News and Events

2008-06-10 - Smolt Fence Wrap Up

On June 7th the last of this years coho smolts were counted. We have removed the smolt fence for the year and are pleased with the results from this season. In our final week we even managed to be graced with the appearance of Lamperta richardsoni var. marifuga, otherwise known as that rare morrison creek lamprey found nowhere else in the world. Here are the final tallies for our 2008 census: Coho Smolts - 6018 Coho Fry - 1037 Cutthroat Trout - 143 Rainbow Trout - 47 Chinook Fry - 4801 Pink Fry - 6283 Chum Fry - 1398 Lamprey - 24

2008-05-25 - The Importance of the Riparian Zone

The past few weeks have seen dramatic swings in temperature and the water temperatures in the creek have followed along this trend with temperatures reaching 17c. This makes it great for working in the creek without waders but can add stress to our fish. Thankfully, the plants that parallel and overhang Morrison Creek have burst into their spring foliage, making a canopy that helps to moderate the temperature extremes. These plants are also attracting insects that the fish eat and dropping plant material that helps add nutrients to the water. Maintaining a healthy riparian zone is a key factor in the productivity level of any stream. On that note, the Morrison Creek Streamkeepers have a number of riparian restoration projects on the go and are always happy to have new volunteers on board. You can contact us at 334-0526, ask for Russ.

2008-05-10 - Cutthroat in the House

Looks like the predictions of bigger fish this week have panned out, the cutthroat trout in the adjacent picture was 403mm, huge by our standards. This fish was one of 48 cutthroat and 12 rainbow trout that passed through the box this week. Coho numbers also jumped up for a total of 452 smolts, and 101 coho fry. Fish are not the only creatures on the move, lamprey have also begun their migration to spawning sites in the river system. If you have a keen eye you may notice the lamprey pairs making their nesting beds, they prefer small gravel creek bottoms in areas of slow moving water.

2008-05-05 - Volunteers thankful for increasing temperatures

Mother Nature appears to be a bit slow in changing seasons this year, at least in Morrison Creek. This slow change is reflected in the change in migration patterns of pink fry and coho smolts. Comparing the first two weeks of the 2007 season with this years migration looks like this, pink fry Apr.19-May3: 2007-1 pink, 2008-6413 pink, 2007-434 coho smolts, 2008-23 coho smolts. Although, the cool temperatures have brought us large numbers of pink fry we are all very grateful for the latest trend towards more seasonable temperatures. Along with this change will inevitably come an influx of larger coho and trout smolts as they follow the fry downstream. Stay tuned next week to see if our predictions pan out or, does Mother Nature have a surprise in hand?

2008-04-28 - Smolt Fence Begins

With the assistance of another great crew this year the smolt fence was successfully installed on April the 18th, and now week # 1 is in the books.The cool temperatures we experienced this spring have brought us a bounty of Pink salmon fry. Over 4000 of these little silver bullets worked their way into our fish boxes, on their way to the Puntledge estuary. Right behind the pinks were 75 opportunistic cutthroat trout, along with a smattering of coho smolts. Towards the end of the week water temperatures started to climb and it shouldn't be long before chum fry numbers exceed the remaining pink fry.

2007-06-13 - 2007 Results

2007-06-12 - Wrap up

It is amazing how quickly time moves on when you are having a good time. The Morrison Creek Smolt Fence Project for 2007 is now completed. Many variables come in to play that can affect the numbers of fish we see going through our holding boxes. For instance, have we plugged up all the holes in our system, what has the weather been like, both now and in the fall, is there a well lit hunting grounds for predators just downstream, and what kind of disturbances are occuring upstream, to name just a few. Between now and next spring volunteers will be trying to monitor and address the variables that are within our ability to influence and manage. On that note I would like to thank all the volunteers that made this year run smoothly. Finally, I will leave you with some of our findings for this year; Coho Smolts-5174, Cutthroat Trout-147, Rainbow Trout-67, Coho Fry 582, Chum Fry-8337, and Lamprey (all richardsoni)-20. You can compare these figures with previous years found in the asessment section.

