May 21, 2004
New Coho Fry ID'd in Byrne Creek
Yumi and I netted and photographed new fry in Byrne Creek today, and were surprised to see they were coho salmon, about 3.5 - 4cm long.
We first netted and photographed coho fry on March 2 this year, so why are these new babies popping up 2 1/2 months later? Streamkeepers counted only 6 coho spawners last autumn, between Nov. 20 - 29. I suspect this means a few late coho entered the creek in mid to late January, and were not noticed, for we had quit regular spawner patrols at the end of the year.
The other surprise was that we netted them in two places, Tag 518 about midway between the wooden footbridge and the Brynlor stairs, and also between Tags 532/533 way up near the Hell Hole. That likely means coho spawned a lot higher up the creek than we had thought.
Aaiiii! Help! I've been trapped by streamkeepers!
No animals were harmed in taking this photograph -- this little fellow was returned to the creek in good health :-).
Posted by Paul at May 21, 2004 10:37 PM