The 2004 Adult Coho Assessment of Tributaries of Quesnel Lake WSC 160 Waterbody I.D

The 2004 Adult Coho Assessment Of Tributaries of Quesnel Lake WSC 160 Waterbody I.D. 00431QUES

Prepared By:

Guy Smith MSc. RPBio. Richard Holmes MSc. RPBio. PO Box 174, Likely, BC V0L 1N0

Prepared For:

John Stace-Smith RPF. Riverside Forest Products Ltd. RR #3 5000 Soda Creek Road Williams Lake, BC V2G 1M3

November 26, 2004 November 26, 2004

Disclaimer

The following report has been written based on current available information and includes field assessments. The data provided in this report is based on a one-time site visit for each stream and should not be used as a final tally for coho escapements. The intent is to provide habitat assessment for adult coho and to visually count spawners who have returned to their natal stream.

Acknowledgments

Cariboo Envirotech Ltd would like to thank John Stace-Smith of Riverside Forest Products Ltd. of Williams Lake for his support on this project. Additionally, we would like to thank Richard Bailey and Adrian Wall of Fisheries and Oceans Canada of Kamloops for their guidance on streams to assess, and we would also like to thank fisheries biologist Peter Nicklin of Williams Lake for his comments on coho activity in the Horsefly River and McKinley Creek drainages during the fall of 2004.

The 2004 Adult Coho Assessment of Tributaries of Quesnel Lake 2 November 26, 2004

Table of Contents

Disclaimer 2

Acknowledgements 2

Project Reference Information 5

Watershed Information 5

Sampling Design Summary 5

Contractor Information 6

1.0 Introduction 7

2.0 Methodology 8

3.0 Results 8

4.0 Summary 9

5.0 Observation 11

6.0 Recommendation 11

List of Tables

Table 1: Assessment Summary 9

List of Appendices (Photos, site cards, stream reports)

Tab 1 Abbott Creek

Tab 2 Bill Miner Creek

Tab 3 Blue Lead Creek

Tab 4 Bouldery Creek

Tab 5 Cedar Creek

Tab 6 Grain Creek

The 2004 Adult Coho Assessment of Tributaries of Quesnel Lake 3 November 26, 2004

Tab 7 Killdog Creek

Tab 8 Lynx Creek

Tab 9 Mitchell River

Tab 10 Penfold Creek

Tab 11 Summitt Creek

Tab 12 Tasse Creek

Tab 13 Unnamed Creek

Tab 14 Wasko Creek

Tab 15 Winkley Creek

Tab 16 Quesnel Lake Summary Information

Tab 17 Williams lake Community Dialogue Meeting on Coho

Tab 18 Project Area Map

The 2004 Adult Coho Assessment of Tributaries of Quesnel Lake 4 November 26, 2004

Project Reference Information

Region Cariboo District Williams Lake FW Management Unit 5-15 Fisheries Planning Unit Cariboo DFO Sub-District Williams Lake Forest Region Southern Interior Forest Region Forest District Central Cariboo District Forest Licensee Sponsor Riverside Forest Products Ltd. First Nations Claim Area Red Bluff, Soda Creek, Williams Lake Bands

Watershed Information

Watershed Group QUES Watershed Name Quesnel Watershed Code 160 UTM at Mouth 121º 32’50”W 52º36’6” N TRIM Map 93A.043, 93A.053, 93A054, 93A.055, 93A.056, 93A.057, 93A.058, 93A.065, 93A.077 BEC Zone SBPS, ESSF, MS, AT

Sampling Design Summary

Total Number of Streams 15 Total Number of Reaches 19 Field Sampling Dates October 25 – November 2, 2004

The 2004 Adult Coho Assessment of Tributaries of Quesnel Lake 5 November 26, 2004

Contractor Information

Project Manager: Name: Rick Holmes, Cariboo Envirotech Ltd. Address: Box 174, Likely BC. V0L 1N0 Phone: (250) 790-2456

