Mon, 5 May 2014
Tags: Fisheries

Elk Lake Enhancement Project

Elk_Lake_Volunteer_Training.jpgOn Vancouver Island, a local angling club is taking the lead in a project to improve fish habitat conditions at a popular urban lake.

The Victoria Golden Rods and Reels (VGRR)’s Elk Lake Enhancement proposal is one of 116 projects recently approved by the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation . VGRR received a $5,000 seed grant to support the creation of a plan that will address the lake’s declining water quality, a problem which has impacted fish and wildlife, along with a broad spectrum of recreational users.

Concerns around Elk Lake’s water quality were most recently publicized in January, when the lake’s annual polar bear swim had to be relocated due to the presence of a toxic algal bloom. The blue-green surface scum was confirmed to be cyanobacteria, a photosynthetic bacterium that thrives in conditions where excess nutrients are present in the water.

Blooms of cyanobacteria have been an ongoing problem in Elk Lake, where phosphorous levels have been elevated through residential and agricultural development of the surrounding land. Since 2009, the lake has seen at least four such blooms, which can cause serious illness or even death in humans, pets, and wildlife. Though the events tend to be short-lived, the mass die-offs of bacteria at the end the blooms can deplete the lake of oxygen, creating dangerous conditions for sensitive fish species such as rainbow trout.

Project leader and VGRR club member Mick Collins says that, despite regular stocking by the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC (FFSBC), there are serious concerns among anglers for the future of the Elk Lake trout fishery.

“Anglers who regularly fish the lake know it intimately. They’re among the first people to notice when something isn’t right. It is encouraging to see so much interest and involvement from the fishing and rowing communities and others in seeking solutions to improve water quality and fish habitat.”

Elk Lake remains an important resource for local anglers, with an estimated 14,000 angler days per year, the most heavily fished lake on Vancouver Island. It is also hosts FFSBC’s popular Learn to Fish program, which teaches basic angling skills to youth and adults. And the lake’s appeal is not limited to anglers: it’s popular with swimmers, dog walkers, and is home to Canada’s National Rowing Team. Through their HCTF-funded project, VGRR is committed to bringing together the many stakeholders to find feasible, scientifically-sound solutions for the lake.

Volunteers from the club have already began working with the Ministry of Environment to carry out a regular water quality monitoring program to provide the data necessary for deciding on the best course of action (watch the video of highlights from the volunteer training session below). VGRR is also planning to establish a lake stewardship group and organize a public meeting to allow stakeholders to come together to discuss the issue – and explore potential solutions.

 

The water quality problems facing Elk Lake are not unique: there are numerous examples of relatively shallow, nutrient-loaded lakes in BC that have faced similar issues and overcome them. The project team will be looking at these case studies when designing the plan for Elk Lake. Restoration options that will be considered include weed cutting, reduction of nutrient inflows, and lake aeration. Once the initial planning stage is complete, the club will be able to put forward a full proposal to HCTF and other potential partner organizations requesting funding to execute the plan.

The Victoria Golden Rods and Reels club is a great example of anglers working to protect the trout fishery resource, to the benefit of other species and recreational users. If your club or organization is interested in working on a conservation project, visit our Grant Overview page to learn more about available funding.

 

Tue, 1 Apr 2014
Tags: Fisheries

60+ Reasons to Renew Your Licence

Bonaparte_Fishway.jpg

Today marks the first day of a new fishing season, and that means licence renewal time. You may already be aware that your licence fees pay for lake stocking programs, but did you know that your licence purchase also provides funding for fish conservation projects across BC? Almost all freshwater fishing licences sold in the province include a conservation surcharge directed to the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation. HCTF invests angling surcharge revenue into science-based conservation projects working to maintain and enhance BC’s freshwater fish and their habitats. Last year, angling licence surcharges provided approximately $2.5 Million in funding for 60 different fish conservation projects. These include:

Conference Creek Watershed Restoration Project (Vancouver Island, Approved for $42K):

