Old news - but cowichan fish can't catch a break

You are funny. Man damned the river.
You cannot get past that.
There is water if you let it out.
Man has screwed around with the river for years.
Deal with that before, you go with the pie in the sky that man is responsible for global warming.








GLG said:
Then how do you explain this.....
The mean annual area of snow cover in Canada has declined by 5.1% from 1972 to 2010 (Chart 1).9
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/16-002-x/16-002-x2012001-eng.pdf

Got an explanation for this?
Across southern Canada (the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence, the Prairies and the South British Columbia Mountains climatic regions) and the west coast (Pacific Coast climatic region), the mean temperature departure trend increased between 0.9 C and 1.7 C over the study period.
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/16-002-x/16-002-x2011001-eng.pdf

We need snow in the winter so that it melts slowly and can supply water through the dry summer until the fall rains come. This is not happening as this data suggests.

Over the study period, the Pacific Coast (-7 percentage points), and South British Columbia Mountains (-18 percentage points) climatic regions experienced decreased precipitation during winter, but data show increased precipitation during spring (+24 percentage points) and fall (+17 percentage points) in the South British Columbia Mountains and during spring (+19 percentage points) and summer (+7 percentage points) in the Pacific Coast as compared to the normal period. The results did not show a significant trend for fall precipitation in the Pacific Coast and summer precipitation in the South British Columbia Mountains.
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/16-002-x/16-002-x2011003-eng.pdf
Click to expand...
 
OldBlackDog said:
You are funny. Man damned the river.
You cannot get past that.
There is water if you let it out.
Man has screwed around with the river for years.
Deal with that before, you go with the pie in the sky that man is responsible for global warming.
Click to expand...
You'd better do a little more research there OBD.The Cowichan River has a weir that controls water flow,not a dam as you so put it.The weir is opened up as much as it can be right now to provide the absolute minimum amount of water
that is required.If it wasn't for that weir and it's flow control,the river would already have run dry a long time ago.It also
slows flow in the fall/winter months when we get a pile of rain that otherwise would flood the banks and scour out the
spawning beds of earlier salmon and steelhead.Without that weir,the Cowie would be in far worse shape than it is now!
 
The Cowichan River Valley is the homeland of the Cowichan First Nation, a Coast Salish people. The Cowichan people continue to use the river and associated ecosystems for food, clothing, shelter and medicine. The river has always been used as a significant travel corridor leading to other watersheds and trading opportunities.

When Europeans and Asians began settling the Cowichan Valley in the mid 1800’s they treasured the area for its rich agricultural opportunities. The valley supported a substantial forestry industry that would turn into the economic base for the entire Cowichan region. The gigantic Douglas fir, hemlock, Sitka spruce and cedar trees (commonly over ten feet in diameter) provided a seemingly endless supply of timber to the settlers. The Cowichan River was especially vital during this time as it provided a means to transport the valuable logs to the coast. Once there, they were made into booms and towed to the many mills peppering the coast. Eventually they would be used within British Columbia or sent abroad to the huge timber markets of Australia, Hawaii, Chile and Shanghai to be used in construction and ship-building.

When the E & N Railway reached Lake Cowichan in 1913 the railway became the preferred method to transport logs; this sparked a huge logging boom in the area. As camps moved and were dissembled, they left behind roads, infrastructure and water supplies, providing perfect town sites for the communities springing up throughout the valley. Logging has slowed down from what it was a century ago, but using selective logging methods, with a greater than 80 year rotation pattern, the valley is managed sustainably to this day.
 
Weir
Weir is a type of dam that is constructed across a river mainly to control the flow of water. Unlike dams, they are smaller in size and the obstruction they create with the wall across the river has a specially designed opening such as a rectangle or a triangle or V shaped opening that gives more thrust to the flowing water. The structure called weir results in an increase in the water level or head which can be measured upstream, of the structure. Rectangular, triangular and broad crested weirs are more common. Weirs are broad crested if made of timber and concrete and thin crested if the crests are made of thin metal plates.
A weir is also referred to as a low head dam as it is a structure across the stream that causes a build up of water behind this structure. The water collected behind the structure is used for power generation or recreation, though it is also used for making canals to take water to areas that have less water, and for supplying drinking water in the nearby inhabited areas.


Read more: http://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-weir-and-vs-dam/#ixzz3DjHJeC38
 
This is so stupid its not the weir its the weather!!! Look outside driest weather in valley....!!! Every river on this island is going through same thing.....
 
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I fully agree with Spring Velocity... OBD-- go back to your tractor and stop pulling the nice folks chains!!!! LOL
 
Poppa Swiss said:
are counting fences up on the river yet, anybody have any numbers from this year yet?
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My info is a little on the old side but as of Sept 26 there were 714 springs.
Perhaps others could give us an update.
 
