Byrne Creek Streamkeepers completed their annual summer fish trapping in the creek with dismal results that seem to back up annecdotal evidence of low fish populations this year. It's disappointing as we seemed to have an excellent coho hatch early this spring followed by plenty of cutthroat fry that appeared later.
The summer trapping (which is approved by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans) produced only 12 cutthroat trout and 2 coho in nine traps, compared to 60 fish, five of which were coho, during the winter pre-hatch trapping.
Several streamkeepers also feel that stickleback numbers are way down from previous years, judging from visual observations at places where they usually hang out.
We hope this is just an anomaly, as creek conditions have generally been improving slightly over the last few years.
Posted by Paul at August 11, 2005 10:45 PM