Water Stewardship Information Sources
| Citation | Tschaplinski, PJ, Scrivener, JC and Holtby, LB. 1998. Long-term patterns in the abundance of Carnation Creek salmon, and the effects of logging, climate variation, and fishing on adult returns. In: Hogan, D.L., P.J. Tschaplinski, and S. Chatwin (Editors). B.C. Min. For., Res. Br., Victoria, B.C. Land Manage. Handb. No. 41. |
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| Organization | FLNRO |
| URL | https://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfd/pubs/docs/Lmh/Lmh41.htm |
| Abstract/Description or Keywords | The effects of forest harvesting on fish populations have been studied for over 23 years at Carnation Creek on the west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. This intensive case study of a single watershed has generated the longest series of continuous data on fisheries-forestry interactions anywhere. The Carnation Creek Experimental Watershed Project was initiated in mid-1970 by the federal agency now known as the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. In the 1960s, resource managers and planners had to base their judgements about the effects of logging on fish populations on studies conducted elsewhere in North America, such as Oregon, Alaska, and as far away as New Hampshire. Both the forest industry and government resource agencies expressed concern that these extrapolations might not lead to the most appropriate planning decisions for areas on the west coast of British Columbia. Therefore, the Carnation Creek study was initiated to provide fisheries-forestry information on at least one type of drainage basin in coastal British Columbia. After 1971, the Carnation Creek study greatly expanded into a multi-agency, multi-disciplinary program on the effects of forest harvesting on a coastal watershed and its salmon and trout populations. The objectives of this research and monitoring program were to: 1) provide an understanding of the physical and biological processes operating within a coastal watershed; 2) reveal how the forest harvesting practices employed in the 1970s and early 1980s changed these processes; and 3) apply the results of the study to make reasonable and useful decisions concerning land-use management, fish populations, and aquatic habitat protection. The project has achieved these goals despite the limitations typically associated with intensive studies made only in a single watershed. Over 180 publications have been produced from Carnation Creek research. The results from this project have made major contributions to the British Columbia Coastal Fisheries-Forestry Guidelines (CFFG) implemented in 1987, and the legally binding provisions for aquatic habitat protection within the new British Columbia Forest Practices Code. Fish populations have been studied at Carnation Creek virtually continuously since 1970. This project has thus provided researchers with a unique opportunity to examine the long-term changes in the abundance, growth, and survival of coastal salmon and trout under a regime of forest harvesting. The objectives of this review are to illustrate: 1. the changes in the abundance, growth, and survival of coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch), chum salmon (O. keta), anadromous rainbow trout (“steelhead”, O. mykiss), and cutthroat trout (0. clarki) in Carnation Creek from 1970 or 1971 (depending upon the species) to 1993 through 5 pre-logging, 6 during-logging, and 12 postlogging years; 2. the complex effects of forest harvesting and the way in which they vary among species and among the life stages within the same species; and 3. the dependency of salmonid production on biological and physical processes occurring not only within watersheds, but also in marine environments (e.g., climate-associated changes, predation, and fishing). The following discussion also shows the value of long-term, multidisciplinary studies for clarifying the complex interactions among land-use practices and the natural processes occurring within watersheds, which together determine salmonid abundance and growth in coastal streams. |
| Information Type | Article |
| Regional Watershed | Coast Region |
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| Project status | complete |
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