Sapro- What Is The Patient Zero?

[jasonvilly]

My intent on starting the topic was not to be an alarmist, merely I was hoping to start a discourse on the observations of many anglers.

 

From my point of view I have learned a lot from reading everyone's responses and appreciate the input.

 

I feel it is good that we are creating awareness of the issue, something that can be watched and if it "were" to get worse than at least there would be some preparedness.

 

Overall hopefully those who read the responses will take something away from it. How we as the consumer of the resource can help to protect and maintain the resource that we all love.

[reevesr1]

Apathetic? Hardly. Show me actual evidence that this is handling related (non circumstantial), and I'd be the first in line to say close it. And if we are going to suggest closing it during the brown spawn to Police, why pick Police? Why not the Highwood? Why not the entire river? Seems we are talking about erring on the side of caution here. Fine, but don't screw around. Same thing should apply to the Rainbow spawn. We all know there are rainbows that spawn in the Bow in the spring. So close the Bow from let's say March 15 to May 1 for the Rainbows and October 15 to Nov 1 for the Browns. Not sure when the whites spawn, but we should cover that as well (nah, no one cares about the whites, they aren't pretty enough). So the Bow would be open to fishing from May 1 to October 15. Shops are gonna love that.

 

Unfortunately, the same logic would apply to the Crow in the spring, and the Waterton in the fall for the browns.

 

I'm purposely exaggerating this, but if we advocate closing based on potential issues, this is where it all leads in the end. Every time something happens to affect fish population, angling pressure can always be blamed whether it is the culprit or not. Solution? Stop angling.

[Hawgstoppah]

Sounds good to me Rick. I'd love to see the Crow closed March 1 to June 1st or 15th as well. I merely suggested Police as a measure of protection - a "buffer zone" if you will - from where most of the browns in my own observations, have gone to spawn which seems to be the hwy 2 bridge and upstream. Reducing pressure on them at a vulnerable time would be great. I've also suggested for years a closure from Police downstream to MacKinnons during the rainbow staging time. Help our fishy friends out. People are going to fish where there are fish (myself included) but if regs and science back up reasons to stop, then I am sure we can all find other locations. Mac to Carseland is pretty freekin good in late fall for rainbows, let's leave the future of the Brown trout fishery to do their thing is all I am saying

[Gaffer]

In my biologist opinion the Sapro "event" of recent has several causes, some of which have been mentioned, but like so make things it is probably a culmination of many factors.

 

To me the biggest factor would have to be the low water levels which results in the following:

 

• Higher water temps result in lower dissolved oxygen content in the water. This results in both greater stress in fish, reducing their natural ability to ward off the infection. Heat and low oxygen levels also favour fungal diseases like Sapro
• Low water forces the fishes together into areas, increasing transmission among fish.
• As Browns went into the spawn, they get rammy and territorial and can spread the fungus through fighting or mating. Mating also takes a toll on fish, lowering their immune system through competition for reddds and not eating while on redds, making it easier for the fungus to infect the fish.

I have no doubt that greater handling of fish, poor fish handling techniques and many other things didnt help.

 

I dont think this one event could decimate the Bow of Browns, but should serve as a reminder to us all to be stewards of what keeps us coming there, the fish.

 

Andrew

[bcubed]

Perhaps the ones who make the money due to the river, are the ones who worry the most about it... and yes, that's speaking from experience. A quick informal study of what the shops thought, would quickly show who I'd want to support....

So the Bow would be open to fishing from May 1 to October 15. Shops are gonna love that.

[reevesr1]

Lots of us who make no money off of it worry about it just as much. Don't confuse disagreement of causes with apathy.

[bcubed]

Lots of us who make no money off of it worry about it just as much. Don't confuse disagreement of causes with apathy.

 

 

Rick, the Apathy part was certainly not pointed at you. It was directed at the amount of people who are more concerned about getting their next photo on facebook for the world to see, yet not concerned about the impact on the river that the extra handling has. Those that go looking for spawning fish as it's the best time of year for big browns, worry more about getting clients into the next one when the water is over 70 degrees..etc (i can give endless examples).

 

That's apathy (and greed), my friend, and I know you're not apathetic or greedy.

 

 

Personally, the Bow being closed from November to March (whether its the whole thing, or from Deerfoot up) would not have any significant impact on businesses, or opportunity for outdoor recreation, yet may just show a significant positive impact for our fish.

Don't they deserve a break?

 

 

Really, most of my posting on the forum (as of late) is really just trying to get people to be a little more introspective when they go fishing. Hopefully it's working.

[reevesr1]

It's all good Brent, you know I don't mind a bit of argument from time to time! Keeps things interesting.

 

I would have no issue closing the Bow in the winter if it was warranted. I'm just not convinced it is. It feels to me like we are putting pieces of information together and implying causality where none is proven. Of course I understand that fish handling is an important topic in and of itself, I just don't see it's direct relation to the sapro infection. I'm sure, as gaffer said, it doesn't help. But is it a cause? Is angling pressure in general? Is it enough of one to warrant seasonal closures?

 

There certainly may be validity in the school of thought that "if there may be a correlation, we should make changes just to be safe." My HUGE concern with that is if we are making changes based on perception, what is the end point? On the opposite side, I do understand if one says "wait for the science, or study, or whatever" some will perceive that as allowing the patient to die while we study the symptoms. I certainly have no idea what the answer is.

[bcubed]

What if we get away from sapro, and just think of the general impact on the fishery during the winter. We've had warmer winters, and certainly no one can disagree that there are far more anglers on the water during the winter. The regulations are dated, so it shall be interesting to see the results (or lack there of) of the working group that is going over the bow regs this year..

