New fish have been spotted in a recently revitalized section of Craigflower Creek in View Royal, B.C., thanks to a development site with an environmental focus.
Goldfish have a special ability to live under extreme conditions, making them prolific invaders of natural habitats. They are tolerant to low oxygen conditions and can survive water temperatures well below freezing, said the Invasive Species Council of B.C. on their website.
After the January storms provided the flushing and scouring our coastal rivers desperately needed, anglers were thinking and hoping the winter steelhead would be there. Up and down the coast, well known steelhead rivers are not seeing the numbers we're accustomed to. This same scenario happened a couple years ago, but the fish finally showed up. And that will more than likely be the case again this year. But with the calendar now saying February, it's getting a little more nerve racking.
A rare sighting is possible indicator of prey abundance.
Approximately 87,000 farmed cod escaped from Gadus Group's aquaculture facility, raising concerns about potential impacts on wild fish populations and prompting investigations into the incident.
In early October Vancouver Island reached a drought Level 4 which impacted wildlife across the coast. After a mass salmon die off in Bella Bella, concern grew regarding drought and a delayed salmon spawning season. Currently east Vancouver Island is at a drought level of 3, which means adverse impacts are possible, while west Vancouver Island is at a drought level of 2 with less likely impacts. Dave Rolson, Tseshaht First Nation’s fisheries manager, said, “Timing is everything, really, when it comes to fish and when it comes to environmental conditions.”
The Bering Sea’s cold pool, a critical part of the seafloor ecosystem, had shrunk to a worrying degree in recent years, but it is continuing to slowly return, according to the latest results of NOAA’s bottom trawl survey. Saffron cod, also called tomcod, seems to be bouncing back after a few bad years, and Arctic cod and blue king crab numbers were also better.
The Mola tecta, a semi-tropical sunfish, had been misidentified until seven years ago and is rarely seen in the northern hemisphere.
Record-setting drought conditions have left many of B.C’s streams and waterways too low for salmon to swim up to spawn. Heiltsuk First Nation leaders say hundreds of fish were found rotting in a creek in Bella Bella, B.C., usually teeming by fall with migrating pink and chum salmon.
Ali Ralson was riding her 4 Wheeler towards Cape Blossom and came upon a beach full of fish. It appears that most of the fish are stickleback although there may be other species involved too. This would suggest an environmental issue that would impact multiple fish species rather than a pathogen. One potential cause could be harmful algal toxins.
The number of sockeye returning to Klukshu, Yukon, to spawn began to drop off in the 1990s. This year, hundreds of the bright red fish line the small creek that winds through the village. Neither the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations nor Fisheries and Oceans Canada are sure why the fish have returned after decades of steady decline.
In a recent report from the Icelandic Food and Veterinary Authority (MAST), 16 salmon caught in the Mjólká river in the Westfjords were confirmed to originate from farms. Signs indicate that the salmon originate from open sea farms by Haganes, where a hole in the pen caused part of the stock to escape in August.
Scientists from B.C.’s provincial government are investigating a spike in dead sturgeons after 11 adult fish were found dead on the Nechako River over the past week.
Local officials and scientists have yet to nail down how many fish have died, but the reports have been coming in non-stop since Friday.
Biologists do not expect either to reach their goals for fish reaching their spawning grounds.
There were alternatives for Trans Mountain Corporation to digging a trench in the river to lay pipe during the time the salmon were running.
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