2007-05-24 - Diversity

One of the hilights associated with working on the spring smolt fence project is the diversity that is observed going through the holding boxes. Not to mention the activity of wildlife in and around the catchment area. While Warblers, Thrushes, and Towhees sing in the lush canopy overhead, you may also catch a glimpse of the local Mink, Deer or Racoon. This prehistoric looking creature is a female stickleback and she is one of many (at least seven) different fish species that use the morrison creek system. Inside the holding boxes one also finds lamprey of which there are at least three varities; Tridenta, Richardsoni, and Marifuga. Add to this the possibility of catching one of the resident crayfish, and a multitude of other invertebrates, and you can see why it is always exciting when contemplating what you will find next. Morrison Creek Streamkeepers offer a wide variety of volunteer activities throughout the year, whether it is monitoring stream flows in the headwaters, repairing riparian zones, or assisting with the smolt fence. These activities are an important part in conserving the diversity that is found in our system. New volunteers are always welcome and memberships are also available.

2007-05-23 - Data Collection

Dave Davies, and Alanna Mitchell gather weights and lengths of Coho smolts as part of our efforts to understand the health of the Morrison Creek system. As it turns out, Morrison Creek is one healthy system. One can only hope that we can maintain this status. Increasing pressure from developers in and around the system threaten the fragile balance needed to produce the healthy stocks we are used to seeing. If you would like to help out with one of our projects or would just like some more information about Morrison Creek please call Jim Palmer at 338-1867, or email palmerj@island.net. For specific information regarding the Morrison Creek Smolt Fence project you can contact Russ Petersen at 334-0526 or email rpetersen1@hotmail.com.

2007-05-13 - Coho Smolts Increase

A little more excitement this week. Dave Davies had 5230 chum fry on Tues morning, plus a couple hundred smolts. Our Coho smolt numbers have been strong all week.On Wed. morning we had a mink inside the boxes and he/she was not too pleased about having intruders, needless to say the mink screen was replaced that morning. On Fri evening a racoon was fishing just up from the fence, good to see we have a healthy system. Some beautiful 2 year old Coho Smolts have been coming through the trap one measured 198 mm, about 8 inches. We had 13 Cutties, and 4 lampreys in and around the traps this week. Some totals to date are: Coho Smolts, 1767, Coho Fry, 299, Chum Fry, 8796. Now that the flows are starting to drop and we have a stretch of dry weather ahead we will leave the debris on the fence to keep our flows through the pipe at good levels.

2007-05-08 - Morrison Creek Smolt Fence Week # 2

Holes in the smolt fence have been found and plugged, as a result numbers have started to climb. In the case of the chum fry they have started to soar, mornings of 1200, and as of today 5000 fry went through the traps. Add to this coho smolts numbering over 200 and you have a very active morning of counting. Thanks, Dave and Jack. We have had 4 lamprey in and around the boxes, one was a 6cm ammocoete, and the other three were spawned out adult richardsonii. Coho fry numbers are low this spring reflecting the poor returns last fall. With the forecast calling for warmer weather we are expecting to experience substantial volumes of fish and other creatures.

2007-04-28 - Morrison Smolt Fence

The fence was installed on Saturday, APRIL 21ST. Thanks to Dave Radford, Steve Patterson, Stewart McIntosh, Gerald Lohmann, Ralph Shaw, and Dave Davies. The hilights of our first week have been, several hundred fry, mostly chum and coho, although one chinook fry and a couple pink have gone through as well. The coho smolt numbers are starting to climb with 23 in the box today. Not quite as numerous, but exciting to see, are the cutthroat trout that appear to be full of fry. Finally, a lone lamprey paid a visit on our second night, it was a juvenile, with an obvious eye spot, this demonstrated that it was close to the transition into adulthood.

