Good news on the Raven River study

I just received an e-mail from Michael Dell (President of Trout Unlimited Edmonton) with some great news. It appears the Alberta Conservation Association has granted $50,800 for our study on the Raven River. We (T.U. Edm) are putting in $30,000. Most of which has been raised at our annual Lloyd Shea raffle at the Fishin' Hole Outdoor Show & Sale. Jim O'Neil put together a proposal for a study on the Raven and his firm Golder is committing $16,500 worth of their time (in-kind contribution).

It was the late Lloyd Shea's vision to see a study done on the Raven River and thanks to Jim we have a way to spend this money to honor Lloyd's memory. As a lot of you may already know, the North Raven (Stauffer Creek) has had enhancement work done to it in the past (much appreciation to the Central chapter of TU Alberta and all the volunteers) making this piece of water a world class Brown Trout fishery. With the planned studies completed on the Raven, it too may need enhancement work that could see better opportunities for anglers.



The objectives of the study are as follows:

Objective 1 - Assess current status and temporal changes in brown trout abundance in the Raven River, by comparing results of a mark-recapture program in 2008 with the results obtained from a similar program conducted in 1977 (Rhude and Kraft 1978). Based on the perception of the angling community, sport fish populations (particularly brown trout) have declined due to land use, the development of the Dickson Dam and other stressors.

Objective 2 - Describe riparian conditions and fish habitat of the Raven River, from the headwaters to the Red Deer River confluence using low-level videography (Mills and Scrimgeour 2004); in combination with ground-based assessments. The Alberta "Cows and Fish" RHA protocol will be applied to impaired river sections investigated under Objective 3.

Objective 3 - Evaluate the success of previous riparian restoration efforts (e.g., stream bank fencing, livestock crossing installations) on fish assemblages in the Raven River basin (including North Raven sites). We will also examine candidate metrics [for provincial Index of Fish Integrity (IFI) programs] that represent various functional and structural attributes of the fish community (e.g., species richness, % carnivores or carnivore catch per-unit effort; Stevens et al. 2006). Data will be collected on fish assemblages via electrofishing and compared among river sections having degraded riparian areas (n=10), sections with restored riparian areas (n=10), and sections with relatively intact riparian areas (n=10; 30 sites total).

Objective 4 - To identify critical spawning areas for brown trout based on a late fall redd survey; and investigate the influences of riparian and instream variables on the abundance and distribution of redds. The late fall spawning (redd) survey will be conducted by volunteers from Trout Unlimited Canada; similar to the survey conducted by the organization in 1997. Riparian and fish habitat data will be collected as outline in Objective 2.

If you would like to get involved with this project, you can obtain more information at the April 21 Edmonton TU meeting.



Ever wanted to be a fishing show host on TV? Well get you DVC ready as the World Fishing Network wants to know if you have what it takes to become Canada s next great fishing TV host!


This taken from their website; "a WFN panel will select a number of contestants that will appear online at www.wfn.tv. The public will vote for their favourites. The top 50 entries from each region (Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton and Toronto) will then compete in the contest s third round of live auditions during the 2009 Canadian National Sportsmen s Show (CNSS) season."

Audition Guidelines can be viewed here http://www.wfn.tv/casting_call/guidelines.pdf.

Hmmm... maybe I'll giver a go myself.