MINNESOTA THINKS MAYBE NOAA FISHERIES MIGHT BE RIGHT

Minnesota is having a little ripple of realization moment. It feels almost like cavemen starting to notice that when they rub two sticks together really fast that yellow light starts burning and they get hotter. Let’s hope they catch up to the way science works in the rest of the states and that this is the start of something great.

Advocates to Minnesota DNR: Don’t Blame the Beavers!

Dams have never been a friend to steelhead. So, dam builders, including beavers, have been implicated in the demise of Great Lakes rainbow fisheries for over a century. But a new study from the University of Minnesota Duluth, focusing on the Knife River, offers evidence that beavers should perhaps not take the rap, especially on smaller streams where river systems emerge. In some cases, they may even deserve some credit for benefiting the trout.

The Knife River, just north of Duluth, on the far western end of Lake Superior, is a storied steelhead fishery. Legends recount spring runs of 10,000 lake rainbows during its heyday in the 1950s and ’60s. Kevin Bovee, 66, a 35-year member of the Lake Superior Steelhead Association, told the Duluth News Tribune, “People used to gather in huge groups to watch the fish go over the first falls. I got in on some of those good old days.” (more…)

BEAVERS AND TROUT UNLIMITED

I thought we deserved some good news for change. Here is a great report on releasing cutthroat to beaver habitat.

WHO KNEW? SCOTTISH BEAVERS HELP TROUT!

heidi08 Beavers and trout November 17, 2021

You know all those articles we have been reading about how the anglers hate beavers coming back to Scotland because they’ll ruin things for all the salmon? (By which they mean trout?) Well get ready to watch some Scottish fishermen sputter.

The response of a brown trout (Salmo trutta) population to reintroduced Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) habitat modification

This study investigated the response of a population of brown trout (Salmo trutta) to reintroduced Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) habitat modifications in northern Scotland. The field site comprised two streams entering a common loch; one modified by beavers, the other unaltered. Electrofishing and PIT telemetry surveys indicated abundance of post-young-of-the-year (post-YOY) trout was higher in the modified stream. Considering juvenile year groups (YOY and post-YOY) combined, abundance and density varied with year and season. In the modified stream, fork length and mass were greater, there was a greater variety of age classes, and mean growth was positive during all seasons. Beavers had profound effects on the local brown trout population that promoted higher abundances of larger size classes. This study provides important insight into the possible future effect of beavers on freshwater ecosystems. (more…)

THE SHOCKING TRUTH ABOUT BEAVERS AND SALMON?

heidi08 Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout July 15, 2021

I really don’t know anyone who’s going to be surprised by this, but okay, if you say its unexpected I guess its true. Maja Holmquist must be new to the beaver beat. I thought NWF was up on these things by now.

Beavers and Salmon: An Unexpected Alliance

According to a recent analysis done by the Nez Perce Tribe, Chinook salmon and steelhead populations are nearing extinction and need all the help they can get.

Why are these salmon so at risk?

Climate change is causing rises in air and water temperatures, increased winter flooding, less (and warmer) water in the summer and fall. None of these things bode well for cold-water fish, Northwest salmon and steelhead populations, in particular. Most salmon species become vulnerable in waters with temperatures 68 degrees and higher. Waters like those in the West’s Columbia River Basin are repeatedly rising past this temperature threshold. Additionally, increased floods during the winter months wash away spawning beds, taking salmon eggs with them.

Things are so dire California is driving salmon around in trucks. BOTH WAYS.

But what if there was an unlikely ally to help us help salmon?

Enter: the beaver. Yes, the beaver. Two studies done on Central Oregon’s Bridge Creek examined the question: Does the presence of beavers improve habitat for juvenile salmon and steelhead?

Seriously, These studies are five years old. Why are you writing this like we are going to be reading the exciting end of a romance novel under the covers with a flashlight at midnight? This isn’t news. We know that beavers help salmon. We’ve known it for 20 years now and I’m sure our ancestors knew it before that. Why the intrigue?

Without beavers, streams have become eroded and incised, meaning they cut deep channels into the landscape. These channels disconnect the stream from its floodplain, disrupting the flow of water, nutrients, and, importantly for salmon, habitat. The areas around these streams shift from thriving, diverse wetlands with pools and floodplains surrounded by trees and shrubs—to dry grasslands made up of only a few species. As seen in many areas implementing beaver mimicry, including areas of salmon habitat on Bridge Creek, the implementation of beaver dams and BDAs mitigate those effects.

Uh huh. And did you know the moon makes gravity too?

Pacific salmon and steelhead are in trouble. Effects of climate change and human development have put these species on the brink of extinction. We need to examine and explore every option available to save these important, iconic, and impressive species. Although here we only reference two published studies done so far on connections between beavers, beaver dam analogues, and these fish species, beaver-related restoration as a tool in salmon recovery is already being implemented in California and Oregon.

