Results of Nass River Biological Surveys for The
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RESULTS OF NASS RIVER BIOLOGICAL SURVEYS FOR THE YEARS 1956 AND 1957, I NCLUDING A PRELIMI NARY ASSESSMENT OF THE POSSIBLE EFFECTS OF THE PROPOSED HYDRO- ELECTRIC PROJECT Department of Fish eries, Canada Vancouver, B. C. June, 1958 SH349 Canada. DePa rtment of Fisheri A2 Results of Nass Rive r biolosic 58-02 a l surve~s for the ~ea ~s 1956 a nd 1957, includins a Prelimina r c l s assessment of t h e Possible ef f ect s of the P roposed h ~ dro -e l ~ TABLE OF CONTENTS MAR 2 0 tH89 LJl3F?Af~Y p J\(:: f Fi:~·: F~, ,~,l '')~~~ y '"" 111.. C"TA"i"Vl")l\.'il Page ·~~· .. ~--"•·-· .. "-·- ... \~,,,.f.... -.L .. ~.:1 .. Ail... l"tll 1. r:~ i ~:~; ~ -i ~.·~·: ~-·: ~, 2: ;.-.! r... ;.- -. -~ .. ;·: /\ j\. 1~; · DESCRIP~~ION OF SUHVEYS NJ\r--.:,.:.,i;-.,10, C~:-.:;T·i:..::;J COL\JMBIA: 3 CAN/\[)/\ v~,;r~ l:H(6 l. 1956 - Prel~ninary survey of the Upper Nase wate:r·~b.ed :tn con.junction with the Meziadin operation.it:! 3 2. 1957 = Crnrmie:t•cial i'ishery 9 f'i. sh-whee 1 oper•at:lons ~ spawning gr,cmnd survey~ 3 t~ 1956 = Survey results 4 5 Do DISCUSSION 13 lo The Effect of the Power Development on the Upstirei.\tm M.igrt:i.tion of' Salmon and Trout 13 2-0 Ef:tect on Spawning and R::iax•ing Areas 14 (a) Main Dam. {b) Meziadj.n Storage Dam (c) Bell-Irving Storage Dam 3o The Anticipated Effect of Flooding on Lake P:i:~oduotiv·:tty (a) Mez:iadin Iiake ( b) Bowse.r L1:1ke lto The gffect on Downstr•eam M:tgra.t:ton 16 (a.) Res:tdi..uRl:tsm (b) Predation Eo CONCLUSION 18 '. INTRODUCTION In September 1955p field officers of the Department of Fisheries reported that engineering surveys were being conducted on sections of the Nass River. In December of that year the Britit~h Columbia Government announced that authority had been gr•nnted Northwest Power Industries Ltd. 9 f1 subsidi.s.ry of the FrobiSlher=Ventures Group~ to survey the Nass River system for hydro=electx•ic developmento The announcement stated that the Company would be required to make formal application to the ~rovincial Government for wate:.r and would be 1•equi:.t•ed to li.ve up to the provisions of the Fisheries Acto The first formal discussion between the Company and the Depa:r>tment of Fisheries waa held in Ottawa in May!> 1956. At that t:tme arrangements were me.de to hold a meeting between Company officials and the Depa1"'t= ment 1 e Pacific Area staffo This meeting was held on June 11» 1956.@ in the office of the Chief .Supervisor of Flsheriea in Vancouver and was att>Smded by representatives of both the Department of Fisheries and the Bo C. Game Oommissiono Mr. C. Hare, representing Northwest Power Industries Ltdo, outlined the following details of the proposed hydro development as they were envisaged at that time. The main power dam is to be situated on the Nass River 12 miles above Aiyaneha (See Figure 1). It will probably be a rockfill structu.i~e under' an ave:i:•age wo:t•king head of 24.0 feet o The spillway for the resulting reservoir will be located epproxi- ' ' ma.tely one mile upst:t"eam th:i:•ough an adjacent valley pa1:>allel to the river. If. the river flow could be regulated by means of .. • NASS RIVER PROJECT Sc a I e :- I in ch = 15. 78 m i I es ... OAMOOCHAX Cr . , FtQ.; I - T he pr opose·d NO S$ R(ve r hydro - el ec tric d e ve l opment. 1. t ' ~~-=--..'....::.::..::___~_l:_!::i!:.._~_~=-=-=~~:::...=....o.._----'-'-":...:..______:=~~=---=-=--=--=-------'~~_::..:.._----'-------=----~-- ---- J - 2 - upstream storage to provide a firm flow of 20,000 c.fas., an installed capacity of' l+.50 9 000 h.p. would be providedQ The f'irs.t upstream storage dam proposed would be located on the Nass River about one mile below its confluence with the Meziadin River. A dam 150 feet high would raise Meziadin Lake 67 feet9 providing storage of about one million acre-feet of water. The Nass River would also be flooded for some distance upstream" The second proposed upst:t•eam storage dam would be located on the Bell-Irving ~iver about two miles below its confluence with the Bowser river. This dam would raise Bowser Lake 140 feet and would probably be over 200 feet high., Two million acre-feet of water could be stored here. The industrial site for the project would be located at the head of Alice Arm and would be connected with the power project by a transmission line 6ver the mountains~ An examination of available data indicated that this development would create many difficult fisheries problems 9 however 9 because of the remoteness of the area and the extreme glacial nature of most of the upper tributary watersheds, very little informatioh was available on the escapement of salmon and their distribution throughout the Nass systemo A biological field party which was stationed at Meziadin Lake du1~ing the summer of 1956 cax•ried out a. preliminary aerial reconnaissance of the Bell-Irving system and the upper Nass Rivero This preliminary survey as~isted in the preparation of - 3 - of the extensive biological program conducted in 19574 Bo DESCRIPTION OF SURVEYS 1. 