Coastal cutthroat trout are a species of special concern in BC, having become locally extinct in areas of Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland where their populations once flourished. The main reason for the species’ decline is habitat loss and degradation caused by forestry, agriculture and urbanization. The Conference Creek project is working to restore degraded cutthroat trout habitat by reconnecting creeks to their historical channels. This partnership of NGOS, government and local First Nations has identified the most productive streams in the area, and undertaken a number of restoration initiatives. These include removal of collapsed culverts, addition of cover logs, and creation of pools below the adjacent highway to provide refuge and spawning habitat for cutthroat trout and other species.

Lower Fraser River White Sturgeon Monitoring and Assessment Program (Approved for $61K): This program uses trained volunteers to apply thousands of PIT tags (similar to the implanted microchips used for pets) to white sturgeon. Regular monitoring by volunteers provides reliable estimates of sturgeon numbers in the lower Fraser River, while simultaneously increasing awareness around the conservation of this endangered species. HCTF also funds sturgeon research on the mid-Fraser River ($16K, Cariboo), with a goal of protecting important sturgeon habitats and key migration routes from development.

Bonaparte_Fishway.jpg

Bonaparte Dam & Fishway Operations & Maintenance (Thompson Region, Approved for $24K): The impressive Bonaparte fishway enables steelhead and rainbow trout to traverse the otherwise impassible falls of the Bonaparte River. Dam operation helps ensure drought effects on fish production are avoided or minimized. Together, this infrastructure dramatically increases the amount of available spawning and rearing habitat available to these fish, opening up over 100km of stream. On average, it is estimated that this site supports ~20% of the production of steelhead for the Thompson Steelhead catch and release sport fishery.

8-391-ORRI-Side-channel-evaluation_1.jpgOkanagan River Restoration Initiative Okanagan River Restoration Initiative ($30K): The initiative restored the dyked, straight-flowing main stem of the Okanagan River to its historic (pre-channelized) pathway over its wider, natural floodplain. The restored riverside channel, bordered by fast-growing shade forestation, follows a more meandering course with deep feeding and resting pools, and oxygenating riffles – measures which greatly improve the spawning and rearing habitat for trout and salmon. You can read more about this project here.

 

These are only a few examples of the conservation work made possible through licence surcharge revenue. Learn more about our projects and programs here.

Mon, 7 Oct 2013
Tags: Fisheries

Restoring Nature’s Curves

Aerial Photo of Okanagan River, with overlay showing difference before and after channelization.

As part of HCTF’s project site evaluation program, staff recently visited a restoration project on the historically channelized and straightened Okanagan River (“Okanagan River Restoration Initiative – Phase II). HCTF (along with a number of partner organizations) is currently funding the reconstruction of a side channel to improve spawning and rearing habitat for trout and salmon. This project will also benefit wildlife species by increasing riparian habitat.

In the early 1900s the Okanagan River was re-engineered from a meandering stream to a channelized and diked waterway for the purposes of navigation, flood control and irrigation. This reduced much of the fish and riparian habitats along the river. The Okanagan River Restoration Initiative (ORRI) is an alliance of government and non-government organizations dedicated to restoring portions of the river to its original configuration, providing habitat for sockeye salmon, rainbow trout and wildlife species at risk such as, Yellow Breasted Chat, Great Basin Spadefoot and Western Screech Owl.

This HCTF project is being undertaken by the Okanagan Nation Alliance (ONA) and project leader Camille Savois-Rivard proudly showed HCTF staff the new side channel which was still under construction at the time of the site visit. HCTF Project 8-391 Okanagan River side channel

This work had been delayed for several years due to unusually high streamflows impeding the instream activities, so it took teamwork, ongoing commitment to ensure partners and landowners remained on-side and perseverence for it all to come together – thank you Camille, for helping to make it happen!