Field crew: Names: Richard Rujanschi, Guy “Paddy” Smith

Data Entry by: Name: Richard Rujanschi

Report prepared Name Rick Holmes, Guy “Paddy” Smith, by:

Report edited by: Name Rick Holmes

Mapping: Company: Riverside Forest Products Ltd. Tech: Chris Ertel Address: RR #3, 5000 Soda Creek Road Williams Lake, BC. Phone: (250) 398-3600

The 2004 Adult Coho Assessment of Tributaries of Quesnel Lake 6 November 26, 2004

1.0 Introduction

During the latter part of October 2004, John Stace-Smith of Riverside Forest Products Ltd. of Williams Lake’s Soda Creek Division contacted Cariboo Envirotech Ltd with an opportunity to conduct watershed related assessments within their general operating area. It was decided that due to the timing of the request, and the lack of current information on suspected coho spawning streams, that an adult coho salmon habitat and escapement survey should be conducted on tributaries of Quesnel Lake.

Quesnel Lake is located in the east Cariboo region of the Interior of British Columbia. It has a surface area of 27,012.717 hectares, a perimeter of 323.801 kilometres, and a known depth of 610 metres. Fish species known to inhabit Quesnel Lake are as follows:

¾ Bull Trout Salvelinus confluentus ¾ Burbot Lota lota ¾ Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha ¾ Coho Salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch ¾ Kokanee Oncorhynchus nerka ¾ Lake Trout Salvelinus namaycush ¾ Longnose Dace Rhinichthys cataractae ¾ Minnow (general) all cyprinids ¾ Mountain Whitefish Prosopium williamsoni ¾ Northern Pike Minnow Ptychocheilus oregonensis ¾ Peamouth Chub Mylocheilius caurinus ¾ Rainbow Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss ¾ Redside Shiner Richardsonius balteatus ¾ Sockeye Salmon Oncorhynchus nerka ¾ Sucker (general) Catostomus sp. (FishWizard)

Interior Fraser River coho salmon, which includes Quesnel Lake stocks are now protected under the Species at Risk Act (SARA). Additionally, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) “has concluded that there is a serious risk of extinction due to several factors. These include: concern that reductions in fishing pressure may be insufficient or not maintained, that marine survivorship may not improve, that habitat loss or deterioration in the watershed continues, and that use of hatcheries threatens recovery” (COSEWIC).

Public forums have recently been held to discuss this issue, including one held in Williams Lake on November 17th, 2004. The minutes of this stakeholder session have been included in this report under Tab 17. Additionally, a National Recovery Strategy for Coho Salmon has recently been developed and can be reviewed through the Internet (Recovery Strategy).

Quesnel Lake tributaries have historically been known to provide spawning opportunities for adult coho (FishWizard). The Quesnel River Hatchery located in Likely, British

The 2004 Adult Coho Assessment of Tributaries of Quesnel Lake 7 November 26, 2004

Columbia, in operation by Fisheries and Oceans Canada from 1981 to 1995 conducted coho salmon assessments on McKinley Creek, a tributary of the Horsefly River, and Summit Creek, a tributary of Quesnel Lake located in the East arm.

Enhancement of these two tributaries also occurred through a gamete collection in the fall with the resultant fry being released the following spring. Continuation of the McKinley Creek project as a stock assessment tool is ongoing through the efforts of Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Cariboo Tribal Council of Williams Lake.

2.0 Methodology

Two experienced freshwater fisheries biologists from Cariboo Envirotech Ltd conducted the field portion of the project. The survey involved the use of an 18 foot Gregor jetboat powered by 125 hp jet motor. The crew assessed Quesnel Lake tributaries on a daily basis from October 25th to November 2nd. Access to the stream mouths was primarily by boat and reconnaissance was conducted in the first and second reaches on foot.

Although the project was based out of the community of Likely located at the lake outlet, the field crew set up base camps at the ends of both the North and East arms to facilitate ease of access to streams located in these areas. This also alleviated some safety concerns as the field crew traveled in an open boat during some severe weather conditions. Additionally, for reasons of safety, the field crew was provided with a satellite telephone and followed daily check in procedures.

