HATCHING FREE FRY
- Thread starter wildwest
- Start date
Little Hawk
Active Member
WW: Drop Mel Hull (Pres. Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society) a line.
Great guy, tireless and the work he and the rest do out there is PRICELESS!
He'll likely get you steered in the right direction.
Good luck and good on you!
melanjudy@shaw.ca
"Some could care less if there's any fish left for our kids!"
Great guy, tireless and the work he and the rest do out there is PRICELESS!
He'll likely get you steered in the right direction.
Good luck and good on you!
melanjudy@shaw.ca
"Some could care less if there's any fish left for our kids!"
Cuba Libre
Well-Known Member
Well-- you dont have to reinvent the wheel as the sort of small stream enhancemment has been done by volunteers hundreds of times here in BC
Start here: http://www-heb.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/community/cip_e.htm
The guy that has to make sure your proposal is feasible from a technical and a biological stand point is the Nanaimo Community Advisor (CA) Barry Cordocedo. His number can be found in the directory. ( tell him Bryan from Courtenay sent you-- he will either kick you out of his office or grab his waders to come and help you
)
Its up to HIM to deal with the red tape ( and yes , there are things that have to go through the process, such as Prov/Fed transplant approval, evaluating potential impacts to existing wild coho etc)
He may hook you up wuth another local enhancement/streamkeeper group so you dont have to run solo.
Right off the bat, I saw red flags when you mentioned the Scotty instream boxes. They are a great educational tool and even have a place for small stream trout enhancement. But as a SALMON enhancement apparatus, I can tell you that they are not practical.
( the CA in Prince George calculated that in order to handle the eggs from one female chinook, a hole in the streambed the size of a refrigerator has to be dug. Ever tried digging in a compacted stream bed??? I have and can tell you that you dont want to go there.
Spawning gravel availability is seldom the limiting factor in small stream coho populations. You just might find that you can do more for the fish with a stream bank planting program , or fencing if you are in an agricultural area. A proper assessment is required before proceeding, but this can certainly be done.
Good luck, and let us know how you make out.
20ft Alumaweld Intruder
Start here: http://www-heb.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/community/cip_e.htm
The guy that has to make sure your proposal is feasible from a technical and a biological stand point is the Nanaimo Community Advisor (CA) Barry Cordocedo. His number can be found in the directory. ( tell him Bryan from Courtenay sent you-- he will either kick you out of his office or grab his waders to come and help you
)Its up to HIM to deal with the red tape ( and yes , there are things that have to go through the process, such as Prov/Fed transplant approval, evaluating potential impacts to existing wild coho etc)
He may hook you up wuth another local enhancement/streamkeeper group so you dont have to run solo.
Right off the bat, I saw red flags when you mentioned the Scotty instream boxes. They are a great educational tool and even have a place for small stream trout enhancement. But as a SALMON enhancement apparatus, I can tell you that they are not practical.
( the CA in Prince George calculated that in order to handle the eggs from one female chinook, a hole in the streambed the size of a refrigerator has to be dug. Ever tried digging in a compacted stream bed??? I have and can tell you that you dont want to go there.
Spawning gravel availability is seldom the limiting factor in small stream coho populations. You just might find that you can do more for the fish with a stream bank planting program , or fencing if you are in an agricultural area. A proper assessment is required before proceeding, but this can certainly be done.
Good luck, and let us know how you make out.
20ft Alumaweld Intruder
No point in transplanting eggs from a completely different ecosystem (e.g. WCVI). You need to find a suitable strain that is as closely as possible related to yours. Talk to the nearest hatchery folks to you. Sufficient water availability is typically the major issue on ECVI streams. That should be assessed before you even go any further. Water quality would be next...
Cuba Libre
Well-Known Member
No Chris. The Community Advisor HAS to sign off the proposal. Other than giving general advice, running through a Public Involvement Program proposal has nothing to do with the DFO Major facilities. They have enought problems trying to deal with the cuts they have been hit with.
Did you read what I posted before??
And I say again, is the job of the Community Advisor to roust out all the expects to do that assessment if he/she judges that is what is neccesary. I repeat-- red tape cutting and vetting the proposal are HIS job. let him do it. The CAs are really on the side of the volunteers.
20ft Alumaweld Intruder
Shermanater
Member
Vancouver Island University studunts look after a small coho hatchery on the Chase river, which the Cat stream is a tributary too. Cat stream does support a small population of coho which are losing a battle with urban development/loss of habitat. Remember coho stay in river for a year before heading to sea and face many challenges including low summer flows, high temps, winter flooding, polution etc... Introducing more fish into this stressed situation is probably not the solution. Your best efforts would be to help keep the stream clean and be a responsible land user. There is usually an annual stream cleanup which people volunteer too clean as much garbage out of the stream as they can. Not sure if that is still ongoing but somebody else may have more info on that.
Right on CL, I wasn't going to argue with the assessment and approval process as I am not too familiar with the particulars there anyway. I just wanted to suggest wildwest to have a chat with the nearest hatchery staff to get a bit more educated on the biological no-no's... I realize that nobody should just walk up to a hatchery with a bucket and expect to carry some eggs home...
By the way, I found that most hatchery staffs are very good and helpful in educating visitors on their doings. Fine way to get school kids interested in salmon I found.
By the way, I found that most hatchery staffs are very good and helpful in educating visitors on their doings. Fine way to get school kids interested in salmon I found.
Cuba Libre
Well-Known Member
Chris -- you are right that the hatchery staffs. both DFO and community hatcheries are first class resource centers. They do have an important education function, that ofter backs up the Salmonids in the Classroom program that the CAs are responsible for. They also can be great places for volunteers to scrounge old materials that they need for thier projects. At one time the voluteers from Nile Creek used to refer to the bone yard at the Big Qualicum hatchery as thier building supply center!!
Shermanater may have hit on something too. If Wildwest can ask the Van Is. University instructor to do a stream survey on the Cat stream (if not already done) it could be a great step towards some stream ehancement.... Just thinking out loud[8)]
20ft Alumaweld Intruder
Shermanater may have hit on something too. If Wildwest can ask the Van Is. University instructor to do a stream survey on the Cat stream (if not already done) it could be a great step towards some stream ehancement.... Just thinking out loud[8)]
20ft Alumaweld Intruder
wildwest
Active Member
I believe the stream has been surveyed...caught the fellow bushwacking up the creek a couple of summers ago,had good conversation with him.He felt the creek had good spawning areas.But yes the summer flows are LOW! I've noticed several times that the flow increased [during the low-water summer]as If someone opened a valve!! Not for long mind-you,just seems like a flush. There are lots of runty cutties and the odd steelhead fingerlings,so it can't be too bad off!
Not for long mind-you,just seems like a flush. There are lots of runty cutties and the odd steelhead fingerlings,so it can't be too bad off!Similar threads
