Trapped fish rescued
Published: October 5, 2006
A rescue operation was launched at Mission Creek Regional Park Wednesday, where hundreds of lives were saved.
The one-day exercise rescued fish trapped in an irrigation canal that runs parallel to Mission Creek. The rainbow trout and long-nose dace were caught in the canal and returned to the creek.
After several hours of working the creek, only five kokanee were found. The fish were already dead, and it appeared they had spawned in the canal.
Water from Mission Creek flowing into the canal is scheduled to be shut off today by the irrigation district, so regional government and city officials wanted to save as many fish as possible.
The operation was sanctioned by the Ministry of Environment.
Jason Schleppe, with Ecoscape Environmental Consultants, volunteered his time to use an electronic fish shocker to gather the swimmers.
With a small gas-powered generator on his back, a long pole with a round metal hoop on the end and a flexible cable dragging in the water, Schleppe slowly walked downstream herding the fish into nets.
Schleppe said the small electric current causes the fish to have muscle spasms, forcing them to swim into waiting nets. They were then placed in buckets full of water and released into the main creek.
Electro-fishing has been around for many years and causes no harm to the fish. Schleppe said he is often called to move the fish out of harm’s way when work is done on or near a creek.
The method also allows researchers to see what type of fish, and how many, are in a particular stream.
“The rainbow are more of a target because of their sport value,” said Schleppe of Wednesday’s activities.
The rainbow trout in the canal were five to eight centimetres long, while the dace were about three cm in length.
Todd Cashin, environmental co-ordinator for the regional district, said this was the first fish roundup organized by local governments.
“The idea is to get a sense of how many fish are in here every year,” said Cashin, while standing next to the fast-moving canal.
Once the water supply is turned off, small pools will form where Cashin said some of the dace could survive the winter, but the larger rainbow would not make it.
“A significant amount of the fish in here will die,” he said.
The canal serves the Benvoulin Road water user group.
Bruce Smith, regional district communications co-ordinator, said experts like Schleppe donated their time to help with the project.
“It’s part of our long-range plan to develop a fish habitat in Mission Creek Park,” said Smith.
Plans are in the works to screen off the canal to prevent fish from entering the canal. The habitat creation proposal requires board approval and could be considered in the 2007 budget talks.
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