Environmental sleuths solve mystery of dead coho in a Courtenay creek

Environmental sleuths solve mystery of dead coho in a Courtenay creek

Source: The Times Colonist

4/28/2024

Environmental sleuths solve mystery of dead coho in a Courtenay creek

Credit: COMOX VALLEY CONSERVATION PARTNERSHIP

Before the fish started dying, the region was in a period of drought. Then, immediately after significant rainfall, the smolts turned up dead. All the evidence pointed to a chemical found in tire rubber.
In May of 2021, volunteers with a watershed-steward group in the Comox Valley came upon a startling scene: 65 dead juvenile coho salmon inside a collection box used to temporarily stall and count the fish on their journey to the ocean.

It was a big surprise, said Helmut Novak, vice-president of the Millard Piercy Watershed Stewards.

The group had installed the smolt fence and counting box at a new location that year, in Courtenay’s Piercy Creek, about half a kilometre downstream from the Comox Valley Parkway.

Piercy Creek

Salmon, Coho

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