One of the key indicators for measuring the health of our streams as wild fish habitat is the physical count of fish numbers. For several years, QBS operated a spring coho smolt fish fence on the lower Grandon Creek, which succeeded in confirming significant number of smolt were exiting the stream.
However, the steep grade on the creek and storm produced high water flows resulted in repeated damage to the fence. As a result, the count results were only partially complete. In 2020, an alternative approach was adopted – late summer pool seining to capture, count and identify fish populations.
Over a period of several years, this is a scientifically sound method of collecting consistent numbers which can be extrapolated to the entire stream length.
Results indicate that each small pool, at a time of year with the lowest water levels and lowest populations, hold several dozen fish.
The general shares are two thirds coho and one third resident cutthroat trout. Despite the small size of many pools, the water quality and temperature continues to be good, due to steady groundwater infiltration from the upper watersheds. Tracking these population numbers will be essential to judge the impact of increasingly difficult stream conditions in the future.
Spawning salmon cross the beach below Grandon Creek
November 11, 2024
Healthy wild fish populations in Qualicum Beach Streams
The results of a four year fish count and measurement study in Grandon and Beach Creeks by QB Streamkeepers under the direction of fisheries biologist Dave Clough has confirmed that local coho and cutthroat trout populations are healthy and stable in numbers.
The study undertook sampling of fish in late September in each stream from 2021 to 2024, using the same pools and using seining nets to capture and measure the fish. The data was analyzed and trends evaluated, providing a scientifically solid conclusion. The report is encouraging, given the increasingly challenging conditions in the streams, with hotter and dryer summers and higher peak streamflows in winter.
Click here to view the results.
Fish Count 2024
Beach Creek
Grandon Creek