Saw a pretty sad pic the other day a forum member sent me. Nine dark springs from the Cowy with spear marks in the back of a pick up truck. Easy pickings for them right now.
 
Oct 3, 2014
885 Chinook
6,060 - 4 year average
4,670 - 12 year average

Still early in the counts, will post numbers when I receive them.
Let's hope we get some rain this weekend.
 
Was hiking the Cowi on Monday below the Silver Bridge at a spot the springs like to stack up when it's low.Saw I'd
guess 50-75 of them milling around.Some real hogs too.Several 30+ and one that was just huge,easily in the 40's.
There was also several with big chunks out of them from the seals.Just amazed me they were even still alive.We'd
frickin' bleed to death if something took a piece like that out of us.
 
What impact has man had on fishing of every description on the entire coast and islands of B.C.?

Simple.

Look at the picture now......and then roll the clock back about 300 years or to some point where stocks/species were observable/recordable.

Notice any difference?
 
http://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/internet/English/pet_292_e_33551.html

The management of salmon and other fisheries on the West Coast of Canada
Petition: No. 292

Issue(s): Compliance and enforcement, federal provincial relations, and fisheries

Petitioner(s): Edward J. Beatty

Date Received: 7 December 2009

Status: Completed

Summary: The petitioner is concerned about the federal government’s management of salmon and other fisheries on the West Coast of Canada. The petitioner believes that Fisheries and Oceans Canada needs to carry out targeted scientific investigations to evaluate the status of fish populations on the West Coast. He also asks the federal government about various practices that he claims have a detrimental effect on salmon and other fish species, such as the issuance of fish farm licences and the use of various netting practices.

Federal Departments Responsible for Reply: Fisheries and Oceans Canada
 
Why has DFO not considered a selective closure of rivers and streams with critically endangered salmon returns, for example, the Fraser and the Cowichan. This closure would begin at the tidal estuaries and must involve all user groups that is First Nations, Commercial, and Recreational with no exceptions. In addition, there must be no geographic exemptions to this closure in the BC interior watersheds which support spawning salmon. A positive action, such as this, by DFO would finally begin to curtail the lethal policies of the past which have led to the current crisis. - Edward J. Beatty
Click to expand...

Selective closure of rivers and streams? For the Fraser, how do you do that with co-migrating stocks and timing groups of Sockeye? Chinook and Coho co-migrate with Sockeye in the Fraser and their arrival can be very protracted. It would be next to impossible to just selectively have a closure for a certain river with critically endangered salmon and have it start right from the saltchuck upstream while maintaining another fishery during the same time in the Fraser. Not sure Ed really thought this through. If certain stocks are in trouble then the closures and regulations would have to be much broader and encompassing. Sport anglers and commercial fishermen would be the first to feel the impact as First Nations would get next priority after conservation. Although I am not against putting certain species on the endangered list when warranted people have to remember that it can have a domino effect right down to the sport angler’s opportunities to catch other species and stocks. Be careful about what you wish for, Ed. His fishing buddies might have different ideas. Hopefully he has had some time to think about this since 2009.

No geographic restrictions to this closure in the BC interior watersheds? The department’s support of First Nations endeavors with inland, terminal fisheries is a positive action. It’s a more selective fishery which avoids the bycatch of weaker co-migrating stocks. These are not “rights” based fisheries. They are licensed, monitored fisheries with quotas and are do not go ahead if the abundance coming past Mission is not happening.
 
Seafever said:
What impact has man had on fishing of every description on the entire coast and islands of B.C.?

Simple.

Look at the picture now......and then roll the clock back about 300 years or to some point where stocks/species were observable/recordable.

Notice any difference?
Click to expand...

If we never landed and the populations of first nations grew the same we would be in the same boat. 300 years = more people requiring more food and resources. Every single person first nations and every one else have impacted stocks...That is just a fact. I think were derailing here...
Any news GLG we got a little rain last night but not enough.
 
Well that rain we got yesterday helped alot.River spiked about 5-6" so I went for a hike upstream.From a vantage point
up high on the bank over a 10-15 min. period,I saw at least 25-30 big springs heading upstream full bore in small
groups of 3 or 4 at a time.Then just as I was getting ready to leave,a group of about 10-12 coho cruised by.With more
rain forecast this week it should allow the fish to at least escape the carnage of snuffy and friends in the estuary.Just a few hundred spears for them to dodge and a maze of spinners and spoons between the mouth and the spawning grounds and everything's good.It must suck to be a Cowichan salmon!
 
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