2007-04-28 - Weekly Results

We are still tweaking things at the smolt fence, looking for those elusive little holes fish seem to find so easily. At one point we were down to zero fish being caught. By week's end things are finally working the way they should. Mostly we are getting a few nice coho smolts and lots of newly emerged chum. This year we sealed the fence to the stream bed with a very wide (about 8 feet) poly apron sandwiched between the fence panels and 2 x 6 laid on the stream bed.The hole we found was at the apex, under the Fyke net where the 2 x 6s didn't quite meet.

2007-04-14 - Smolt Count 2007

Once again, Morrison Creek Streamkeepers are setting up a counting fence to find out how many young salmon are on their way to sea from their birthplace in Morrison Creek.

2006-11-09 - Lamprey Talk

In November 2006 we were pleased and honoured to have Dr Dick Beamish come to Courtenay to give a fascinating talk on lampreys. His interesting and entertaining style made a memorable evening for the room full of people who attended. At one point he quipped that he had previously thought there were only about six people in the world interested in lampreys! Dr Beamish is credited with discovering the Morrison Creek lamprey in the early 80’s and did both field and lab work shortly afterwards. The talk included lots of preserved specimens for “show & tell”.His lifelong interest in these animals is contagious.

2006-11-01 - Watershed Walks

Morrison Streamkepers have hosted a number of public events lately, including well attended watershed walks. This is a great watershed to explore, with numerous trails where the public can access the creek and explore its many mysteries in all seasons. Our new interpretive signs provide maps to help you on your way.

2006-10-25 - Poor Year for Pinks

2006 - Extreme Weather Affects Pink Returns Late summer drought conditions and accompanying low flows are having an impact on Morrison’s Pinks, which spend two years at sea before returning to their native stream to spawn around mid-August. Despite Morrison Creek’s continuous, year round flow of cool, clean water, this years’ run arrived to find flows too low for access to spawning gravel. By the time water levels rose, their spawning time was past. Hotter, drier summers and more extreme stormy winters are the predicted results of global warming. If this trend continues our Pink populations may be the first salmon species to be severely impacted by Global Warming.

2006-06-01 - Funding for Morrison Creek Lamprey

In the summer of 2006, the Morrison Creek Streamkeepers received funding from Environment Canada’s Habitat Stewardship Program (HSP) for Species at Risk to help protect the endangered Morrison Creek Lamprey. Working in conjunction with Environment Canada, we have been involved in several exciting projects including public education, preservation of habitat, and observation of this unique animal’s behavior. The education portion of this project has included the construction of two interpretive signs near Morrison Creek.

2006-05-29 - We Form a Society

In May 2005 a group of Morrison Creek Streamkeepers formed a Board and we became a registered Society. For many years we have been functioning as a loose knit group, coming together for 1 or 2 annual projects. As of May we have been meeting regularly to map out the direction of our society, and organize future projects. We are very excited about these new developments! New members are always welcome.

2006-03-01 - Growth and Development

The Comox Valley continues to boom and this rapid growth trend has increased development around Morrison Creek. The mid-sections of Morrison Creek have, until recently, been relatively un-touched by development. However, the building boom has now reached this area. Some of these new developments are quite close to the creek. The construction of buildings and accompanying clearing of land near the creek can have severe impacts on fish habitat and on the health of the watershed. Increased housing density, impervious surfaces, road and stormdrain networks, have been shown to seriously degrade ecosystem health in urbanizing watersheds, by reducing streamside vegetation, decreasing summer flows, increasing peak flows, degrading in-stream habitat and degrading water quality. The most immediate is loss of the riparian zone; streamside vegetation that anchors the soil, provides shade, is a source of insects (food for fish) and acts as a filter for runoff entering the creek from the adjoining land. The clearing of the riparian area destroys all of the prior functions and often leads to further destruction of fish habitat as resultant erosion deposits silt into the stream, infilling pools and smothering spawning gravel.

