Final Advisory Letter
Final report of the Pacific Fisheries Resource Conservation Council in its role as advisors on wild Pacific salmon and steelhead stocks and habitat.
Backgrounder: Climate Change Adaptation Strategies for the Quesnel River Watershed
Submitted by michael on Thu, 10/04/2007 - 10:00.
Within the central interior plateau, the Quesnel River watershed is a major tributary of the Fraser River which contributes significantly to fish production. The basin supports a relatively diverse fish community of bull trout, kokanee, rainbow trout, as well as sockeye, chinook, coho and some pink salmon.
Quesnel sockeye survival is affected by a variety of human activities and climate-sensitive factors across their life history. Land use changes, which can affect spawning and rearing habitats, have been a dominant factor in the watershed for many years. Forestry activities such as logging and road development directly affect salmon habitats. The mountain pine beetle (MPB) outbreak has led to dramatically rapid and broad-scale changes to the forested landscape. Some salmon streams have large portions of flow allocated for agricultural withdrawals. Changes to in-river conditions through downstream migration corridors also affect the watershed and its habitats.
To help the Quesnel salmon adapt, fisheries management practices must be adjusted, including marine harvest rates on Quesnel and co-migrating sockeye stocks. Develop “harvest rules” that account for year-to-year variations in conditions of the Fraser River such as water temperatures and flows. In addition, reductions in harvest rates of off-cycle years may help build up long-term abundance, which also has the potential of increasing long-term economic benefits.
Infrastructure strategies are also required. In dealing with the MPB outbreak, the BC Ministry of Forests and Range has conducted aggressive harvesting targeting recently attacked tress, to limit the beetle’s spread. Forest ecosystems and hydrologic recovery requires a long time, which means the consequences of today’s decisions may be longstanding, and the impacts on salmon habitats are even more uncertain. Logging practices should ensure retention of conservative river-side buffers in headwater areas. Also, more extensive monitoring can help reduce uncertainties around habitat changes associated with MPB and related logging practices to better understand habitat responses.
More cold water should be released. Elevated summer water temperatures have been documented in some locations across the watershed. Given the potential for disease outbreaks and associated relationship with pre-spawn mortality, a temperature control structure was built in 1969 to draw cold water from McKinley Lake into McKinley Creek, but other opportunities for cold water releases should be explored within the watershed.
Finally, governments must step up to conserve pristine habitats. Developing salmon “strongholds” in the watershed seems a reasonable strategy given the economic importance of Quesnel sockeye to salmon fisheries and development pressures within the watershed. New protected areas would likely be difficult to implement, however, given that the Cariboo-Chilcotin Land Use Plan has already undergone an exercise of designating land uses that recognize trade-offs among multiple resources uses. Given the pervasiveness of mountain pine beetle infestations, it may be worth revisiting these designations for the sake of protecting salmon and other ecosystem values.
Quesnel sockeye survival is affected by a variety of human activities and climate-sensitive factors across their life history. Land use changes, which can affect spawning and rearing habitats, have been a dominant factor in the watershed for many years. Forestry activities such as logging and road development directly affect salmon habitats. The mountain pine beetle (MPB) outbreak has led to dramatically rapid and broad-scale changes to the forested landscape. Some salmon streams have large portions of flow allocated for agricultural withdrawals. Changes to in-river conditions through downstream migration corridors also affect the watershed and its habitats.
To help the Quesnel salmon adapt, fisheries management practices must be adjusted, including marine harvest rates on Quesnel and co-migrating sockeye stocks. Develop “harvest rules” that account for year-to-year variations in conditions of the Fraser River such as water temperatures and flows. In addition, reductions in harvest rates of off-cycle years may help build up long-term abundance, which also has the potential of increasing long-term economic benefits.
Infrastructure strategies are also required. In dealing with the MPB outbreak, the BC Ministry of Forests and Range has conducted aggressive harvesting targeting recently attacked tress, to limit the beetle’s spread. Forest ecosystems and hydrologic recovery requires a long time, which means the consequences of today’s decisions may be longstanding, and the impacts on salmon habitats are even more uncertain. Logging practices should ensure retention of conservative river-side buffers in headwater areas. Also, more extensive monitoring can help reduce uncertainties around habitat changes associated with MPB and related logging practices to better understand habitat responses.
More cold water should be released. Elevated summer water temperatures have been documented in some locations across the watershed. Given the potential for disease outbreaks and associated relationship with pre-spawn mortality, a temperature control structure was built in 1969 to draw cold water from McKinley Lake into McKinley Creek, but other opportunities for cold water releases should be explored within the watershed.
Finally, governments must step up to conserve pristine habitats. Developing salmon “strongholds” in the watershed seems a reasonable strategy given the economic importance of Quesnel sockeye to salmon fisheries and development pressures within the watershed. New protected areas would likely be difficult to implement, however, given that the Cariboo-Chilcotin Land Use Plan has already undergone an exercise of designating land uses that recognize trade-offs among multiple resources uses. Given the pervasiveness of mountain pine beetle infestations, it may be worth revisiting these designations for the sake of protecting salmon and other ecosystem values.