CONSERVATION

Please Help Protect Fish Habitat

Fish habitat will maintain itself if we don't disturb it too much. There are several easy things you can do to help protect fish and their habitat.

Fish and their eggs need clean water to survive.

Fish habitat includes:

• The run-off ditches on the side of the road, storm drains on the road, and virtually anywhere else that water flows. All of this water eventually reaches fish habitat and has a direct impact on its health.

In the city, we must make sure that:

• Run-off water from our driveways and rain gutters is clean of chemicals, soaps, oils and other contaminants.

We should:

• Wash our cars on our lawns so that the soap gets filtered by the grass and insects.
• Never use toxic chemicals such as pesticides and chemical fertilizers on our lawns and gardens.
• Not use any strong chemicals when washing cars, boats, houses, etc.
• Keep our vehicles tuned up and leak free. Motor oil and engine anti-freeze are very toxic to fish and should never be allowed to reach storm drains.
• Recycle yard waste, such as grass clipping, by composting it or using it as mulch.

In more rural areas, we must make sure that water doesn't get contaminated by fecal waste. Fecal contamination is very damaging because of bioaccumulation. This means that fecal coliforms accumulate in certain animals and can eventually kill the animals that eat them. Many productive shellfish beaches have been closed because of this type of contamination.

We should:

• Ensure that septic systems are functioning properly. Having our septic systems inspected and pumped regularly will guarantee that bathroom and kitchen waste will be fully treated by the time it is released back into the ground.



• Prevent livestock and other farm animals from having unlimited access to streams. By fencing off streams, and building safe cattle crossings, we protect fish habitat from being polluted by animal feces, and eroded by animal migration (which causes siltation).

In all cases, we must make sure that stream banks remain stable, with rooted vegetation, to avoid sediment from entering the water. Avoid walking on and damaging stream banks, for they can erode quite easily and need to remain stable.

Also ensure that no pollutants make their way to the water. You can act as a community watchdog by monitoring what is going on in your neighbourhood and reporting any unusual occurrences around streams to your local fisheries officials.

Fish and their eggs also need cool shaded water.

Direct sunlight will heat up the water in a creek and make it uncomfortable for salmon. It might also cause the stream water to dry up and leave young fish stranded.

To help maintain cool shaded water we should:

• Leave all vegetation intact in areas surrounding a stream. At least 30 meters of vegetation should exist on either side of a stream channel to protect it against exterior influences, and to provide enough shade and food to keep the stream healthy.
• Not remove or tamper with any large pieces of wood or boulders in the stream. This wood and rock provides shade and shelter for fish of all ages to cool off and protect themselves from predators.

Fish also need flowing water.

We must avoid using excessive water from streams and rivers when we irrigate our fields, gardens, and lawns.

Keeping the eggs and gravel safe.

Throughout the fall to late spring seasons, we must be very careful where we walk in the stream. During these times, eggs are beneath the gravel in the stream bed and are very sensitive to being crushed. Avoid stepping on any gravel patches, especially where there are depressions in it ranging in size from one square meter or less, to several square meters. There may be hundreds of thousands of eggs buried in these redds that could be damaged if we don't respect them.