The Okanagan River Restoration Initiative was a 2010-11 BC Premier’s Award Regional Finalist. You can learn more about the project by watching the video below:

 

 

 

 

Thu, 22 Aug 2013
Tags: Fisheries

New Docks for Urban Lakes

The new fishing dock at Durrance is already proving popular with anglers.

 

A joint venture between HCTF, FFSBC and the Province is making angling more accessible to families who may have previously found going fishing a challenge. By installing docks and making site improvements at stocked lakes near urban centres, the Vancouver Island Urban Lake Fishery Development & Improvement Program is providing new opportunities for anglers young and old to experience great fishing close to home.

Urban lake infrastructure programs have been created to help reverse the trend of declining angler numbers across BC. Research by the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC (FFSBC) indicates that one of the best ways to increase angler participation is through creation of new fishing opportunities for youth. By constructing family-friendly fishing sites that don’t require a boat and are within easy driving distance of urban centres, project leaders hope to eliminate some of the hurdles that may have previously discouraged families from fishing.

The Vancouver Island Urban Lake Fishery Development & Improvement Program began in 2009 with seed funding from HCTF. Project leader Scott Silvestri and his team carefully selected project sites that would both maximize potential angler benefits and minimize expenditures through partnerships with local clubs and municipalities. The project has already received over $75,000 in HCTF grants, funding the completion of seven angling infrastructure projects at urban lakes on the Island. These include:

• Newly-constructed fishing floats, ramps and trails at Durrance Lake, Diver Lake and Westwood Lake.

• A new fishing float at Mayo Lake.

• Repairs to the walkway of the fishing float at Chemainus Lake.

• Development of a car-top boat launch for Quennell Lake.

• Improvements to the boat launch at Spider Lake.

 

 

Above: Map showing the location of projects completed under the HCTF-funded Vancouver Island Urban Lake Fishery Development/ Improvement Program.

 

The program has received an additional $56,000 in grants from HCTF for 2013-14. This money will be combined with other partner contributions to fund a number of infrastructure additions from the following potential project list:

• Construction of wheelchair-accessible fishing dock at Blinkhorn Lake.

• Construction of fishing floats at Colwood Lake and Thetis Lake.

• Creation of boat launches and fishing docks at Prospect Lake and Echo Lake.

The response to these improvements has been overwhelmingly positive. Observations of increased angler use at sites where infrastructure work is complete suggest that the upgrades and additions are working: by making fishing more accessible, this project not only has the potential to inspire new groups of conservationists through participation in angling, but also increase funding for fish enhancement and restoration projects through additional licence sales.

The success of the Vancouver Island program has paved the way for HCTF to support similar dock installation projects in the Thompson-Nicola, Cariboo and Skeena Regions. Over the past few months, new docks have been constructed at Yellow Lake (between Keremeos and Penticton), at Edith Lake (approximately 18 km south of Kamloops) and Greeny Lake (north of 100 Mile House). These docks will be used for FFSBC’s Learn to Fish programs in subsequent years, further increasing opportunities for new anglers.

The Vancouver Island Urban Lake Fishery Development & Improvement Program was presented with an HCTF Silver Award in recognition of its efforts to increase angler participation by improving fishing infrastructure at lakes near urban centres. In addition to this award from HCTF, the program has also been named a regional finalist in the BC Premier’s Innovation and Excellence Awards. The awards, which will be handed out in September 2013, recognize exceptional work by B.C. public service employees and teams whose contributions have made a positive difference in the province. You can watch the project’s award finalist video below.

 

 

Fri, 12 Jul 2013
Tags: Fisheries

The Burrard Inlet Restoration Program

The following stroy was published in the 2013 July/August issue of Outdoor Edge magazine.

On July 24, 2007, construction workers punctured a pipeline in Burnaby, sending crude oil spraying 12 metres into the air. The black geyser flooded surrounding homes and oil poured into the storm sewers, eventually making its way to the waters of Burrard Inlet. The spill impacted over 1200 m of shoreline, contaminating birds and sea life.