During the assessments, standard stream cards were filled out with relevant data and photos were taken in an effort to show habitat conditions. These items can be reviewed in the appendices of this report. It should be noted that although the Federal/Provincial government FDIS program was used to provide the field data, the information has not been transferred to their database program, and is only utilized in this report for ease of data compilation.

Discussions were held with Fisheries and Oceans staff Richard Bailey and Adrian Wall from the Coho Recovery Team regarding the project and streams were identified for assessment. It was also felt that the field assessment data would provide some opportunity for comparison with aerial flight counts on the same streams.

3.0 Results

Table 1 provides a summary of the streams assessed and relevant information associated with each stream. A total of 15 streams were assessed during the project and adult coho were found in 4 of these streams. One unnamed stream, WSC 160-635400-05400, was added to the survey based on personal communication with a Horsefly resident who had historically trapped an adult coho during his trapping season in this stream (pers. comm.). Aside from Penfold Creek, all the creeks drain directly into Quesnel Lake.

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Table 1: Assessment summary. Stream Watershed Code Survey Reach Survey Water Coho Name Date Number Length Temp. Count Abbott 160-706800 Oct 26/04 1 400 m 1º 0 Abbott 160-706800 Oct 26/04 2 300 m 1º 0 Bill Miner 160-924900 Oct 28/04 1 150 m 2º 0 Blue Lead 160-989300 Oct 27/04 1 500 m 2º 0 Blue Lead 160-989300 Oct 27/04 2 Bouldery 160-860800 Oct 28/04 1 100 m 1º 0 Cedar 160-544100 Oct 25/04 1 300 m 3º 0 Grain 160-732700 Oct 30/04 1 1200 m 3º 0 Killdog 160-975500 Oct 27/04 1 200 m 2º 0 Lynx 160-898200 Oct 28/04 1 500 m 3º 0 Mitchell 160-738500 Oct 31/04 1&2 2000 m 5º 26 Penfold 160-738500-02300 Oct 31/04 1&2 4000 m 2º 1 Summit 160-999100 Oct 27/04 1 1500 m 4º 38 Tasse 160-716900 Oct 26/04 1 200 m 4º 0 Unnamed 160-635400-05400 Nov 2/04 1 1000 m 5º 0 Wasko 160-745100 Oct 28/04 1 1000 m 4º 21 Winkley 160-620700 Oct 25/04 1 100 m 3º 0

4.0 Summary

During the latter part of October and the early part of November a total of 15 streams and rivers connected to Quesnel Lake were assessed for suitable coho habitat, and for the presence of adult coho salmon spawners.

Approach to the streams was generally by jet boat to the stream mouth with a visual assessment conducted on foot thereafter. In most cases the streams were assessed until an upstream fish barrier preventing further migration was found. When this was not possible due to the total distance available for spawning adults, at minimum, the lower two reaches were inspected.

The following 8 creeks were considered to offer little or no opportunity for adult coho spawners, although they may offer some rearing habitat for fry and juveniles during that life stage:

¾ Cedar Creek ¾ Winkley Creek ¾ Tasse Lake Creek ¾ Bouldery Creek ¾ Killdog Creek ¾ Billy Miner Creek ¾ Unnamed Creek WSC 160-635400-05400 ¾ Lynx Creek

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Three creeks, Grain Creek, Abbott Creek, and Blue Lead Creek appeared to have at least some potential coho spawning habitat. Thorough investigation however revealed no coho presence or evidence of recent spawning through redd development.

In the case of Blue Lead Creek, inspection was possible to the gradient break in the form of a waterfall at the upper reach break of reach 2 (see photo in Tab 3), and it seems unlikely that this system is utilized.

On Abbott and Grain Creek, it was not possible to reach any gradient barrier by foot during this survey resulting in un-surveyed habitat and fish upstream. However, gradient increases noticeably and spawning opportunities are less likely than in the lower reaches surveyed. It seems unlikely that substantial numbers of adult coho utilize these creeks.

