Unfortunately the vegetation wasn’t very happy having a big excavator driving over it and now looks like a wasteland. We have since planted a bunch of rye grass and clover along the edges to stop any sediment from filling up the creek and so it doesn’t look quite so naked, thanks Lindsay! Needless to say with the heat we have been having we didn’t think it would be a good time to replant some native vegetation but that is coming. We finished early with the excavator so we have some extra money to buy some good sized native plants and trees to fill in the bare spots once the weather gets a little wetter which hopefully will be fairly soon. Anyone that wants to help with the replanting process in Sep/Oct, please contact us at morrisoncreek@yahoo.ca.

A new regional district requires a new growth strategy, a new OCP and a new conservation strategy. To create a conservation strategy that we can all live with, people and wildlife, the CVCS was created and decided to break the task into four pieces.

Local Government
Mapping
Education
Capacity Building

Basically the Local Government Committee is trying to create a document that the local governments can go to in order to make informed decisions regarding development in sensitive habitat. The Mapping Committee is trying to get all the sensitive areas mapped and available to all the local planning sections of our municipalities. The Education Committee is trying to provide information to the public so we all protect and enhance our riparian areas instead of just the Streamkeepers doing so. The Capacity Building Committee is trying to gather the resources so the Streamkeepers are more effective and so that all groups work to improve or reduce harm to the riparian areas. Needless to say it is all more complex than I have just stated and I would encourage anyone interested in going to the Comox Valley Land Trust website http://www.cvlandtrust.org/rcs-project.htm and to get more information.

We felt that we would be most effective working on either Education or Capacity Building and, since we can’t do both, have decided to participate in Capacity Building.

AGM Attendees: (L to R, back) Ron, Jeff, Kathryn, Steve (front) Jim, Greta, Jan, Warren, Kayt (prone)

AGM Results .  Some exciting news out of the AGM, we received funding to do some work on improving the fish habitat around the island at the bottom of Morrison Creek near 2d Street.  This is an important initiative for us as it will allow us to even out the flow between the branches of the stream as one of the branches is almost stopped because of the build-up of gravel from the swift fall and spring flows.  This has resulted in some of the good habitat for the smolts and fry being almost inaccessible or low enough that the predators can spot and catch the babies.  Since it is probably our, human development, fault this has occurred we feel it is our duty to repair the damage.

Along the lines of protecting and improving the habitat, it was also decided to become a partner in the Comox Valley Conservation Strategy.  The first meeting is tomorrow with results to be posted shortly.

We also discussed getting more involved in community education.  Some possible avenues include:

• a living by water awareness package for new owners who may not be aware of all the ways they can help/harm the creek.  This is especially for those of us who came from the other side of the Rocks in non-salmon bearing territory
• an intro to the creek inhabitants for families to show everyone the various types and volumes of fish that live in the creek and what is necessary for their continued survival and how we can help them thrive
• a watershed walk to tell us about the history of the creek and what it means to the wildlife in the area

Any suggestions from readers of what they might like to know would be welcome.  You can post a comment on the website or contact us at morrisoncreek@yahoo.ca

Our sensational season came to a crashing halt when some small minds decided to destroy the boxes and damage the fence.  Fortunately we were approaching the end of the season so didn’t miss too many fish.  We have since dismantled the entire operation for the season and our thanks go out once again to our faithful volunteers who showed up to help cart the wreckage away.  The damage doesn’t appear to be too severe so we should be able to do some repairs during the down season and be back as good as new for next season.  We finished with a total count of:

172,975 chum fry

11,264 coho smolt

138 cutthroat trout

18 rainbow trout

Sockeye smolt?

The last rainfall (Tue) gave us a record (I hope) amount of smolts in the box (1923) and virtually no chum fry (mind you the smolts had nice fat bellies soooo).  There were quite a few cutthroat and even some rainbow trout come through as well.  We also had a bit of a mystery fish, show here, with very faint markings and a distinct greenish tinge rather than the silver we are used to.  It was tentatively identified as a sockeye smolt that perhaps swam up from the Puntledge one rainy day in search of dinner.  The next day we were down to 200+ smolts and 200+ chum fry so perhaps the rain washed most of the babies out of the system and we will be back to reasonable numbers for the rest of the season so we can give our aching backs a rest.

Brace yourselves for this week’s update, so far this year we have had a grand total of:

Chum fry:  171,821

Coho Smolts:  4972  

Combined Trout: 46

I was very pleased to see a handful (1200) of fry in the box this morning amidst a swirling mass of smolts (710)  instead of the other way around.  I suspect that the fry numbers were much greater before we arrived as there were some very pregnant looking trout and smolts going through the box.  Ah well, this year’s crop of coho should be stronger and healthier and therefore better able to survive once they get to the sea (as long as the seals don’t interfere).

Well, we were back up with a vengeance on Saturday, 9 May, with almost 26,000 chum fry in the boxes.  We were rather hoping that the surge that broke the fence would have washed most of the fry out of the system but they seem to be well-trained and decided to wait for us to count them before they headed out to sea.  Luckily the numbers seem to be going down finally.  We also had a big, 32 cm, cutthroat trout in the box but she wasn’t in very good shape and was found belly up at the evening count.

Mother Nature flexed her muscles last night and shut us down for the moment.  The rain, plus the debris being brought down from the trees, increased the volume enough that the water was pouring over the top of the fence this morning and broke the point of the water/fish funnel away from the walls.  It was hard enough to get the fence together with low flow so we are shut down until the flow diminishes enough to get the fence back together.   Just when things were getting interesting as we had over 300 coho smolts in the box this morning.   We also had a lovely 14 cm cutthroat trout in the box this morning.  I hope this was the absolute maximum number of fish we will ever have in the box as our count ended up being well over 23,000 fry plus the others.