 

now i'm off topic. anyway.

[troutfriend]

Interesting topic.

 

I would suggest that there were a few different issues leading the increased issues around Saprolegnia last fall.

1. Lower than average flows in the Bow River starting in late August – mapped by Alberta Environment.
2. An abnormal runoff last year (not abnormally high volume) that was laden in silt – ie. Higher dissolved solids- moulds connect to these solids to and are transported more readily.
3. Increased ambient air temperatures- according to Environment Canada, - lead to increased water temps - (hypothetically but I have no facts to back this up - not monitored).
4. Increased angler effort due to nice weather.
5. Increased issues with Dissolved Oxygen as there is increased Didymo and other river plants known to be in this system – increased temps in river = increased production of didymo and aquatic plants = increased dead and decaying didymo and aquatic plants = decreased Dissolved Oxygen as this process occurs at night in the rivers = increased stress on fish during high stressful time of the year spawning in the shallows and high requirements for oxygen due to higher metabolism at this time of year.
6. Fish interacting more than normal during spawning and transferring this mould via contact. As it is a secondary infection this is an issue for battle scared fish and handled fish that may be infected.

 

This has happened in the past according to longer in the tooth staff of AESRD. Not reported to the same extent then. Why? Now there are more anglers on the rivers, we all have cameras, we all have access to the internet, we are all are looking for solutions to protect their beloved resources.

 

What to do?

Close the river? – well this is a potential solution that may work to reduce handling related stress but is in reality a small part of the puzzle as this does not address the other larger scale issues of flow and temperature. Yes, The Bow River is ultimately controlled by power generators upstream who help us light and heat our houses and is also regulated by irrigators downstream who make us food. BUT, I actually think we can address these issues. This river looks a lot different now than it has in the past (check out some of the awesome images at the Glenbow) as it continues to down cut, widen and shallow – all benefitting higher temps, lower water levels, didymo and Saprolegnia. I am not advocating reverting the river and the city to what they looked like in 1920, but there are some steps that could be taken to work with the river rather than work against it.

 

What reduces didymo and Saprolegnia? Flooding, ice cover and scouring, and education. Floods and ice cover are often correctly feared by those who have invested in floodplains. So this is a hard sell; Hell the city has an entire department that exists to avoid this eventuality! Is this a trade-off? There will be other 2005 and 2007 floods in the future (maybe starting today?) and these have long term benefits for these natural river systems. These events will scour the river bottom and continually re shape the river. People love to engage the river, but they hate it when it engages them!

[eagleflyfisher]

Sounds like a lot of factors combined have achieved the perfect storm resulting in the bacteria etc..

I heard a comment today that the spray lakes turbine repair 2 years ago that resulted in high water for 2 months really polluted the river bottom with silt.

The slit was still in the river last year & gave the bacteria a good substrate to bond too & grow.

This is a theory but sounds like a likely contributor .

I saw the amounts of silt first hand & noticed the lack of bugs as a result . There was nil for mayflies pretty much all season.

Not sure if this also explains more didymo ?

Low water, high bacteria , fish pushed together, high stress, fish handling & on & on.

Hopefully good news though, the rains, high water, cleaning of the river should help controll & clean out the bacteria.

[dutchie]

i'm really hoping for a big big run off and blow all them sick fish out of here ,

 

the river is full of sick fish and thats the best that could help in the short team ,

 

last week i was on the river 5 days , i never seen so many sick whitefish , dead and floating , a few rainbows and only couple browns , seen a few fish mixed up in the head also , swimming weird , jumping

 

this is way beyond a handling issue , not saying thats not a good point , just i don't think it started whats happening in the river now ,

 

i will also say Dave , that i think that silt was bad and still is bad , it's still on the rocks after one good run-off and no doubt it's bad for bug life ,

 

best thing that could happen is a big flush

[mrmomar]

Interesting discussion, but an awful lot of speculation. Be wary of jumping to definitive conclusions without proper study. But I certainly hope SRD is in fact researching this issue. In science, there is a very important principle which is important to consider. Correlation does not imply causation.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correlation_does_not_imply_causation

 

A few points to consider, purely for the sake of presenting a different point of view.

 

1) Is there a chance that this is the result of regulations changes years ago to slot limits? Large, mature trout used to be legally removed from the river - this is no longer the case. The result, a higher number of trophy fish who eventually succumb to disease, natural causes, etc.

 

2) As someone who avoids crowded angling spots (namely, FCP and Police), I have not actually caught a single Sapro infected fish. You'll have to trust that I catch a large number of trout, browns included. I fish year round and spend 100+ days on the river.

 

3) With point #2 in mind, I would be very interested to see some data on where the Sapro infected fish are located. This may allow us to start to determine if there is a spatial relationship between Sapro infected fish and location.

 

mrm

[toolman]

I've seen a few Sapro infected Rainbows and one Whitefish on the Bow this season. Including a very large female Rainbow that we saw this week that had Sapro covering nearly half of its body. It still had healthy body mass but was behaving disorientated and confused, lingering along the shoreline at my boots.  So try not to touch the fish if possible and don't use cloth mesh landing nets. And please read the link below for the facts on Saprolegniosis. Educate yourself and your fellow anglers.

 

https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/8df05e4a-ae95-4481-ad68-9442c76e65ca/resource/49f775ff-63f5-469f-97bc-8573091d6a6c/download/saprolegniosisfactsheet-mar-2010.pdf