Pink Salmon ImplantSandie from DFO coordinated with Tenderfoot Hatchery to allocate some eggs for Mosquito Creek.
We set out to plant the eyed-eggs into the gravel bed of Mosquito Creek, similar to a female salmon would in the wild. The implanting process is necessary for Pink salmon on systems that don't have a hatchery on site. This is because Pink and Chum salmon alike leave to begin their ocean journey as soon as they leave the gravel as fry. To achieve the best chance for the fry to return as adults, they need to spend the longest amount of time "imprinting" on the system in which they are born. Thus, simply taking the swimming fry from a foreign hatchery and releasing them in the new creek does not work. This is because once released in the new system they will leave immediately to the ocean without sufficient imprinting time. Once their ocean migration is completed they would return to the hatchery system instead of the system in which they were released as fry. Explaining aside, it was a very successful morning. Brian and Steve surprised us and joined in on the fun. We deposited about 18,000 eggs into the gravel of Mosquito Creek. Later Neptune Terminals showed up to assist with the final 2,000 eggs. A council member from Squamish Nation was kind enough to spare time to accept a $20,000 donation from Neptune. These funds will go towards the Lower Mosquito Creek Salmon Enhancement Project, which is now slated to begin the 2nd week of August 2020. Thank you Neptune!!
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The logs from the upper Squamish watershed began showing up at our laydown area on Harbourside Drive Nov. 6 and concluded Nov 14th.
Nearly all the logs have fully intact, absolutely beautiful rootwad structures. Unfortunately two of the logs got attacked by firewood hunters in Squamish, so those trees are just stumps. We have 18 beautiful logs + 2 stumps. It is likely we will be able to incorporate the two stumps into our structures. The great news as mentioned a few times is the quality of wood and the rootwads. Unfortunately in addition to being short two logs, the pricing came in at about double than anticipated, so it is likely we will need to come up with some extra funding. Also, we are in dire need to source the remaining logs, we need 29 more to complete the number required in NHC's design. Please contact me directly if you have a source for logs with intact rootwads at [email protected] Early Season Spawner SurveysDavid Lavalle joined me to check out some of the lower sections of Mosquito creek in search for some early Coho. We walked the creek with our GoPros in the water for about a kilometer, but didn't see any with our eyes. I wold David we would be surprised when we reviewed the footage. Sure enough there were several that we caught on camera. Here are the videos.
Mosquito Projects Update (and Further Opportunities)Lower Mosquito Creek Enhancement Project - Est July 2019 The project site is just under 1/2 a kilometer, the stretch starts at 2nd Street Bridge and extends downstream to the CN Rail Bridge. The purpose of the project is to restore this section of stream to a more natural state. Vastly improving spawning and rearing areas for salmonids. The species targeted for improved spawning are primarly Chum and Pink, but we can also expect utilization from Coho, Steelhead and Cutthroat. All species will use this area as rearing habitat as it is a critical part of the stream known as the "transition zone." Where fry undergo the smolting process before heading out for ocean migration. The improved spawning areas will undoubtedly have a dramatic increase on the success of egg to fry. Additionally, being that this enchancement is taking place in the transition zone we can expect strong and healthier smolts heading out for ocean migration. The combination of more fry and stronger smolts will lead to larger numbers of returning salmonids. What Stage is the Project at Today?The NSSK began the project nearly 2 years ago and has been working with DFO, CNV, and Squamish Nation. In support of the project the Squamish Nation provided a engineers report of the site. NSSK has delegated to CNV mayor and council for support, cash and in-kind contribution. The budget for the project is roughly $225,000 and so far we have secured about $50,000 worth. The remainder of the funding is TBA, with a $65,000 request out to PSF and another large request to be submitted to Patagonia shortly (we expect this to be about $50,000). Most recently NSSK has been in talks with BCIT's Rivers Institute to see if there is an opportunity for their involvement and perhaps help with funding. Another grant application will be sent to the British Columbia Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund. A huge piece to the progess of the project will be if PSF provides funding. Start date for the project is slated for sometime between July and August (2019's fish window). Future Projects/Opportunities#1 - Harbourside Foreshore EnhancementThe foreshore of the Harbourside area in North Vancouver is up for restoration and enhancement. At present Concert Properties is leading the foreshore enhancement as they own a lot of the land in the area and will be developing a whole community as part of their "Harbourside Waterfront" development. They are leading the project as it is a compensation requirement by the City of North Vancouver. The problem with this project as it stands is the foreshore enhancement is limited due to the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority being the land owners of everything in the ocean. VFPA is presently NOT allowing Concert to work within their property, and all signs are pointing to VFPA NOT allowing a land use designation of "Conservation Land" from "Terminal Use." This coupled with the CNV requirement for Concert to prepare for 1M of sea level rise as part of their plan. Thus we would see a very high gradient enhancement area over a very short space, resulting in extremely poor foreshore enhancment. What Can We Do?Next step is to set up a meeting with NSSK, VFPA and Concert to see if somehow we can work on a plan that benefits all parties. No date is set on the meeting, this is TBA. Other Projects#2 - Replacing the Griffin Lacrosse Box with a new Spawning Channel (District wants to turn it into another PARKING LOT! Time is of the essence).
