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Day: December 6, 2011

Low Lake Level Allows Fish Habitat Improvements at Lake Fork

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Members of the Lake Fork Sportsman’s Association (LFSA) partnered with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s (TPWD) Inland Fisheries Division staff in making fish habitat improvements at Lake Fork on November 30.

Taking advantage of drought-induced low water levels that have exposed shorelines, teams planted 400 buttonbush plants at various sites. Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis), a native woody shrub commonly called “buckbrush,” was chosen in an attempt to establish woody cover for fishes. When inundated by water, it helps provide great bass fishing.

See the dozens of unique artificial fish habitat models, fish attractors and fish cover used at fishiding.com, the leader in  science based, proven, fish protection.

Lake Fork has had a long history of relatively stable water levels. This has been advantageous in that it has mostly translated into stable aquatic habitat and fish production. However, during the recent drought the disadvantage of this stability became evident. The lake elevation has dropped to an all-time record low, exposing shorelines and reducing cover which provides young fish shelter from predation and ambush cover for feeding adult sportfish. Lake Fork will likely be subject to more water level fluctuations in the future as the City of Dallas increases pumping operations on the lake, especially if the current drought persists.

In lakes where there are prolonged draw-downs, communities of assorted plants will colonize exposed sediment. These include emergent aquatic plants such as smartweed, sedges and rushes, along with a variety of terrestrial plants including shrubs and trees. Woody plants such as willows will grow rapidly along the shoreline, and when substantial amounts of rainfall return to the watershed and the lake elevation rises enough, the plants can become partially or totally inundated.  The “cover” that these plants provide creates shelter for fish and acts as a substrate for the establishment of many organisms in the aquatic food chain. Some of the woodier plants are persistent and will survive for many years and provide benefits to the ecosystem.

The first step in this habitat enhancement plan materialized in March 2011, when the LFSA purchased 1,000 bare-root buttonbush plants from a local tree nursery and planted them at selected locations throughout the reservoir. Survival of these small plants, most less than two feet in length, was low. At some of the planting sites they were trampled by feral hogs.

The second stage in LFSA’s habitat project began to take shape this past summer. The opportunity to purchase larger plants presented itself when a fish farmer in Columbus, Texas, approached TPWD looking for potential customers for 400 two-year old buttonbush plants.   These larger plants should experience better survival. The LFSA agreed to underwrite the majority ($1,900) of the purchase price, and TPWD contributed $650. Bushes were planted at different elevations to hedge against future water-level changes.Written on: 12/02/2011 by: TPWD

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Fish passage boasts jobs, increases fish habitat

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The News-Review
If the fish only knew all of the work taking place on their behalf, they’d likely be amazed. They also might be pleased to know that their needs have put people to work at a time when jobs are tough to come by.

Nearly 60 miles up the North Umpqua River from Roseburg, a huge effort is under way to increase and improve the habitat for the steelhead, spring chinook, coho salmon and Pacific lamprey that make their way up the Wild and Scenic River to spawn.

A fish ladder is being built at Soda Springs Dam so the fish will be able to swim beyond the dam for the first time in more than 50 years, exploring another four miles of the North Umpqua River and returning to the spawning beds of their ancestors in three miles of Fish Creek.

See the dozens of unique artificial fish habitat models, fish attractors and fish cover used at fishiding.com, the leader in  science based, proven, fish protection.

Every aspect of the project takes the fish into account, whether it’s sealing the concrete or rounding out the inside corners of the fish ladder to ensure a safe and appealing passage past the 77-foot-high dam.

Of course, if the dam weren’t there, the native fish already would be swimming unimpeded through the narrow canyon of the North Umpqua. But since the North Umpqua Hydroelectric Project, which includes eight dams, has been in place since the 1950s and provides a substantial amount of electricity, the fish ladder is a compromise.

PacifiCorp expects to spend about $60 million on the fish passage at Soda Springs before it’s completed at the end of 2012. The fish passage is uniquely engineered for the geological features of the river canyon. The company estimated the cost of removing the dam, a solution sought by conservation groups, would have been about the same, but electricity rates would have increased because of the lost hydropower.

Soda Springs generates enough electricity each year to power about 40,000 homes — that’s just short of the number of households in Douglas County. More importantly, company officials say it’s a regeneration dam that produces electricity that can be stored and used during peak demand times.

Despite its steep price tag, the fish passage is small compared to the many massive projects PacifiCorp is involved in throughout the Northwest. Rates are expected to creep by less than 1 percent to pay for the construction project.

That makes it like a stimulus strategy that came along at the right time. While the construction business has been slow elsewhere, the tiny village of Toketee has been bustling with heavy equipment, trucks and workers since the project began in 2010. General contractor is Todd Construction of Tualatin, which was previously located in Roseburg.

The largest subcontractor, Weekly Bros. Inc. of Idleyld Park, hired extra employees to work on the fish ladder. As many as 80 people were on the job this past summer for the company.

Even with winter setting in, anywhere from 50 to 100 people are working on the project daily, making the site appear as if it’s crawling with workers in reflective vests and hard hats.

Between the additional jobs, the promise of clean hydropower well into the future and the re-opening of historic fish habitat, this is a project that’s worth the effort and expense.