1956! Preliminary population surveys of limited scope were attempted by Departmental personnel in 19560 Aerial inspections. were carried out on the Nass River and most of the ·tributaries above its junction with the Bell-Irving River~ a.nd for the first time hitherto unexplored tributary stieams of the Bell-Irving system were also viewed from the airo In addition~ a helicopter was utilized for a low level observation of the spawning areas o±~ Meziadin Lake and to obtain some first hand in.formation on the Brown Bear watershed~ a system of several non-glacial lakes that flows into the Nass River some 25 miles southeast of Meziadin Lake. 2. 1957! A comprehensive biological program was initiated on the Naes River in early Mayo The program was designed to provid~ :lnforma.tion on the commercial fishery., the timing and magnitude of the se.lmon runs as they enter the river and their distribution throughout the watershed. Two fish-wheels were placed in operation near Aiyansh to capture fish for tagging purposes and to furnish data on the startp peak and termination dates of each species of salmon as they migrate upstream. On the Upper Nass~ spawning ground surveys were undertaken at Meziadin, Damdochax and Kwinageese Lakes. The numbers of salmon on the spawning .. - q. - grounds were estimated and attempts made to recover as many of the tagged fish encountered as possible. Low level aerial inspections from a helicopter were also carried out during the fall on these spawning areas» followed by an inspection of the Cranberry River system, which is approximately 30 miles upriver from Aiyansh. Two counting fences were constructed and operated through out the spawning run on the Meziadin watershed, one was located at the upstrea.m exit of the fi shway on the upper falls of the Meziadin River and the other was placed across Hanna Creek 9 the larger of the two spawning streams on Meziadin LakeD Co RESULTS lo 1956~ The Bell-Irving system and its tributaries were found to be as silty as anticipated, with the exception of the Teigen Lake waterhsed. Trappers familiar with this lake had reported that runs of salmon utilize this area every year. Above the junction of the Bell-Irving and Nass Rivers, several clear, non-glacial streams were noted flowing into the Nass. Of these~ Damdochax Lake was inspected in 1956D Although the areas were visited after the peak of the spawning~ 500 spring salmon were reported in the Teigen River and runs of 5-10,000 springs and 5,000 sockeye observed in the Damdochax systemo The low level inspection by helicopter of Meziadin Lake - 5 - and streams provided useful information on the distribution of the sockeye and spring salmon and their numberso The number of sock~ye observed on Hanna and McLeod Creeks was placed at 15,000 and 50 000 respectively,. No estimate was attempted for the sockeye lake spawning populationo The spring salmon population in the Meziadin River was estimated at approximately 59 000 fish with between 1,000 and 2 9 000 sockeye utilizing the sa.me areas. The inspection of the Bro~n Bear Lake watershed revealed an impassable rock falls 200 yards from the mouth followed by a series of cascades and falls over a distance of several mileso A short flight was also made over the lower 8 miles of the Cranberry River$ however, since the trip was flown late in the year~ no salmon were observed. 2o 1957: (\1A pommercial fishery All five species of salmon as well as steelhead trout contribute to the catch for Area 3, a statistical division which is predominantly the Nass River fishery. The commercial catch for this area since 1951 is shown in Table le As the table indicates, the catch in the Nass area is substantial. In terms of landed value, Area 3 is one of the eight most valuable areas .in the province and the fourth most important watershed on the coast of British Columbia. A compar ison of the 1957 commercial catch figures with the average as .. presented in Table 1 shows that with the exception of the sockeye 9 the 1957 catches were slightly higher than average.