Led by local biologists working with Project Watershed Society, the Puntledge River Projects are aimed at re-building summer chinook salmon stocks in the Puntledge River Watershed.
Puntledge River Reports
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Month: March 2020
Comox Harbour Fish Trap Photo Gallery
Such contemporaneous, large-scale fishing activity at multiple locations in the estuary could have resulted in the capture of enormous quantities of fish.
Highlights from the Ancient Fish Trap Study
Two temporally and morphologically distinct trap types were utilized, and the shift from the Winged Heart trap type to the Winged Chevron trap type about 700 years ago appears abrupt and closely coincident with Little Ice Age climatic conditions and increased importance of salmon at Aboriginal village sites on west coast Vancouver Island, at Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands) and south coast Alaska.
Airpark Lagoon Breach Project Background and Rationale
Slide Show – Presented by Lora (Tyron) McAuley, R.P.Bio, M.Sc.
Courtenay River
The Courtenay River is the shortest navigable river the world. It starts where the Puntledge and Tsolum rivers converge and occupies a prominent central location in the heart of the City of Courtenay.
Simms Park Native Plants
Riparian areas include the native trees, shrubs and grasses growing alongside water-courses. These native plants provide vegetative cover to help moderate water temperature.
Off Channel Habitat
Off-channel habitats provide lower water velocity, moderated water temperature, and enhanced food availability. They are important because they have been shown to benefit juvenile salmon growth and survival, decrease their competition for food and space, help keep larger predators away and provide important refuge.
Riparian Habitat
A riparian area is the interface between the land and a river or stream. Riparian areas link water to land. They boarder streams, lakes and wetlands and encompass the trees, shrubs and grasses growing along these water bodies.
Simms Park Habitat Improvement Interactive Map
Over 2017- 2018, the Project Watershed team completed a habitat improvement project. The endeavour included the removal of an old culvert connecting the Courtenay River through the park into an inner pond area.
Simms Millennium Park Habitat Enhancement
When Simms Millennium Park opened in 2000 it included off channel habitat for fish and other riparian species. This was one of only three off-channel habitats for juvenile salmonids along a three km stretch of the upper ecotone of the K’ómoks Estuary.
Resident Geese Overgraze
These resident geese overgraze the vegetation and grub the roots of the ‘marsh platform’ – a thick accumulation of nutrient-dense soils from land, freshwater aquatic and marine sources bound together by vegetation.
The KFN Guardians are preventing rich soils from being eroded
By reviving cultural practices and innovating restoration techniques, the Guardians are preventing rich soils from being eroded and washed away with the tides.