Partnership Preserves Livelihoods and Fish Stocks

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HALF MOON BAY, Calif. — Stevie Fitz, a commercial fisherman, was pulling up his catch in one of his favorite spots off of Point Reyes in June when he saw something terrifying — in his nets were nearly 300 bocaccio, a dwindling species of rockfish protected by the government. Continue reading “Partnership Preserves Livelihoods and Fish Stocks”

Catastrophe strikes Coho-laden creek

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Oil spill stains urban miracle in Colquitz Creek

ColquitzSalmon1PNov3011.jpg

Three-year-olds Anabelle Irvine Topping, left, and Cyrus Lessard, from Playtime Preschool, get a close look at a spawned out male Coho salmon, held by volunteer Dorothy Chambers, during a visit to the fish counting fence in Cuthbert Holmes Park last Thursday.

Don Denton/News staff

“This is a teenager, a Jack” he says, referring to the youthful age of the three-year-old salmon. “He’s protecting the genetics of this river.”

A group of wide-eyed preschoolers listening to his presentation are unfazed by the explanation – their attention is focused on the fish dangling in the net in front of them.

“A salmon!” one girl exclaims excitedly.

Unbeknownst to her and her schoolmates, seeing a good stock of grown salmon in Colquitz Creek is something Bos and two other passionate volunteers have had to work extremely hard to achieve.

At the far end of the short metal footbridge that traverses the creek, a large wooden box partially submerged underwater is the best tool of the trade for the trio of volunteers protecting the natural habitat that thrives in Cuthbert Holmes Park, behind Tillicum Centre.

The box itself is a counting fence. The fish heading back upstream from the ocean via the Gorge waterway are funnelled inside so the volunteers can collect numerical data on the fish returning to spawn.

So far this year 252 fish have turned up in the counting fence. That includes 162 counted last Tuesday alone.

The numbers this year are indicative of a stable habitat. See the dozens of unique artificial fish habitat models, fish attractors and fish cover used at fishiding.com, the industry leader in science based, fish habitat, proven to provide all fish with cover they prefer to prosper.

Last year, only 52 fish returned to spawn, but there have been years where nearly 700 have come back. The volunteers will continue counting fish until mid-December.

“We’re getting one-third adult males return, one-third adult females and one-third Jacks – that’s a good sign for the future population,” Bos says.

“If you don’t know how the health of the creek is, you have no idea if you have to do mitigation (to improve spawning numbers). … Right now you can say it’s a healthy creek.”

Catastrophe strikes Coho-laden creek

But that health is now in jeopardy, as an estimated 1,000 litres of home heating oil leaked into the river last week, killing dozens of fish over the weekend.

“The sight of the salmon at the surface gasping for air and swimming erratically was sickening,” said Dorothy Chambers, who volunteers alongside Bos.

The source of the leak has been tracked to a home on Kenneth Street, said Mike Ippen, Saanich’s director of public works. Crews installed booms at five locations downstream of the spill on Friday to minimize any further environmental impact.

Chambers said the counting fence was covered in oil Sunday, despite assurances from Saanich that steps had been taken to ensure the booms were working.

“The oil was rapidly free-flowing over the band-aids,” she said.

A sixth boom was added Sunday and Ippen is hopeful the worst is over.

“The leak has been found, the (homeowner’s) connection has been isolated from the drainage system, so it could very well be that most of the product is already through the Colquitz. Now it’s dealing with the residue that’s stuck on plants and things like that,” he said.

Adriane Polland, manager of environmental services for Saanich, says the municipality is “a little bit scattered” as to the timeline of events late last week, but says there’s optimism now, as live fish have been spotted between the spill and counting fence.

“It’s our most important watershed, it’s our biggest watershed, and keeping the salmon run going in this system is very important for the salmon, and also as an indicator species of the health of the creek,” she said.

The Ministry of Environment and Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) are also looking into the oil spill.

Though leaking heating tanks don’t always come with such environmentally dire consequences, Pollard said Saanich needs to improve its messaging to homeowners to ensure they have their tanks inspected and maintained on a more regular basis.

“The public living in town get a chance to see fish in their natural habitat (in this creek) and this provides an understanding of the impact that urbanization has on our water systems, our watersheds,” she said.

Chambers isn’t sure just how badly the salmon spawn will be affected yet.

Oil’s long-term effect unknown

The salmon, in ideal conditions, would continue swimming up Colquitz Creek, well past Tillicum Centre, and will lay between 3,000 and 5,000 eggs in the waterway near Quick’s Bottom Park and the Royal Oak neighbourhood. The adult fish then reach the end of their life cycle and their carcasses provide the creek with nutrients.

Bos, Chambers and fellow volunteer Barrie Goodwin don’t just count the number of fish, they also identify the species and sex, measure each one, and inspect its visual health (looking for such things as bite marks or net and hook marks).

All that information is then provided to the DFO to help with monitoring of the national fish stock.

“What they do for us is huge,” says Tom Rutherford, acting sector head for community involvement and resource restoration with DFO. “We have a mandate to protect fish and fish habitat, and it’s easy for us to protect it if we know the fact that there’s a vibrant run in that system. It gives our regulatory folks a leg up to make sure we protect the habitat that’s there.

“The Colquitz project is a highly urban system. It goes past Tillicum Mall, under the Trans-Canada – it’s not pristine wilderness. These small runs of urban salmon are important to us,” Rutherford adds.

Bos calls their contribution just “one piece of the jigsaw” to ensure enhancements are made – both streamside and oceanside – so the fish have a better chance at survival now and in the future.

If it weren’t for the trio of volunteers who are creekside daily counting the fish, the gravity of the oil spill may not have been known for some time and the environmental impact could have been even more severe.

“The counting fence has been removed so the Coho can try to escape back out to the ocean.  They will die, they will not spawn, but we cannot keep them heading upstream into such a toxic environment,” Chambers said. “We are very worried that it will kill this year’s salmon run.”

kslavin@saanichnews.com

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