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Assessment of Comox Lake Carrying Capacity and Coho‐Cutthroat Interactions in the Cruickshank and Upper Puntledge River Systems 13.Pun.05

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Assessment of Comox Lake Carrying Capacity and Coho‐Cutthroat Interactions in the Cruickshank and Upper Puntledge River Systems 13.Pun.05 Assessment of Comox Lake carrying capacity and coho‐cutthroat interactions in the Cruickshank and Upper Puntledge River systems 13.Pun.05 Prepared for: Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program On behalf of; Courtenay and District Fish and Game Protective Association PO Box 3177 Courtenay, BC V9N 5N4 Prepared by: E. Guimond 1, R. Ferguson 2, K. Hyatt 2, G. Graf 3, M. Lough 4 and M. Sheng 5 Prepared with financial support of: Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program on behalf of its program partners BC Hydro, the Province of B.C. and Fisheries and Oceans Canada 1 E. Guimond & Associates, 473 Leighton Ave., Courtenay, BC V9N 2Z5 2 Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Pacific Biological Station, 3190 Hammond Bay Rd, Nanaimo, BC V9T 6N7 3 Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Suite 200 – 401 Burrard St., Vancouver, BC V6C 3S4 4 MJ Lough Environmental Consultants Ltd., 608 Bruce Ave., Nanaimo, BC V9R 3Y7 5 Fisheries and Oceans Canada, 3225 Stephenson Point Road, Nanaimo, BC V9T 1K3 December 2014 Comox Lake Productivity Study 13.PUN.05 TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents .................................................................................................................. ii List of Figures ...................................................................................................................... iii List of Tables........................................................................................................................ iv List of Appendices ................................................................................................................. v 1 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................... 1 2 GOALS AND OBJECTIVES ........................................................................................ 2 3 STUDY AREA .............................................................................................................. 3 4 METHODS AND APPROACH .................................................................................... 4 5 PROJECT ACTIVITIES/STUDIES .............................................................................. 6 5.1 LAKE SURVEYS ................................................................................................... 6 5.1.1 Background ...................................................................................................... 6 5.1.2 Methods ............................................................................................................ 7 5.1.3 Results .............................................................................................................. 8 5.1.4 Discussion ...................................................................................................... 15 5.2 USE OF THE LITTORAL ZONE BY INTRODUCED ANADROMOUS SALMONIDS AND RESIDENT TROUT ...................................................................... 18 5.2.1 Background .................................................................................................... 18 5.2.2 Methods .......................................................................................................... 20 5.2.3 Results ............................................................................................................ 23 5.2.4 Discussion ...................................................................................................... 36 5.3 IMPRINTING OF COHO FRY IN THE UPPER WATERSHED AND HOMING OF THE RETURNING ADULTS ................................................................................... 38 5.3.1 Background .................................................................................................... 38 5.3.2 Methods .......................................................................................................... 39 5.3.3 Results ............................................................................................................ 39 5.3.4 Discussion ...................................................................................................... 42 5.4 FLOW MONITORING ......................................................................................... 44 5.4.1 Background .................................................................................................... 44 5.4.2 Methods .......................................................................................................... 44 5.4.3 Results ............................................................................................................ 45 5.5 JUVENILE REARING STUDIES AND REDD COUNTS AT TRIBUTARY STREAMS TO COMOX LAKE ..................................................................................... 47 6 SUMMARY ................................................................................................................. 48 7 RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................................. 51 8 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................... 52 9 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................. 53 ii Comox Lake Productivity Study 13.PUN.05 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Location map of the Comox Lake watershed and major features. ......................... 4 Figure 2. Zooplankton biomasses (2013) as µg L-1 dry weight. The net was hauled from 0- 50 m during the day using a score net with 100 µm mesh. Samples were metered for net efficiency. Biomasses were estimated from lengths using dry weight length-weight regressions and biomasses. .................................................................................................. 13 Figure 3. Comox Lake 2013 rate of water flow through the sluice gates (cubic meters per second). ................................................................................................................................ 15 Figure 4. Location of 2013 and 2014 Gee trap surveys, snorkel surveys, live tap box, and limnological sampling conducted in the Comox Lake watershed and coho fry releases in Comox Lake. ........................................................................................................................ 21 Figure 5. Live trap net sampling in Comox Lake on the north side of the Cruickshank River alluvial fan, June – October 2014............................................................................... 22 Figure 6. Length-frequency distribution of coho juveniles (0+ and 1+) captured in Gee traps in Comox Lake in September 2013. ............................................................................ 24 Figure 7 a-c. Summary of all species caught during three trap net surveys in Comox Lake between June and October 2014. ......................................................................................... 26 Figure 8 a & b. Mean weights and lengths of coho juveniles captured from the net trap on north side of the Cruickshank River alluvial fan in 2014. ................................................... 27 Figure 9a-c. Frequency histogram of coho fry weights caught in a live box trap off the North side of the Cruickshank alluvial fan June – October 2014. ....................................... 28 Figure 10. Mean condition coefficients of coho juveniles captured in Comox Lake in 2014 from net trap on north side of the Cruickshank River alluvial fan....................................... 29 Figure 11. Comparison of mean condition coefficients between marked and unmarked coho juveniles captured in Comox Lake, in 2014 from net trap on the north side of the Cruickshank River alluvial fan............................................................................................. 30 Figure 12. Length and weight of coho juveniles measured in October 2013 at Site #2 in the lower Cruickshank R, and October 2014 along Comox lakeshore (near the mouth of Cruickshank R). ................................................................................................................... 30 Figure 13. Discharge in the Cruickshank River in May 2005 to May 2013 ........................ 32 Figure 14. Daily movement of unmarked and adipose clipped coho juveniles through the evaluation facility at the Puntledge diversion dam in 2014. Fish captures in late June-July were low due to the shutdown of the Puntledge Generating Facility. ................................. 32 Figure 15. Length-frequency distributions for coho smolts (1+ and 2+) captured at the Puntledge evaluation facility over three periods in 2014. .................................................... 33 Figure 16. Total and hatchery only (adipose clipped) coho population estimates coupled with fry releases for brood years 2008-2012, from assessments at the Puntledge dam evaluation facility from 2010-2014. ..................................................................................... 35 iii Comox Lake Productivity Study 13.PUN.05 Figure 17. Comox Lake elevation (metres above sea level) in 2013 (red line) compared to mean, minimum, and maximum elevations for the period 2005 to 2012. ........................... 41 Figure 18. Movement of coho salmon adults through the diversion dam fishway as recorded by underwater video surveillance, October 23 – November 28, 2013. ................. 42 Figure 19. Water levels and river discharge during 2013 late summer-fall juvenile fry surveys in the Upper Puntledge and Cruickshank river systems. .......................................
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