https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/…/roadway-runoff-known…
We’ve been tracking this for many years, and have observed coho mortalities many times on Byrne Creek in Burnaby, BC, at both the smolt and spawner stages.
I saw a post from Tire Stewardship BC float by on my Facebook feed this morning, touting a new product they are producing from used tires — “landscaping mulch.”
When I commented on their post with concerns about 6PPD-quinone in tires, which is known to kill coho salmon, they just told me to watch their wonderful recycling video again.
A second query about 6PPD-quinone was ignored completely.
Runoff from roads contains 6PPD-quinone from tire dust. Wouldn’t this “mulch” also leach it? And what about all those other outdoor products?
Until potential 6PPD-quinone in “landscaping mulch” is addressed, we should keep an eye on this, and contact our municipalities about the potential impacts of such products. And, of course, federal and provincial environment/pollution/fish agencies.
Link to the recycling page here.
If you search “6PPD-quinone recycled tire products” you’ll find plenty of articles and studies with concerns about them.
UPDATE: Tire Stewardship BC has responded to my FB post, and basically are saying the Canadian and US tire industry associations are working on it. Yes, I know, I’ve spoken with reps from both associations over the years, and invited them to present to stewardship groups.
I responded that that still didn’t answer my concern that products being made from recycled tires are being promoted as “eco-friendly.”
Will check it out tomrrow.
Eight volunteers with the Byrne Creek Streamkeepers whacked invasive Himalayan Blackberry this morning.
Thanks to City of Burnaby Parks for arranging permission and providing a dumpster.
We put in a good effort in an area where native species planted several years ago were being overrun.
We had a SEHAB (Salmonid Enhancement & Habitat Advisory Board) meeting on the Sunshine Coast over the last weekend.
We stayed at the wonderful Linwood House, visited the Chapman Creek hatchery, and participated in a Sockeye fry release into Sakinaw Lake.
The board meets three times a year, collating information from community stewardship groups, and taking key issues to DFO Regional Headquarters to inform mangement and the Minister.
I have had the priviledge of being on the board initially as an alternate and then a full member for about 12 years now. The breadth of fishy experience and knowledge in the room is amazing, and I am always learning.
For example, I was not aware that Sakinaw Lake sockeye are on the verge of extinction. The restocking effort by volunteers and DFO is an attempt to stave this off, but the outlook is not good with climate change warming the lake to temperatures detrimental to salmon. Fingers crossed. . .
Thanks to all the local folks who shared their good work with us!
Yumi and I put in three hours of sweat equity into helping to pull invasive English Ivy this morning in SE Burnaby with the Lower Mainland Green Team and the Byrne Creek Streamkeepers Society, with support from the City of Burnaby Planning and Parks departments.
There were about 40 volunteers who worked for over three hours, including a break.
It’s great partnering with the Green Team for they provide a registration/sign-in system, tools, and drinks and snacks.
Sadly we expected this with the rain last night right after releasing 3,700 smolts in Byrne Creek yesterday with elementary schoolkids.
We suspected this would happen as it has happened following releases many times over the years. If it rains too soon after a release before the smolts migrate to the river, they get killed by road wash — a chemical in tires identified by research in Washington State that coho are particularly susceptible to.
We counted a couple of dozen dead smolts today, but the place we usually see the most morts — the sediment pond — was too murky to see anything. I’ll go back later in the day when it has cleared.
As I was there, I saw a smolt throw itself out of the pond onto a sandy bank, before flopping back in the water. There was one mort floating on the surface, and there were several up on the banks in the artificial spawning channel.
We released beautiful Coho salmon smolts on Byrne Creek in Burnaby, BC, this morning.
Thanks to Isaac and Brian from DFO for bringing the fish, and thanks to the volunteers at Kanaka Creek who help raise them!
And thanks to the streamkeeper volunteers, teachers, and parents who helped supervise.
The kids were excited to see this Barred Owl juvenile on our way to the release site
Volunteers with the Byrne Creek Streamkeepers Society took samples of water bugs (aquatic invertebrates) at five sites along the creek in SE Burnaby, BC, today.
We then gathered at Ron McLean Park to ID and count what we found. Final calculations are not in yet, but the results looked meagre as usual, due to the road runoff in our urban watershed. We have fewer inverebrates, with less variety, and even smaller in size than less-impacted watersheds.
Transporting gear
Heading out to collect samples
Taking water temperature — it was 8 C.
Collecting a sample with a D-net
IDing and counting the samples
Recording data
Oops! We found what appeared to be an eyed Cutthroat egg in a sample. It’s unusual to still have eggs in the gravel this late in the year. . . Colder winter?
UPDATE: Hm, according to the BC Cutthroat fact sheet, they do spawn into April or even May in places. . .
Nice to spot a Yellow-rumped Warbler in the park
Also a Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Found this Lady Beetle hitching a ride on our equipment case. A seven-spotted?
How about a “Salmon Rescue Plan” for Byrne Creek in Burnaby, BC, dating back to October 1995?
Found in a box of records collected by the late Ken Glover, one of the Vancouver Angling & Game Association members who began cleaning up Byrne Creek about 30 years ago.
I am struck by how many of the issues/impacts on the creek have little changed in all those years. . .
We are still seeing regular sediment flows from construction sites, we are still having pollution events, and we still have nearly no systems (particularly on City land and around City buildings) to “hold back, filter and gradually release rainwater runoff.”
The photo is hard to read, so allow me to share the last two paras:
“The Byrne Creek volunteers have one major frustration–the water quality sometimes kills the fish. The quality deteriorates most following a rainfall after a prolonged dry spell. Toxic chemicals and silt wash down from roads, lawns, and construction sites.
“The runoff pollution is getting worse as construction increases in Edmonds, which is slated for a major population increase.”
Remember, this was written in 1995.
Uh-huh. . . Just in the last few months volunteer streamkeepers and concerned citizens have been calling the City about repeated silty flows from construction sites, and other spills into the creek . . .
