2 - Wednesdav. December 12. 1996 - North Shore News North Shore fish battie to survive in a polluted urban ¢€ environment HE NORTH Shore has a wealth of rivers and streams, bul a dearth of information about those waterways and the diversity of fish life they support. By Timothy Renshaw Managing Editor According to fisheries person- nel, the North Shore has one of the highest concentrations of fish-bearing streams in the Lower Mainland. A program of marking North Shore storm drains with yellow fish figures was initiated in the mid-’80s in an attempt to illustrate to local residents that North Shore storm drains run directly into area creeks. But spills into those waterways from developments, increasing urbanization and careless or un- caring residents continue, whether by accident or intent. While it is irnpossible to docu- ment the exact number of chemi- cal and petro-chemical spills into North Shore creeks, B.C. En- vironment Ministry environmental safety officer Rick Hawes has said that his department gets at least one call per week to attend to spills of pollutants into North Shore creeks. And that figure represents only the spills that are reported and detected, Hawes says the majority of spills into local creeks are from Residential Underground Storage Tanks (RUSTs). The tanks were installed around the Lower Mainland from 1945 to 1965 during the post-war housing boom when oil was the primary source of home heating fuel and underground tank installation was cheap and easy. But, because the maximum RUST lifespan is around 25 years, even those installed in 1965 are fast deteriorating and beginning to release their abandoned fuel into the surrounding environment. An estimated 50,000 of the tanks, the majority of which are abandoned, are buried around the Lower Mainland. The North Shore has a large concentration of those tanks. COHO SALMON Oncorhynchus kisutch NEWS photo Mike Wakefield CHINOOK salmon swim in a holding pen at the Seymour River hatchery (above). Losing out to ur- ban pollution, this dead fish (ieft) lies on the banks of Lynn Creek, the victim of a chemi- cal spill into the creek. : ae . NEWS photo Cindy Goodman The West Vancouver Fire Department and West Vancouver municipality have mounted a joint effort to pinpoint and remove RUSTs in West Vancouver. North Vancouver District has approved a similar program and North Vancouver City is also con- sidering initiating a program to remove RUSTs. Creeks have also been adversely affected by area industries: ¢ In 1986 a firm was fined $3,000 for discharging toxic resin into Lynn Creek. * In the same year, another firm was fined $1,500 for dump- ing driveway sealant into Mackay Creek in connection with an August [985 incident. © And most recently a spill of bleach into Lynn Creek wiped out hundreds of juvenile salmon. NEWS photo Mike Wakefleld A SUMMER-run steelhead trout is examined by a Seymour River hatchery worker. Where the fish are... ROM DEEP Cove harbor west to Horse- shoe Bay, the North Shore has approximately 14 significant fish-bearing waterways: 12 creeks and two rivers: © McCartney Creek: has limited populations of chum, coho salm- on and cutthroat trout; escape- ment (the number of adult salmon that return to a stream to spawn) numbers are low: according to Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) inventory taken during the 1980s the maximum escapement of McCartney Creek coho was 39. Chum population: very limited. Cutthroat trout: minimal presence. Water quality: described by DFO as having elevated levels of lead and copper in upper portions. Lack of fish spawning attributed to a combination of overfishing and urban development. The creek currently has no ma- jor salmon enhancement program. © Myrtle Creek: has small popu- lations of coho salmon and cut-' throat trout, {ft has no major enhancement in place, salmon © Maplewood Creek: part of the Seymour River system; popu- lations of chum and coho salmon. DOF notes that peak escapement of coho and chum in the mid- 1980s was 240 and 27, respective- ly. Water quality: has suffered from ammonia problems (1987) and run-off from an area duck pond, which in 1987 caused a high mortality rate of juvenile coho and chum, But North Vancouver District has since agreed to remove duck pond effluent via regular use of a pumper truck SOCKEYE SALMON Oncorhynchus nerka rather than have it discharge into the creek. A program to enhance coho and chum salmon stocks was initiated three years ago. The creek had its first return of chum (15) this year. Maplewood Community School students are involved in a salmon incubation box program on the creek. ¢ Lynn Creek: has seven major creek tributaries, including Keith, Hastings, Kennedy, Wickenden, Norvan, Hanes and Colliseum; once had heavy salmon runs, but they have been decimated by overfishing, logging, and gravel digging practices. Now supports some chum, chinook, coho, and pink salmon and some steelhead trout; highest escapement during the mid-1980s: 250 coho, 26 pink, 16 chum and 10 chinook. Water quality: adversely af- fected by downstream industrial use and industrial leachate from the Premier Street land fill. The creek’s steelhead and coho are subject to heavy sports fish- ing. A Lynn Creek salmon enhancement program is currently focusing on coho. The Lynnmour Community Association is involv- ed in Lynn Creek salmon incuba- tion box program. ® Hastings Creek: has two creek tributaries: Thames and Kilmer; part of the Lynn Creek system; considered to be one of the most important small fish-bearing streams in North Vancouver; sup- ports populations of coho and chinook salmon and_ stecfhead, cuttht oat and rainbow trout. Escapement of coho in the mid-1980s reached close to 200 adults: steclhead trout also has strong presence in the creek. Water quality: affected by ur- Continued next page PINK ‘SALMON Oncorhynchus gorbuscha