The following 4 creeks in the survey area were recorded as having spawning populations of adult coho: ¾ Summit Creek ¾ Wasko Creek ¾ Mitchell River ¾ Penfold Creek

Summit Creek, located at the end of the east arm and known to have a spawning population of coho, was found to have 38 spawning adults at the time of the survey. Visibility was good and beaver dams were most likely preventing further upstream migration for adults.

The creek offers excellent spawning and rearing habitat but only for approximately 1 km. upstream from the mouth. There may very well have been a larger spawning population than counted, as spawning appeared to have peaked with some adults found by predacious eagles, and others most likely flushed out of the system.

Wasko Creek, located immediately east of the Quesnel Lake junction area, was found to have a total of 21 actively spawning adult coho in reach 2 below Wasko Lake. The spawning habitat was noted as being excellent and sockeye redds were also evident in the area.

Again, a larger population than counted was most likely present in this stream as spawning was past its peak judging by the condition of the adults under observation. Additionally, another adult coho population may exist above Wasko Lakes where considerable gravel substrate areas are known to exist (Cariboo Envirotech, 2000). It was outside the scope of this study to access and assess this area.

The Mitchell River, located at the end of the north arm of Quesnel Lake was also found to have a population of spawning adult coho. A total of 26 adults were counted and they appeared mostly to be holding in reach 2.

The 2004 Adult Coho Assessment of Tributaries of Quesnel Lake 10 November 26, 2004

Access to this area was by jet boat, and by walking as far as possible on the day of the survey. The pools in reach1, and the assessed areas in reach 2 were found to be very deep and numerous coho may have been missed in these as well as by the large amounts of cover provided by large woody debris.

Again, this total cannot be considered any definitive measure of population. Many fish are likely to have proceeded further upstream where there are probably further spawning opportunities beyond the survey point of termination (approx. 4 kms. from river mouth).

Penfold Creek is also located at the end of the north arm and is a tributary of the Mitchell River. One spawned out adult coho was observed in the 5 kilometres of this stream that was surveyed. Only in the last kilometre was habitat quality likely to be suitable for spawning, but shallow water and numerous logjams hindered further access by the field crew. Further upstream investigation is required to establish the number of coho and habitat quality available in this creek Logging roads located futher upstream might be used to facilitate this during future surveys.

5.0 Observation

As is evident in Table 1, 3 of the 4 streams found to have adult coho spawners also were recorded as having the warmest water temperatures. Furthermore, these 4 streams were also noted to have lakes upstream of considerable size allowing warmer water to be provided downstream of the reservoirs during the critical spawning and incubation period. This warmer water during fall/winter egg development provides the resultant emerging fry an exit from the gravel during the late spring, and allows the fry a chance for early rearing development through the upcoming summer months when food is most abundant.

Streams with the colder water most likely do not have spawning coho present due to the theoretical late development of emerging fry. However some of these streams would most likely provide coho and other species’ fry with rearing habitat.

6.0 Recommendation

Increasingly, Upper Fraser River coho salmon are becoming more threatened through anthropogenic influences. This brief study presents information on coho streams on Quesnel Lake that have extremely low escapement numbers. We are recommending that Riverside Forest Products Ltd. continue to play an active role in the conservation of this endangered species through research and sound environmental practices throughout their operational area.

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References

Cariboo Envirotech Ltd. 2000. Reconnaissance (1:20,000) Fish and Fish Habitat Inventory of Wasko Creek Watershed WSC 160-745100. Prepared for West Fraser Mills Ltd. Williams Lake, BC.

FishWizard. Province of British Columbia. URL: http://pisces.env.gov.bc.ca/

Pers comm. Clarence Hooker. Horsefly, British Columbia. October 31, 2004.

COSEWIC. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada URL: http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/sara/intfrasercoho_e.htm

Recovery Strategy. Interior Fraser Coho Recovery Team. (2004). National recovery strategy for coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) in the Interior Fraser River watershed, British Columbia, Consultative Draft. 124 pp.

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Stream Information