Photo Brian Sperling
Current status of MCSC: OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Estimated number of kokanee in the spawning channel as of September 15, 2008: 420,000
On September the 13, 2008, the Fish & Wildlife Compensation Program (FWCP) organized a well-attended Open House at Meadow Creek Spawning Channel (MCSC), which is jointly operated by the FWCP and the B.C. Ministry of Environment.
The goal of the Open House was to inform the public about the channel operations, the biology of the kokanee and how the Nutrient Restoration Program works in Kootenay Lake. See below for a few photographs taken on the day.
The channel will remain open to the public for the duration of the spawning season (typically late August to early October) unless there is unusually high Grizzly bear activity. Please check status above.
Directions:
The community of Meadow Creek is located at the north end of Kootenay Lake, 40km north of Kaslo. To reach the spawning channel take Meadow Creek Road (opposite Drifter's Restaurant) from Hwy 31, and follow the road for 4km.
Meadow Creek Spawning Channel - Background
The construction of Duncan Dam in 1965 removed kilometres of kokanee spawning habitat in the Duncan River. With funding from BC Hydro to compensate for the upstream kokanee habitat lost from the dam, the B.C. Ministry of Environment built Meadow Creek Spawning Channel in 1967. At 3.3 km in length it was the largest of its kind in the world when it was built and, to this day, continues to play a very important role for kokanee. It accounts for about 75% of total kokanee fry production in Kootenay Lake.
A large part of the channel's success is due to the relatively high and consistent egg-to-fry survival rates. In natural streams the egg-to-fry survival rate is usually less than 15% but, due to careful monitoring and management of water flows and spawning gravel condition, the survival rate in MCSC has averaged 47% over the last 10 years. That means for every 100 eggs deposited in the fall nearly 50 fry exit the channel the following spring.
Kokanee production is critical to many species in the Kootenay Lake food web including Ospreys, Great Blue Herons, Grizzly Bears and large fish such as white sturgeon, rainbow trout and bull trout. A large Gerrard rainbow trout will, for example, consume about two kokanee daily throughout the year.
2008 Open House
(All photos - Lynne Betts, FWCP)
FWCP and MOE fisheries biologists were on hand at the lower fence to explain the life history of the kokanee and how the channel operates.
With the spawning channel full (it is estimated that about 55 million eggs will be deposited this year), the gate at the lower fence is closed, below which the kokanee congregate in massive numbers. In time they will turn around and look for spawning habitat downstream.
FWCP and MOE Limnologist (lake water specialist), Eva Schindler, answers questions about the Compensation Program.
Eva Schindler explains some of the more technical details about the Nutrient Restoration Program and how it benefits a wide range of species in and around Kootenay Lake.
Fish-eye view, below the lower fence.