In addition to the estimated $15 million that was spent on cleanup and rehabilitation, the convicted parties agreed to pay a total of $447,000 to the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation (HCTF) as part of the Crown Counsel’s recommendation to use creative sentencing provisions in the Environmental Management Act. Creative sentencing provides an alternative to traditional sentencing options (such as fines or imprisonment) by allowing judges to specify payments be made to HCTF. In this case, the creative sentencing award allowed HCTF to form the Burrard Inlet Restoration Project, an innovative granting program providing funding for restoration projects on the Inlet. The first application intake provided funding for 6 projects, all of which involve students of BCIT’s Ecological Restoration program. I had the opportunity to speak with three of those students: Sarah Nathan, whose plan to daylight a creek in New Brighton Park will restore historical cutthroat trout habitat, and Michelle Holst and Deanna MacTavish, who are working together to return Mosquito Creek Estuary to an ecosystem capable of sustaining a variety of species.

Q. One of the reasons we decided to write this story is because the BCIT Burrard Inlet presentations at the BCWF AGM were such a hit: what sort of feedback did you get from BCWF members?

Deanna: Everyone really seemed to enjoy hearing about the restoration plans. They liked that we were young people doing this work, but I think they also appreciated our commitment to these projects and this system. We’ve built long-term monitoring into our plans so that we can measure our results: determine what’s working, what could be improved upon, and apply that knowledge to other restoration projects. (Michelle and I) are even in the process of forming a Society, which will focus on improving survivorship of salmonids and other aquatic species in degraded estuaries within Burrard Inlet.

Mosquito-Creek_web.jpgQ. Speaking of degradation, tell me about your project sites: what environmental concerns do your restoration plans address?

Deanna: Mosquito Creek is a highly-impacted estuary. It’s had a substantial amount of development occurring on it over the past 80 years, and it’s mostly concrete. There’s no refuge or nutrients for fish or other aquatic species, so we plan to introduce complexity by adding vegetation, coarse woody debris, and terracing down some of the hard edges to create an intertidal habitat that’s more hospitable to fish and humans alike.

Sarah: At this point, Renfrew Creek is almost completely underground: it’s one of many streams around Vancouver that were infilled. Once the daylighting is complete, water quality will be the big challenge: we’re right by Highway 1, so everything that gets on the road will essentially get flushed into this system. We will be doing stormwater monitoring in the fall to find out what kind of improvements need to be made so that the stream can support cutthroat. They’re very sensitive to shifts in water quality: Reeves et. al. (1997) likened them to “canaries in a coal mine”.

 

 

 

 

Q. Deanna, the Mosquito Creek plan also emphasizes cutthroat, but I understand you’re hoping to restore populations of other types of salmonids? fishingwithroddotcom_permissionreq_outdooredge_story.jpg

Deanna: The Squamish First Nation have told us that, in the past, they’ve seen chum, coho and rainbow trout in the estuary, but not in recent years: that’s why we’re focussing on salmonids. But this restoration has the potential to positively impact a whole range of species.

 

Q: The Squamish First Nation are your partners in this project. What’s it been like working together?

Michelle: Working with them has been really great. It’s a bit of a different system, and maintaining an open dialogue is key. The visuals we developed for our presentations have really helped: it’s difficult to get people to envision this kind of transformation just by talking about it. But when we show them the before-and-after images, suddenly everyone’s on the same page, excited about the possibilities… especially the elders! We are already planning training sessions to get Squamish Nation youths involved with the long-term monitoring of this site, so they can really be stewards of their own land.

Q. In addition to partners, both of your projects involve working with multiple stakeholder groups. Is it difficult trying to incorporate so many different viewpoints?

Sarah: Yes! New Brighton Park (where Renfrew Creek will be daylighted) has so many different user groups: dog walkers, birdwatchers, anglers wanting a catch-and-release fishery, it’s a real challenge trying to incorporate all of these (sometimes conflicting) uses into a plan that will keep everyone happy.

