Cutthroat Battling & SpawningI visited the same piece of Fell Channel again to see if anymore Coho fry had emerged from the gravel. Unfortunately I didn't see any fry in the same area and to make matters much worse (for the Coho fry) I saw a pair of Cutthroat utilizing the same redd that the Coho had made in the fall. This was in very close proximity to where I had seen the Coho fry of the year just days before. Downstream of the mating pair I spotted two male Cutthroats taking part in a seemingly brutal battle that surely left both sides with some war marks. I think that these two were looking for mating rights for the female spotted just upstream, however a much smaller suitor had swooped in while these two brutes were battling it out. The good news is upstream from the mating Cutthroat I was able to spot a couple more Coho fry. I highly doubt that the fry from the redd below would've been able to swim up to this area, so I would imagine the adult Coho from the fall had actually made multiple redds. Previously identified was two redds from the fall Coho, this would be redd #3.
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First Coho Fry of the Year SightedThe first Coho fry of the year for 2018 have been spotted on Mosquito Creek. The fry were spotted on the exact spot the pair of adults were spawning in the fall. I wasn't sure if we would see any fry emerge for a few reasons. 1) The area where the eggs were laid was dewatered for a period of 48-72 hours as the intake for the channel was blocked. I wasn't sure if the female had laid her eggs of not prior to this time. 2) The area of channel where the eggs were laid has seen a significant amount of sediments and fine accumulation over the past few months. I was afraid this would have burried the fry prevent them from emerging. Seems that at least a few fry have made it out of the gravel. Chum Fry Release on MacKay Creek, 2018On Thursday March 26th the MacKay Creek volunteers along with DFO held the annual Chum release event. There were quite a few kids that showed up, upwards of 50. Looked like the kids had a blast while doing the release. It was a dark evening with periods of rain, which probably wasn't the greatest for the turn out. However for the fish it was great. The water was up and a little bit murky, combined with the darkness it should've made for good numbers making it out to the ocean. - Or at least to get the fry suited to their new environment while they transitioned to the ocean. |
AuthorKeegan Casidy Archives
January 2020
CategoriesMosquito Creek,
North Vancouver, British Columbia |