Couldn’t have asked for a nicer day to lead a couple of short tours of Byrne Creek in SE Burnaby with grade 8 art classes from Byrne Creek Secondary.
The kids also did some garbage cleanup along the way and discovered this hitchhiker. In this case it’s a snail on ketchup, not ketchup on a snail : -).
It was a soggy day for a chum fry release on Byrne Creek in SE Burnaby, but three classes of kids from Taylor Park Elementary were in high spirits. It’s always a blast releasing these wee fish.
DFO Community Advisor Maurice talks salmon
Leading the kids up to the tank
DFO tech Scott prepares baggies
Netting fry out of the tank
Volunteer John directs traffic
Volunteers Ray, Lori, Rob, and Murray, assist in release technique
Scott’s done hundreds of such releases yet look at that grin!
Yep, the fish was really this big 🙂
It’s time to bring back laws to protect fish habitat. Read the new report released today – supported by 47 First Nations, scientists, anglers and conservation groups across Canada. Help share the news!  http://wcel.org/resources/
I put in two calls to the City of Burnaby today. The first was about a house construction site where dirt was not being properly managed, creating a situation in which silt would likely flow into Byrne Creek.
Then about half an hour later on my walk, I saw that the creek was running milky green. I traced the source to the stormwater line that drains Edmonds St. above Kingsway, and then joins the pipe that runs along 18th Ave and that empties into the creek on 18th just upstream from Edmonds Skytrain Station.
Mud building up on Hedley from house construction
Sites are supposed to be managed so this does not happen, or at least immediately cleaned up. This is just a few meters from a storm drain that goes directly into Byrne Creek, where volunteer streamkeepers have been seeing coho salmon and chum salmon fry hatching out over the last few weeks.
The fish ladder at Griffiths pond
The sediment/substance appeared to be coming from the 18th Ave. stormwater pipe.
Folks, nothing should go down street and parking lot drains except rain.
I patrolled Byrne Creek in SE Burnaby, BC, today looking for salmon fry. I spotted coho a couple of weeks ago, and today there were schools of wee chum salmon out and about.
It’s great to see them! Now we know that both coho and chum salmon successfully spawned in this urban creek, and that their progeny are appearing.
Shot from the upstream side of the Meadow Ave. bridge
A few meters d/s of the wooden footbridge in the ravine.
My wife has since pointed out that these are likely a mix of coho and chum, since several have orange tails and large parr marks.
As I entered the spawning habitat this heron spooked from the overflow pond, and landed in a tree overlooking the sediment pond
I’m certain it’s been chowing down on chum fry! But that’s nature…
Giving me the “get out and leave me alone” look
I’ve been looking for salmon fry in Byrne Creek in SE Burnaby, BC, the last several times I’ve gone on ravine walks. Today I spotted what was likely a coho fry, judging by its orange tail. Chum would likely have a clear tail, and I think it’s too early for cutthroat fry.
Not the greatest photo, but I’ll be shooting more whenever there’s a sunny day…
It was great to squeeze in a one-hour ravine and Burnaby south slope ramble tonight after a solid 1-1/2 days of meetings this weekend.
I felt like this gorgeous full moon was rewarding me and my fellow volunteer Salmon Enhancement and Habitat Advisory Board members for our efforts over the weekend.
We’re off to Department of Fisheries and Oceans Pacific Regional HQ tomorrow to share highs, lows, and advice from the BC stewardship community.
I’d heard about the great success that Squamish Streamkeepers have had in wrapping pier pilings so that spawning herrings’ eggs are not killed by creosote and other chemicals. Today my wife Yumi and I had a chance to meet Dr. Jonn Matsen at Fishermen’s Wharf on False Creek in Vancouver to see some of the techniques in action.
Jonn and my wife Yumi hold up a net as a TV news cameraman lines up a shot
Jonn points out how creosote kills herring eggs. There’s no eelgrass or kelp left around here for more natural spawning sites
Net suspended in the water from the wharf
Closer view of herring eggs on piling
I had a frosty patrol for spawning salmon on Byrne Creek in SE Burnaby, BC. A two-hour ramble didn’t turn up any fish alive or dead. Methinks mayhap this year’s run is done.
Backlit art in the bus shelter on Southridge Dr. just above the pond
Shifting the POV a foot or two results in much different light