Late summer fishing bans sought for central B.C. rivers

[agentaqua]

Biologist says measures needed to protect steelhead trout from effects of rising water temperatures
By Anna Dimoff, CBC News Posted: Aug 30, 2016 2:32 PM PT
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/fishing-bans-northern-water-systems-1.3741271

 

[UkeeDreamin]

Bit of a head-scratcher as the EC Hydrograph data shows that the Nicola hasn't exceeded 20C temps a single time this August. It did exceed 20C for the last week of July. This past week has seen daily temps btwn 15C and 19C. Nicola has also seen unprecedented high flows through the summer.

Talked with my buddy who tags Chinook for DFO on the Nicola and he said they've seen temps in the 15-16C range most mornings and have yet to have to shut down tagging due to temp (20C is their rule of thumb). He went so far as to say they actually requested the Ministry reduce flows out of the Nicola Dam as flows were too high - which for anyone who knows the Nicola sounds like the biggest oxymoron when referring to summer flows!!

While I don't object to protecting these weak stocks that typically experience extreme low flows and brutally high temps outside of the limited ground water refugia zones, it would be nice to see fishery managers adopt a consistent framework for making these decisions. Salmonids need the same flows, temps and dissolved oxygen whether they reside in a river on the Island, in the Skeena drainage, the BC Interior or in the Kootenays. For example a closure trigger like 7-d average flows in the bottom quartile for the summer low flow period and/or a 7-d avg temp exceeding 20C. A similar criteria could inform re-opening a system, such as once a river has been closed it needs to show a 7-d flow average above the bottom quartile or 7-d avg temp below 18C. Hard to argue if the decision making is communicated and consistently applied. When closures happen in a reactive manner with no clear or consistent criteria, opens the managers up to questions and criticism.

Cheers!

Ukee

 

[finaddict]

UkeeD, I wonder if there has been much in the way of water license abuse in those 3 Nicola Tribs prompting the requested closure. I have heard many complaints about the cattle ranchers in taht area seriously abusing their licenses and overusing to whatever they think they need.

 

[Whitebuck]

Ukee, great points!!!!!! Much more ********!!!!! That area has had a much cooler summer. Temps this week in spences bridge are a high of 13 degrees. Thats damn near below freezing in the hills at night.

 

[UkeeDreamin]

Finaddict, as a generalization, the Nicola and tribs is the poster child for water mismanagement. Right from over logging the upper watershed impacting the system to such a degree that even the Ministry of Forest has designated it a Temperature Sensitive stream to Agriculture throughout the middle and lower sections stripping off al riparian so there is no shade to attenuate temperature to, of course, both over licensing of water by the Province way above levels to maintain critical environmental flow needs throughout the year to over use above and beyond licensed amounts by many of the Ag operations. One infamous case where a suspected offender on the Coldwater was metered by the Province and was found to be using more than 4-times their licensed amount!

That notwithstanding, I do think this system needs a protocol in place to manage the fishery when flows are low and temps high (though wouldn't it be novel to ensure flow for fish in those years or during those annual periods!!). Just commenting this year appears to be an anomaly in that there is lots of flow despite consumptive use and temps on the Nicola have been surprisingly cool (relative for the Nicola in August!). Wondering if the 27C temps quoted in the article are historical or perhaps recorded on the Coldwater?

In any case, given the Nicola, Coldwater and Spius (along with other Nicola tribs like Guichon) support a good portion of the now endangered Thompson Steelhead population, you'd think we could have better protections than ad hoc fishery closures - like guaranteed base flows and supplemental flow at critical periods, habitat protection and enhancement, mapping of critical spawning and rearing areas (particularly cold water/ground water refugia) which would get extra protections, etc.

Cheers!

Ukee

 

[finaddict]

Finaddict, as a generalization, the Nicola and tribs is the poster child for water mismanagement. Right from over logging the upper watershed impacting the system to such a degree that even the Ministry of Forest has designated it a Temperature Sensitive stream to Agriculture throughout the middle and lower sections stripping off al riparian so there is no shade to attenuate temperature to, of course, both over licensing of water by the Province way above levels to maintain critical environmental flow needs throughout the year to over use above and beyond licensed amounts by many of the Ag operations. One infamous case where a suspected offender on the Coldwater was metered by the Province and was found to be using more than 4-times their licensed amount!

That notwithstanding, I do think this system needs a protocol in place to manage the fishery when flows are low and temps high (though wouldn't it be novel to ensure flow for fish in those years or during those annual periods!!). Just commenting this year appears to be an anomaly in that there is lots of flow despite consumptive use and temps on the Nicola have been surprisingly cool (relative for the Nicola in August!). Wondering if the 27C temps quoted in the article are historical or perhaps recorded on the Coldwater?

In any case, given the Nicola, Coldwater and Spius (along with other Nicola tribs like Guichon) support a good portion of the now endangered Thompson Steelhead population, you'd think we could have better protections than ad hoc fishery closures - like guaranteed base flows and supplemental flow at critical periods, habitat protection and enhancement, mapping of critical spawning and rearing areas (particularly cold water/ground water refugia) which would get extra protections, etc.

Cheers!

Ukee

100% agree UD, and I would be willing to bet that somewhere buried deep in DFO's record there will be the guaranteed flows based on the original Fisheries Act and water licenses approved by DFO. Of course getting access to these would take a FOI inquiry and lawyers etc. I was addicted to the Thompson for 20 years and spent a couple of weeks each fall chasing those amazing fish. I was disgusted with DFO's complete mismanagement of this precious strain of fish and can no longer bring myself to beat up on the last few fish of this unique genetic strain. the entire process and the decisions made (and ignored) reeks of backroom deals and corruption.

 

[UkeeDreamin]

Fisheries Act is supposed to guarantee protection of fish, fish habitat and minimum flows but applying it to water licensing/water withdrawal by the ag community is not something the Department has every been willing to tackle. DFO also provided funding for the Nicola Dam with the agreement that there would be guaranteed fisheries flows released through the critical late summer and fall period. Unfortunately, the dam was constructed in such a way that all flows can't be accessed in low water years. Ministry operates the dam and does do a good job coordinating with DFO when temps are concerning or flows too low to trigger fish to move in from Thompson. Unfortunately, though, it is a surface release system and Nicola Lake surface water gets VERY warm in the summer and blooms a lot of algae, neither of which are good of dissolved oxygen in the system. Dam improvements have been proposed over the years but funding to undertake the necessary studies and designs hasn't materialized.

Cheers!

Ukee