2005-08-07 - Stream Temperature Study

The Morrison Creek Streamkeepers have recently installed three small temperature “dataloggers” that automatically record the stream water temperature every 4 hours. The 1st of the dataloggers is located near the headwaters, the 2nd is located down near the mouth of Morrison Creek at the very bottom of the watershed.A third was recently added to Nellie Creek, a tiny but unique tributary in the headwaters. Only a meter wide, this creek has an unusual temperature profile, ideal lamprey spawning habitat and is also heavily used by coho, and in good years by pink spawners. Data from the "Tid Bits" is uploaded to a computer using a portable "Shuttle" device. Here is a photo of a dataloggers. Go to the Assessment and Monitoring section to learn more about this study.

2005-08-01 - Intake Alterations

Walkers in Morrison Park may have noticed a large blue “gate valve” at the junction of Morrison Creek and Arden Creek. Referred to as the Arden Diversion, the valve supplements Arden Creek’s flow by diverting water from Morrison Creek, through the Morrison Park into Arden Creek. Originally the diversion from Morrison Creek to Arden Creek was an open channel. However, silt accumulation in a pond immediately downstream from the intake, prompted Fisheries and Oceans to close off the Arden channel at the junction of Morrison and Arden and regulate flows through a gate valve. Flow supplementation continues to feed Arden’s ponds and wetlands providing over 1000 meters of much needed additional habitat for salmonids.

2003-09-18 - Pinks Return to Creek

Recent fall rains have coaxed a good run of Pink salmon to return to Morrison Creek. 2003 is forecast to be a good run for this species, which spends 2 years at sea before returning to their native stream to spawn. They may be seen as far upstream as Lake Trail Road, where the creek passes under the new Inland Island Highway bridge, some 5 km upstream from the confluence with the Puntledge River (see Maps section) Watershed Overview

2003-08-01 - Improvements to Puntledge Park Pond

In Puntledge Park, alterations to the intake that feeds the pond has improved fish passage. The pond intake used to be a submerged pipe. While this worked well for juvenile coho in the pond, during periods of low water in late summer, spawning salmon would become trapped and die in the pond. To remedy this, streamkeepers removed the pipe and constructed an open channel with a series of log weirs.Spawners entering the pond can now continue their journey upstream in search of spawning gravel.

2003-03-18 - Village of Cumberland and the City of Courtenay expanding into the Morrison Creek Watershed.

The Village of Cumberland has recently expanded their jurisdiction to include a significant section of the Morrison Creek Headwaters. Though we do not know what the Village plans for this area, the Morrison Creek Streamkeepers are concerned about potential impacts to the extremely valuable and sensitive headwaters/wetland complex area of the watershed that may result from future development of this area. Similarly, the City of Courtenay continues to expand into the Morrison Creek Watershed. The expansion will likely mean an increase in housing density, impervious surfaces, and road and stormdrain networks. These factors have been shown to seriously degrade ecosystem health in urbanizing watersheds by reducing streamside vegetation, decreasing summer flows, increasing peak flows, degrading in-stream habitat and degrading water quality.

2003-03-18 - Upcoming Smolt Fence Project

The MC Streamkeepers are hoping to complete a coho smolt count this coming spring. To count the total number of young coho that are produced in the watershed, the Streamkeepers’ volunteers operate a temporary counting fence at the bottom of the watershed. Volunteers identify, count, and release all the fish in the “holding box” twice per day. Last year was the first ever year that we operated a smolt fence in Morrison Creek. Our volunteers counted a total of 15,116 coho smolts, and 814 trout (rainbow and cutthroat) in 58 days. Go to the Assessment and Monitoring section to learn more about this study. If you’d like to take part in this thoroughly enjoyable project please visit the Get Involved section of this site.

2003-03-18 - Water Flow Study

The Morrison Creek Streamkeepers are currently conducting a study to monitor the streamflows in the Morrison Creek Watershed. This project was started in late July and is ongoing. We were fortunate to get low flow data for the past summer and fall as this was the driest period on record since 1936! Six staff gauges (large 1 meter “rulers” that measure the height of water) are located throughout the watershed and are monitored twice per week by our volunteers. Go to the Assessment and Monitoring section to learn more about this study. If you’d like to help out with this project, please see the Get Involved section on this site.