Bull Trout spawner abundance and critical habitats 2019-2020

This multi-year project will estimate Bull Trout spawner abundance to identify important populations and critical habitats. The results will inform conservation and enhancement actions. This project will include: 1) counts of Bull Trout spawning sites (redds) within index sites in four streams monitored annually; 2) redd counts in new index sections, located in other watersheds, to provide baseline data for future comparisons; and 3) rapid, aerial redd counts from a helicopter, where Bull Trout abundance and habitat use are unknown. Aerial redd counts, calibrated using on-the-ground foot surveys in the usual manner, allow whole watersheds to be surveyed in as little as a single day.

Update: Critical bull trout habitat located in Williston Reservoir Watershed

Sixteen new critical habitats for large-bodied migratory bull trout have been identified in our Peace Region. This project—with the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development—used aerial and on-the-ground surveying to record bull trout and identify spawning sites and other critical habitat throughout the Williston Reservoir Watershed, including in Scott Creek, Weston Creek, Patsuk Creek, Cut Thumb Creek, and Gavreau Creek.