Michelle: Unfortunately, there can be a real disconnect in communications between stakeholders: industrial, commercial, residential, First Nations, municipalities, government… sometimes we’re arguing the same thing, just in different languages. That’s part of the impetus for forming this Society: to act as a mediator and get everyone working together.

New-Brighton-Park-aerial_web.jpg

Q: With all the environmental pressures and habitat modification resulting from decades of intense development on the Inlet, can we really hope to maintain the ecological integrity of this ecosystem? How do we move forward?

Michelle: I think we need to find a balance between accepting that development on the Inlet inevitable: populations are growing, industry is growing, and we require resources, but we don’t have to just take. We can develop new methods to coexist with nature and try to offset some of the impacts that development has.

Sarah: People look at these very disturbed areas and think there’s no point in even trying, and I think one of the big challenges is showing people that it is possible: with a little funding, it can work.

 

Before-and-after-of-Renfrew-Creek_landscape_layout.jpg

Q. How important is the funding from HCTF to projects such as these?

Sarah: This grant money is crucial: even though we’re partnered with the City, environmental projects tend to be a lower priority when budgets are tight. Without outside funding, they might not happen at all. We’re always looking for more partners, and the money from HCTF will hopefully help in leveraging additional funds.

Q. What would you say to potential partners to convince them these projects are a worthwhile investment?

Sarah: Because these sites are located in such urban areas, they have a huge potential to increase public awareness about the importance of streams and estuaries. Renfrew Creek is in a popular park, right next to a swimming pool and in close proximity to the PNE grounds: what a great audience for the work being done! In Vancouver, around 120 creeks that were historically good cutthroat habitat have all been paved over as part of urbanization, and likely a number of those could be daylighted. I hope that successfully completing these initial projects will give us the support we need to restore other creeks and estuaries, and that would be a really good thing for people and salmonids alike.

Read more about HCTF’s Burrard Inlet Restoration Pilot Program>>

 

Mon, 17 Jun 2013
Tags: Fisheries

HCTF Grant Helps Move Penticton Creek Rehabilitation Forward

Penticton Creek.

 

It’s been sixty years since Penticton Creek, Okanagan Lake’s third largest tributary, was able to support healthy fish populations.

The creek, which runs right through downtown Penticton, was channelized in the early 1950’s in response to seasonal flooding. Transformed into what is essentially a concrete trough, the creek lost much of its spawning and rearing habitat for cutthroat and rainbow trout. Other tributaries to Okanagan Lake have been impacted by a range of habitat losses, resulting in a dramatic decline in fish spawning numbers from historic levels.

Now half a century old, the concrete lining the creek is failing. Rather than replacing the current structure with more of the same, the City of Penticton is using this opportunity to rehabilitate the creek in a way that will restore critical fish habitat while still providing flood protection for surrounding communities. A $63,000 grant from HCTF will provide much-needed funding to complete the design stage of the project, allowing incorporation of leading science and current best practices into the plan.

In an interview with Global News, Acting Penticton Mayor Garry Litke commented on the positive effect that creek rehabilitation will have on the surrounding environment: “The long term benefits are the health of Okanagan Lake. Fish (…) are like the canary in the coal mine: the healthier the fish are, the healthier your lake is.”

Improving fish populations will also have economic and recreational benefits for local communities. During Downtown Plan consultations, the rehabilitation of Penticton Creek was identified as among the top priorities for residents and businesses.

“Sustainability and economic activity are key factors in revitalizing Downtown Penticton and the community as a whole, and Penticton Creek rehabilitation is a huge step toward realizing both of those goals,” said Litke. “The City of Penticton recognizes the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation and anglers, hunters, trappers and guides who contribute to the Trust, for making a significant financial contribution to support the Penticton Creek rehabilitation project. Without such support, this project would not have been possible.”

You can learn more about the Penticton Creek Rehabilitation Initiative in the City of Penticton’s Downtown Plan, in this article from the Penticton Daily News, or by watching the video segment appearing on Global News (Okanagan).