fishing groups I belong to, (bcfdf and wcfga), it falls on deft ears. Everyone perfers the concept of hatcheries, stopping fn gillnets and seal culls.
It’s a lonely mission I’m on!
 
With zero science or figures to back this up, I’ve noticed the seemingly healthier ecological river systems have had less of a population drop than others.

A good example of this is the Cowichan which has seen strong Chinook Returns and relatively strong Steelhead returns in recent while rivers around it flounder.
 
Cowichan river water has higher alkalinity and buffering ability than most other VI streams. The septic fields of lake side developments can also help restore beneficial decomposing bacteria that is damaged from acidic rain events. Good luck finding studies on this though as micro biology is overlooked.
 
It would be interesting to see research on survival rates if some sort of direct ecological enhancement occurred at hatcheries to coincide with smolt releases.
 
Http://waves-vagues.dfo-mpo-gc.ca/library/34754.pdf

A friend found this for me. Hope the link works. In Big Qualicum river 1980 there was average 17000 macro invertebrates per square meter. In the sheltered waters of Englishman river spawning channel 2014 there was less than 900. I don’t have the link for that handy. The salmon populations follow suit with invertebrate populations.
 
Cowichan river water has higher alkalinity and buffering ability than most other VI streams. The septic fields of lake side developments can also help restore beneficial decomposing bacteria that is damaged from acidic rain events. Good luck finding studies on this though as micro biology is overlooked.


was out on the Cowichan last weekend.. it was great seeing a pile of water ouzel's around been a while and bugs..seems its coming around again :) keep up the great work :)
 
Very interesting! had no idea of the importance of drift word! who knew?

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/driftwood-reshapes-ecosystems-180968104/

How Driftwood Reshapes Ecosystems

"
The dams were in place for just over a century. During that time, the river was not fully alive, according to Robert Elofson, former director of the river restoration project for the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe and current fisheries harvest manager.

“You had higher water temperatures in the summer. No woody debris transport, no sediment transport. Now the wood is doing exactly as predicted,” he says, providing food and habitat for insect nymphs and larvae that in turn become food for salmon."

 
@Fishmyster OMG someone said Chemical changes!!

"River temperature is an important control on physical, chemical and biological processes in flowing waters. For freshwater ecology, river temperature influences strongly species distribution and abundance as well as individual's performance. Under climate change, it is anticipated that river temperature will increase - altering the thermal suitability of rivers for native species and increasing risks associated with invasive species. "

"'This information is important for river management because it may be used to underpin climate change adaptation strategies (such as planting trees next to rivers to create shading) to reduce high temperature extremes that may be damaging for aquatic organisms.' "

Impact of climate change on Scottish rivers: Project to protect wild Atlantic salmon

https://phys.org/wire-news/28179301...-on-scottish-rivers-project-to-protect-w.html
 
https://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=244699&WT.mc_id=USNSF_1

On World Water Day, scientists study spawning salmon through a riverbed lens

"A sweet spot does in fact exist. Bigger fish can move bigger sediment, but they also need more area to build their redds. Smaller salmon need less space for their redds, but they simply don't have the power to consistently move larger-grained sediment. That leads to a trade-off, with the result that an intermediate-sized fish -- the "Goldilocks size" -- is able to build the most redds."
 
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