Morrison Creek Streamkeepers

AGM Attendees: (L to R, back) Ron, Jeff, Kathryn, Steve (front) Jim, Greta, Jan, Warren, Kayt (prone)

AGM Results .  Some exciting news out of the AGM, we received funding to do some work on improving the fish habitat around the island at the bottom of Morrison Creek near 2d Street.  This is an important initiative for us as it will allow us to even out the flow between the branches of the stream as one of the branches is almost stopped because of the build-up of gravel from the swift fall and spring flows.  This has resulted in some of the good habitat for the smolts and fry being almost inaccessible or low enough that the predators can spot and catch the babies.  Since it is probably our, human development, fault this has occurred we feel it is our duty to repair the damage.

Along the lines of protecting and improving the habitat, it was also decided to become a partner in the Comox Valley Conservation Strategy.  The first meeting is tomorrow with results to be posted shortly.

We also discussed getting more involved in community education.  Some possible avenues include:

• a living by water awareness package for new owners who may not be aware of all the ways they can help/harm the creek.  This is especially for those of us who came from the other side of the Rocks in non-salmon bearing territory
• an intro to the creek inhabitants for families to show everyone the various types and volumes of fish that live in the creek and what is necessary for their continued survival and how we can help them thrive
• a watershed walk to tell us about the history of the creek and what it means to the wildlife in the area

Any suggestions from readers of what they might like to know would be welcome.  You can post a comment on the website or contact us at morrisoncreek@yahoo.ca

Now that salmon season has come to a crashing halt it is time to move on to bank remediation and invasive plant removal and replacement with native species to improve the conditions for the salmon.  Anyone interested in helping the environment and keeping the creek in as pristine a condition as possible or who simply wants to wreak some havoc on the neverending stream of invasive plants, join us for ourAnnual General Meeting on Thursday, 18 Jun at 6:30 PM at 299 Powerhouse.

Our sensational season came to a crashing halt when some small minds decided to destroy the boxes and damage the fence.  Fortunately we were approaching the end of the season so didn’t miss too many fish.  We have since dismantled the entire operation for the season and our thanks go out once again to our faithful volunteers who showed up to help cart the wreckage away.  The damage doesn’t appear to be too severe so we should be able to do some repairs during the down season and be back as good as new for next season.  We finished with a total count of:

172,975 chum fry

11,264 coho smolt

138 cutthroat trout

18 rainbow trout

Sockeye smolt?

The last rainfall (Tue) gave us a record (I hope) amount of smolts in the box (1923) and virtually no chum fry (mind you the smolts had nice fat bellies soooo).  There were quite a few cutthroat and even some rainbow trout come through as well.  We also had a bit of a mystery fish, show here, with very faint markings and a distinct greenish tinge rather than the silver we are used to.  It was tentatively identified as a sockeye smolt that perhaps swam up from the Puntledge one rainy day in search of dinner.  The next day we were down to 200+ smolts and 200+ chum fry so perhaps the rain washed most of the babies out of the system and we will be back to reasonable numbers for the rest of the season so we can give our aching backs a rest.

Brace yourselves for this week’s update, so far this year we have had a grand total of:

Chum fry:  171,821

Coho Smolts:  4972  

Combined Trout: 46

I was very pleased to see a handful (1200) fry in the box this morning a swirling mass of smolts (710)  instead of the other way around.  I suspect that the fry numbers were much greater before we arrived as there were some very pregnant looking trout and smolts going through the box.  Ah well, this year’s crop of coho should be stronger and healthier and therefore better able to survive once they get to the sea (as long as the seals don’t interfere).

Well, we were back up with a vengeance on Saturday, 9 May, with almost 26,000 chum fry in the boxes.  We were rather hoping that the surge that broke the fence would have washed most of the fry out of the system but they seem to be well-trained and decided to wait for us to count them before they headed out to sea.  Luckily the numbers seem to be going down finally.  We also had a big, 32 cm, cutthroat trout in the box but she wasn’t in very good shape and was found belly up at the evening count.

Mother Nature flexed her muscles last night and shut us down for the moment.  The rain, plus the debris being brought down from the trees, increased the volume enough that the water was pouring over the top of the fence this morning and broke the point of the water/fish funnel away from the walls.  It was hard enough to get the fence together with low flow so we are shut down until the flow diminishes enough to get the fence back together.   Just when things were getting interesting as we had over 300 coho smolts in the box this morning.   We also had a lovely 14 cm cutthroat trout in the box this morning.  I hope this was the absolute maximum number of fish we will ever have in the box as our count ended up being well over 23,000 fry plus the others.

As records go, they are falling fast and furious this week.  I thought 8,000+ was a lot of fish.  That is now a slow morning as we hit 10,000+ Sat and then 14,000+ chum fry plus a few others on Sun morning.  If anyone was wondering what that many fish look like, see the photo below.  We also had a nice female Richardsonii lamprey very full of eggs.  Her photo is also attached.

Our first week started out fairly slowly as usual which is good since we need to knock the rust off our recognition skills and teach the new people what the various species look like without totally overwhelming them.  There was also the excitement of seeing some really nice trout, a couple of which were around 40 cm long.

Week 1 count

chum fry 1072

coho fry 8

coho smolt 7

chinook 2

cutthroat trout 3

rainbow trout 1

The second week and a bit was a lot overwhelming.  I know salmon are a cold water species but this is getting ridiculous.  Normally we do a comparison with the previous year to see how the season is panning out but that is not necessary this year.  We have had two mornings with over 8000 chum fry for that count, we only had 1398 chum fry for the whole season last year.  The coho fry and smolts are starting to appear which is going to make counting these huge numbers even more difficult.

Week 2 count

chum fry 28,046  (real total not a typo)

coho fry 58

coho smolt 24

chinook 16

cutthroat trout 1

We have also had several lamprey show up in the box which is very interesting.

The smolt fence is once again ready for the season thanks to our coterie of volunteers without whom our work would not be able to continue.  The challenge, as always, was to situate the lower box so that it could be anchored properly and yet have a good flow so the fry and smolts don’t get stuck in the pipe. 

As usual the trees are shedding like mad and filling the fence with debris so cleaning will be a challenge once the count starts.