#3 - Replacement/Upgrade of the Bio-Remediation Pools on Griffin Channel (Mosquito Creek). #4 - Fencing of Fell Channel to keep dogs OUT of spawning/rearing beds (this is a MAJOR issue). #5 - Potential to put in another spawning channel between HWY1 and Fell Channel, but on the East side. #6 - Potential to put in another spawning channel in the park North East of Larson Rd. + It might even be feasible to run a channel from HWY1 all the way down to the Park on the North East side of Larson Rd. This footage was taken November 26th looking downstream of the 3rd Street bridge in North Vancouver. Spawning Totals 2018 (so far)In October and into early November a total of 10 Chum salmon were spotted on Mosquito. 8 were female and only 2 were male. There is a chance some males were hiding as I did not get right into the water. As for Coho, 3 were sighted in the lower reached, 2 in the upper reaches, and 2 (dead) in Thain Creek. A total of 7. Two Adult Coho - Superior CamoflaugeIn this video you will see two adult Coho, the first one is very brief. I actually did not know there was anything under the water. I had simply been taking underwater footage of every pool that was deeper than 2' feet to review the footage at home later. To my surprise there were two Coho in this one pool. It is great to see, but I literally filmed every pool for 1.5KM and these were the only adults on the whole river that day. Chum Salmon and Surprise CohoWhen approaching to film these two Chum salmon I spooked them, and they in turn spooked a Coho Salmon. It just so happens that where I set my camera was a very nice hiding spot and the Coho decided to take shelter there. If you look carefully to where the Coho ends up, you can see the tail of another Coho which had wedge itself deeper inside the rock. It is not very often I get the opportunity to film a single Coho, nevermind two!! Some More ChumHere you can see two Chum salmon who likely have already spawned out. You can tell these fish are both female due to their white tails, which have been beaten up from digging a salmon nest, or "Redd." Also, most species of male salmon have faces which undergo a drastic change when in the spawning phase. Their snout/jaws curl up and become quite scary looking. Which is not the case for these two females. Violent Flows on Mosquito + Fell Channel IssuesSaturday November 3rd saw a huge rainfall event for the second night in a row. Leading to huge violent flows on all our North Shore streams.