But salmon and beaver lived together for centuries before European influence changed the landscape of the West. Generation after generation of salmon made their journey from beaver-inhabited rivers and streams to the ocean and back to those same beaver-inhabited rivers and streams. Salmon and beaver coexisted, even thrived together.

Could they again?

This is such a weird tone for this article to take. Could the sun continue to rise in the east? Could the earth be actually round? Could the rain continue to fall from the sky?

Sara Bates from NWF explains that Maja is an intern and prepared this for a class assignment. Okay. I’ll stop being snarky. Right after I post this video.

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BEAVERS AND THE ‘PERCEPTION OF RISK’

heidi08 Attitudes towards beavers, Beavers and trout June 17, 2021

I tagged this article way back on April 7th and meant to write about it sooner but there was a beaver summit on the same day and you know what happens when you put things off. It’s good timing to revisit because you can never have too many articles about the slow and inevitable rise of the beaver IQ,

When Beaver met Salmon: how fish-friendly flow devices keep their relationship moving forward

WWF-Canada is working with partners to insert fish-friendly flow devices into beaver dams in Newfoundland and Labrador. But to find out how these devices work we need to learn more about beaver dams!

To the untrained eye, beaver activity — felling trees, digging channels and tunnels, building lodges and dams — can appear disruptive and downright messy, but through an ecological lens, they are creating complex (and crucial) habitats. This industrious process is why beaver have been awarded the title ecosystem engineer.

If you’ve ever visited a beaver pond, you might also notice that it’s surrounded by lush vegetation — a band of green that erupts behind the dam and around the pond’s edge habitat (known as the riparian zone). If you could see under water, you’d find an abundance of trout and young salmon. Beaver ponds are also a stopover spot for many species including rare and threatened songbirds. There are so many species that rely directly on beaver habitat for survival that they’re considered a keystone species, which means they are preforming a necessary role to uphold entire ecosystems.

Beavers have also co-evolved with local fish species across Canada (and globally throughout their range). Everywhere within their native range, beaver dams create complex environments used by fish. By increasing the large woody debris in streams and slowing the movement of water, beaver ponds are refuges for young fish such as salmon parr. The plant material and other debris captured in the pond also promotes insect abundance, so there’s plenty to eat in this stable, protective environment. This results in increased growth and survival, which consequently promotes population recovery for the fish.

Well this is shaping up to make a lot of sense! An article from the World Wildlife Fund that reminds people who fish need beavers!

It is a common practice for beaver dams to be removed. Sometimes this happens because a pond is causing a railway or farmland to be flooded. But sometimes beaver dams (and beavers themselves) are removed from ecosystems because they’re thought to be an impediment for salmon migrating in streams. While it is very rare to have complete blockage of fish passage for the span of the migratory period, salmon can be delayed for days or weeks due to inadequate water depth, which they need to propel themselves past the dam, or they may be reluctant to move through an area with reduced flow.

However, it’s the perception of this risk that leads to routine dam removals, and, unfortunately, general habitat degradation. When beaver dams are removed, the beaver pond/wetland is drained and young fish, which depend on the calm waters behind the dam, are flushed quickly downstream into fast-flowing water.

Ir’s always the PERCEPTION of risk that does beavers in. I just chatted yesterday with Rachel Siegel of Illinois who is doing a heckuva job raising beaver awareness there and she told me she had spoken with a big wig fish scientist in the area who expressed concern that beaver dams would BLOCK their migrating fish,

What migrating fish does Illinois have, you ask? Me too. None that go to the ocean that’s for sure. But some like to move up and down stream or from one body of water to the other. I reminded her that we used to have MILLIONS more beaver and MILLIONS more fish. So the species co evolved and get along just fine, thank you very much. Still it’s all about the PERCEPTION of RISK.

WWF-Canada is working to implement a solution that will leave beaver-generated ecosystems intact, while addressing fish passage concerns. With funding from Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s Coastal Restoration Fund and the help of our partners — NunatuKavut Community Council Inc (NCC), Wood (an engineering consultant business), the Atlantic Salmon Federation, the Salmonid Preservation Association for the Waters of Western Newfoundland, the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, and the Beaver Institute — we have already installed four fish-friendly flow devices in Newfoundland and Labrador streams, most recently in NunatuKavut.

Okay, make the fish jump through a box to get around the beaver dam, give them stilts, whatever, just leave the beaver dams alone! Okay?

Fish-friendly flow devices provide a route through the dam for salmon and other fish in case they can’t quite make the leap. This can be particularly helpful during hot and dry periods when the water is not deep enough for fish to use speed bursts to jump, or when the river has been modified by culverts, weirs or bridges that create unnatural “pinch points” in the riverscape. (Beaver dams aren’t a problem in natural conditions, by the way. It’s human infrastructure that can make it difficult for fish to pass.)