Environmental Baseline Study: Fish and Aquatic Resources Total E&P Canada Ltd. Calgary, Alberta BBinderinder SSectionection PPages.inddages.indd ccover1over1 112/11/20072/11/2007 11:52:34:52:34 PPMM Environmental Baseline Study: Fish and Aquatic Resources Table of Contents Table of Contents 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 1-1 1.1 Background .................................................................................................................................. 1-1 1.2 Focus of Baseline Investigations .................................................................................................. 1-1 1.3 Study Areas .................................................................................................................................. 1-1 1.3.1 Local Study Area ............................................................................................................. 1-1 1.3.2 Regional Study Area ....................................................................................................... 1-3 2 Methods ....................................................................................................................................... 2-1 2.1 Historical Data .............................................................................................................................. 2-1 2.2 Data Collection ............................................................................................................................. 2-1 2.2.1 Habitat Assessment ......................................................................................................... 2-1 2.2.2 Fish Community Sampling .............................................................................................. 2-3 2.3 Quality Assurance and Quality Control ....................................................................................... 2-4 3 Results ......................................................................................................................................... 3-1 3.1 North Saskatchewan River ........................................................................................................... 3-1 3.1.1 Background ..................................................................................................................... 3-1 3.1.2 Habitat Description ......................................................................................................... 3-3 3.1.3 Fish Community .............................................................................................................. 3-5 3.2 Astotin Creek .............................................................................................................................. 3-11 3.2.1 Background ................................................................................................................... 3-11 3.2.2 Habitat Description ....................................................................................................... 3-11 3.2.3 Fish Community ............................................................................................................ 3-12 4 Summary ..................................................................................................................................... 4-1 5 References ................................................................................................................................... 5-1 Appendix A Habitat Codes ............................................................................................................... A-1 Appendix B Habitat Data ................................................................................................................... B-1 Appendix C Fish Data ....................................................................................................................... C-1 Appendix D Photographs .................................................................................................................. D-1 List of Tables Table 3.1-1 Fish Species Reported from the North Saskatchewan River Near Edmonton and Species Encountered During the Present Study .............................................................. 3-2 Table 3.1-2 Fish Captured or Observed (All Methods) and Percent Composition of Catch in Mainstem North Saskatchewan River – July 26 to August 7, 2007 ................................ 3-6 Table 3.1-3 Fish Captured or Observed (by Method) in the Mainstem North Saskatchewan River – July 26 to August 7, 2007 ................................................................................... 3-7 Table 3.1-4 Numbers and Catch-Per-Unit-Effort of Fish Sampled by Boat Electroshocking in North Saskatchewan River Sample Sections ................................................................... 3-8 Table B-1 Bank Habitat Types and Lengths in the North Saskatchewan River LSA – August 7, 2007 ................................................................................................................ B-3 Table B-2 Water Level Data for the North Saskatchewan River at Edmonton (Preliminary data from Alberta Environment, Water Sciences Branch) ......................... B-4 Table B-3 Water Quality Data for the North Saskatchewan River and Astotin Creek in the LSA – August 2007 ......................................................................................................... B-5 TOTAL E&P Canada Ltd. December 2007 Page i Environmental Baseline Study: Fish and Aquatic Resources Table of Contents Table B-4 Dissolved Oxygen and Temperature Profiles for the North Saskatchewan River – August 7, 2007 ................................................................................................................ B-6 Table C-1 Raw Data for Fish Captured in the North Saskatchewan River and Astotin Creek – 2007 .............................................................................................................................. C-3 Table C-2 Summary of Boat Electroshocking Catch and Catch Rate in the North Saskatchewan River – July 26–28, 2007 ............................................................. C-19 Table C-3 Summary of Backpack Electrofishing Catch and Catch Rate in the North Saskatchewan River and Astotin Creek – August 2007 ...................................... C-19 Table C-4 Summary of Minnow Trap Catch and Catch Rate in the North Saskatchewan River – July 2007 .......................................................................................................... C-21 Table C-5 Summary of Setline Catch and Catch Rate in the North Saskatchewan River – July 2007 ....................................................................................................................... C-21 Table C-6 External Abnormalities Recorded on White Sucker from the North Saskatchewan River in the Local Study Area – 2007 ........................................................................... C-22 Table C-7 Recreational Use of the North Saskatchewan River in the Local Study Area ............... C-22 List of Figures Figure 1.1-1 TOTAL Lands ................................................................................................................. 1-2 Figure 1.3-1 Aquatics Local Study Area .............................................................................................. 1-4 Figure 1.3-2 Aquatics Regional Study Area ........................................................................................ 1-5 Figure 2.2-1 Fish and Aquatic Resources Sampling Locations ........................................................... 2-2 Figure 3.1-1 Bank Habitat Assessment ................................................................................................ 3-4 Figure 3.1-2 Hourly Discharge Data for the North Saskatchewan River at Edmonton ....................... 3-5 December 2007 TOTAL E&P Canada Ltd. Page ii Environmental Baseline Study: Fish and Aquatic Resources Acronyms and Abbreviations Acronyms and Abbreviations CPUE ........................................................................................................ catch-per-unit-effort DELTs ..................................................................... deformities, erosion, lesions and tumours EIA ...................................................................................... environmental impact assessment FMIS .................................................................... Fisheries Management Information System LSA .................................................................................................................. local study area NSWA ..................................................................... North Saskatchewan Watershed Alliance NTS ........................................................................................... National Topographic Service RSA ............................................................................................................ regional study area TOTAL ........................................................................................... TOTAL E&P Canada Ltd. ToR ............................................................................................................ Terms of Reference TOTAL E&P Canada Ltd. December 2007 Page iii Environmental Baseline Study: Fish and Aquatic Resources Acronyms and Abbreviations December 2007 TOTAL E&P Canada Ltd. Page iv Environmental Baseline Study: Fish