Fishing guides get

Terrace Review — Wednesday, June 1, 1988 21

first-hand look at
habitat damage

Biology and botony instructor
Jorma Jyrkkanen, of the
NWCC Fishing Guide Training

Program, took his class on the
road recently to look at habitat
damage caused by man. The
Fishing Guide Training Program
is sponsored by the Terrace and
District Angling Guides Associa-
tion to develop a labor force of
capable and knowledgeable fish
guide assistants in the north-

west.

by Tod Strachan

_Jyrkkanen and his students
visited sites on the Copper and
‘Kitimat Rivers, where they could
see the effects activities such as
logging, roadbuilding and the
construction of hydro lines on
the environment. The idea, he
said, was to familiarize prospec-
tive fish guides with those

features of fish and aquatic’

biology and the associated en-

vironment that would enable

them to become better-rounded
. fish guides.

“What we were looking at
were the results of man’s ac-
tivities on the fish habitat,”’ said
Jyrkkanen. ‘‘A lot of human ac-
tivities impact on fish.”

As examples, he explained
that removing ground cover ex-
poses the ground to direct
sunlight, raising of the
temperature of ground water
which, if extensive enough, will
ultimately raise the temperature
_of. nearby creeks with an
undesired impact on the fish.

Also, loss of large organic
debris, mostly old conifer logs
that have been embedded into
the bank and substrate of the
streams, has a negative effect.
‘This debris, Jyrkkanen said,
helps to form pools and water
‘spilling over the logs provides
‘good aeration of the water and
enhances spawning.

He said this was a very impor-
tant finding of the Carnation
Creek study, an intensive
15-year study on Vancouver
Island which closely examined
man’s impact on one eco-
system, ‘‘Large organic debris is
one of the most important things
that is reduced by logging,’’ said
Jyrkkanen.

Another major difficulty
caused by erosion, says Jyrk-
kanen, is the movement of fine
sands and gravels. The move-
ment of fine sand into creek
beds fills the spaces between
small rocks that the fish spawn
in, and the eggs may suffer an
oxygen-shortage or the fry may

generation of fish. He said chum
and steethead are most often af-
fected,

‘On the Copper River we saw
examples of erosion from a
variety of sources including
power line cut lines, logging
slash and some mechanical
clearing of brush — right up to
the river in some places. Also,
the tool that had been used there
had in fact turned up the ground
quite a bit, causing damage,”’
Jyrkkanen said.

As the students looked at each
example, Jyrkkanen described a
guideline that would help to pre-
vent, or at least minimize, the
impact. ‘The most important,
of course, is to follow the fish-
forestry guidelines which the
province has implemented.”’ .

“They'll be making a living
from fish, they'll want to ensure
that they know when something
is happening to fish habitat that
they can apprise the proper
authorities of it. Also, it gives
them a more general back-
ground so they can talk to the
people they’re guiding about the
various things that affect the
fish and their habitat,’’ said
Jyrkkanen.

The Fish Guide Training Pro-
gram is an 18-week course of

‘study which includes a variety of

training: industry orientation,
equipment maintenance and
small engine repair, water
navigation and boat handling,
map use and interpretation,
biology and botany, tackle, fish
handling regulations, guide-
client relations, setting up camp,
report writing, radio com-
munications, legal requirements,
marketing and survival first aid.

New lineman

TERRACE — V.J. (Veikko)
Kammonen, B.C, Hydro Skeena
Area Manager, recently an-
nounced the appointment of
C.K. (Cam) Simon as Line
Supervisor of B.C. Hydro
Customer Services operations
for Terrace and Kitimat.

Simon joined B,C, Hydro in
1967, and has served in a
number of capacities since that
time. He first worked with the
B.C. Hydro Construction
Department, and joined the
Customer Services Group in
1978,

Simon replaces Bill Mc-
Caveney, who recently transfer-

Terrace biologist Jorma Jyrkkanen recently took a group of local fishing guides out in the
field to examine damaged fish habitat. The trip was one segment of an intensive 18-week
Fish Guide Training Program offered by Northwest Community College.

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