I went down to check out Mosquito Creek at 9AM and noticed the outfall of the Griffin Channel had nearly entirely washed out. There wasn't much I could do so I continued on to the Fell Channel. I immediately noticed the Fell Channel had run dry (again). I rushed to move fry from the drying channel bed into pools of water. However, I was far too late for most of the fish. After moving a few fry by hand I realized I had to mobilize a new action plan, as my previous actions were too slow for what needed to be done. I went up to the intake and noticed how high the water was. I called around and rushed to get a key from Doug in hopes that it would open the intake box. When I got back I realized that Doug's key was for DNV locks and I was in CNV territory. Additionally, I had noticed the intake weir (in the main-stem) which was made of 3 large cement lock blocks, a steel fish weir and a steel box with a steel mesh screen (primary intake for the Fell Channel) had all washed away about 50 - 100M downstream. This had left the secondary intake totally exposed, which was just a standalone pipe to the fell channel. This had obviously clogged up and I had to way to clean it out unless I could open the steel box with the CNV lock on it. I called around and had a quick conversation with Ron, who was available to meet and assist with a fry salvage. I went home quickly to get a little aquarium net and two fish traps, Ron showed up with a pail to hold the fry as I netted them. After about an hour of netting fish we decided to move the fish into the Griffin Channel. We had a bucket of about 30 Fry and 2 Crayfish. After releasing the fish Ron had to leave to attend other plans. I continued on and did 3 more trips that afternoon each with about 40 Fry. I also set two Fry traps in the channel. One at the top pool and one in a pool that was mid-channel, with the idea to move re-set the traps into the large alcove/pond of the channel Monday morning. Monday morning came and I took the fry out of the traps and moved them into a pail. Then I set both traps at the large alcove/pool on the channel. I moved the fry into the Griffin Channel as I did the others from the day before and proceed to go to work. Later Monday morning CNV was onsite to complete an assessment. Then DFO showed up shortly after to assess the situation as well. DFO was able to restore water flow to the channel and CNV and DFO decided to retrieve my traps and release all the fry that had been caught back into the channel. When our DFO habitat restoration specialist and our DFO community advisor return from vacation we can better prepare an action plan on how we will fixed the intake to the Fell Channel and the outfall of the Griffin Channel. I am estimating a loss of around 500 fish, I was able to salvage at least 200 fry. Of which around 2/3rds were Coho fry and the rest were Cutthroat. I did not identify any fish from Sunday in great detail. So there is a chance some were Rainbow/Steelhead, but I was not able to positively identify any. Devastation on Fell ChannelAbout 3:30PM on Wednesday I received a report that the Fell Channel had dried up. I was on site within 30 minutes to check things out. Once on site it was evident that the Channel had been running dry for quite sometime. Perhaps a day or two. There was almost no standing water at all downstream of the Fell Hill trailhead. I was able to move about 6 Coho fry from the channel to the mainstem of Mosquito Creek. The fish were very lethargic and made no effort to evade my hands as I moved them into a water filled container. As I walked up the channel bed, I could see rat and bird footprints. Likely these were the first scavengers on site to clean up the fish that had fallen victim to no water. The ReasonThere were two factors that played into the drying of the channel. 1) The first was unusually low flows from all the extremely hot and dry weather we have been having this year. 2) The second was due to issues with the weir at the channels intake. The Lock Blocks used to help funnel water into the two intakes had sprung 3 leaks. At each Lock Block joint water was escaping through somewhat small holes, but the volume of water going through was too great to back up water behind the weir and steer the water over the two intake areas. The water needed to be raised about 8-12". The SolutionThe solution was to plugged/patch up those 3 leaks. On site all I had was a water bottle, I was able to scoop small rocks, gravel, and sand into the bottle and dump it into the holes. It was a slow process that took about an hour to start having an effect. Once that was completed I viewed the channel, and it was evident we now had water flowing down the channel once again. As I walked down the channel I noticed there was still no water downstream of the Fell Hill trailhead. Likely do to the small volume of newly fed water slowly filling in pools and being soaked up by the ground and the trees. After about an hour of trying to assess the damage and salvage more fry I noticed the water had finally made it down to the lowest reaches. My work had paid off. Further improvementsMy phone had died and I was exhausted. I decided to go home to hydrate and charge my phone. I went back to the creek better prepared with a shovel and pail, and continued to work on the weir. The job went much faster this time and after about 40 minutes of work and telling trailwakers what it was that I was doing I felt confident that the patch-job would hold. Further to this work, I have heard that Al will be on site tomorrow with a fabric that will be placed infront of the weir on the creekbed to hold rock, sand and gravel in place to prevent these holes from occuring in the future. The CostAlthough the fix was relatively quick, the cost to the creek is substantial. Largely due to the fact the channel habitat had been dried up for quite sometime.
I estimate that over 1,000 fish were lost and we only retained approximately 10-15% of the number that usually occupies this wonderful piece of habitat. It is quite devastating considering there were so many Coho fry utilizing this habitat after the spawning pair last fall. 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. 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. |
AuthorKeegan Casidy Archives
January 2020
CategoriesMosquito Creek,
North Vancouver, British Columbia |