From the Field Archives - Page 38 of 38 - Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group

Field Notes: Finney Creek

July 17, 2015/in From the Field /by Oncorhynchus

Over the past couple days, SFEG staff and interns have been completing our annual Finney Creek cross section surveys. If you aren’t entirely sure what a cross section survey is, allow me to explain… but first, a little background on Finney!

Finney Creek, a major tributary of the Skagit River, was historically one of the most productive salmon streams in the Lower Skagit River area. In recent years, however, this has not been the case. The hills that rise above Finney Creek have been heavily logged, which increases erosion and the amount of sediment that runs off into the creek.

Over the years, this has resulted in a wider and shallower creek than we might have seen in the past. While it may feel great to dip our feet in a warm stream, it does not feel good to the salmon that call Finney Creek home! Any water temperature over 68 degrees Fahrenheit dramatically decreases a salmon’s chance of survival. Water in the 40-50 Fahrenheit range is more ideal.

Lower Finney Creek

In 2002, Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group took on Lower Finney Creek, the area I visited yesterday, to try and add some complexity to the stream bed and create better habitat for salmon. We did this by adding what in restoration terms is called “LWD,” or Large Woody Debris. These engineered log jams replicate the kinds of log jams that used to be all over the Skagit watershed historically, and may appear nowadays during a flood or storm. They may be troublesome in places where we don’t want them, but these log jams are actually a big help for shallow, uniform streams that tend to get too hot. Log jams tend to collect excess sediment above the jam, and form deeper pockets and pools beneath them. In 7 years, we installed 107 log jams over 10 miles of creek!

Well, after an endeavor like that, we’re hoping that Finney Creek will become deeper and cooler. The best way to measure our success is by conducting cross section surveys, where we measure the underwater topography of the creek. So, in case you were wondering how to do it at home, here are some simple instructions!

How to Conduct a Cross Section Survey

1. Extend a measuring tape from one bank of the creek to the other.

tape across the creek

This tape helps us record the same distance from year to year and keeps our measurements constant.

2. Set up your survey equipment!

reading a measurement

A level keeps us honest with our measurements, especially when a tape bows over a wide creek bank. They also work great as binoculars for wildlife. Notice the butterfly bush in this picture – the banks of Lower Finney Creek are infested with butterfly bush! While it’s beautiful in a garden, it’s a real problem and invasive species up here in this riparian area.

3. Record the height of a measuring rod at regular intervals.

measuring the height of the rod

These distance points help us to connect the dots when we map out or graph the stream channel later.

recording data

4. Pack up and repeat again next year!

We’ve been collecting data from Lower Finney Creek ever since the last log jams were installed in 2010. While we may not know how the log jams have affected Finney Creek yet, we’re hoping to get those answers by collecting information about the creek annually.

When we take the height measurements we’ve recorded and map them, it ends up looking like this:

from naturemappingfoundation.org – we measured in 1m intervals

and every year, the stream bottom is different.

This year, Finney Creek’s flow was shallower than it has been in past years, but that’s a Skagit-wide phenomenon. It made it great for noticing tiny salmon fry and heaps of caddisfly larvae that inhabited the bottom of the creek bed. Masses of tadpoles also darted around in the crystal clear water.

Tadpoles living it up in shallow pools

We’re hoping that Finney Creek can retain its natural beauty and productivity and also become even better habitat again by changing its course and becoming deeper and more complex, with more riparian vegetation to give it shade.

To learn more about our work on Finney Creek, check out our project page on Habitat Work Schedule.

Have you ever visited Finney Creek, and how was it? Post your comments or questions below!

– Katie

Festival Season: Excellent Eelgrass!

July 13, 2015/in From the Field /by Oncorhynchus

Greetings from the field! July brings a host of summer festivals our way in Skagit County. This year, we’re participating in the Concrete Youth Activity Day, Kids R Best Fest, Taylor Shellfishtival, and much more. These festivals are a great opportunity to engage with youth we may not see in the classroom as well as doing some valuable outreach.

With “forage fish” becoming a buzz word around the communities at the shores of the Salish Sea, we wanted to incorporate some knowledge of forage fish into our outreach and how they benefit salmon. Juvenile salmon rearing habitat is also a hot topic, as we’re learning that lack of habitat is a limiting factor in salmon recovery. Of course we also wanted to include salmon in our fishy craft.

With all these elements combined, we created an eelgrass fishmobile!

Close-up of the mobile

Five Fast Facts about Eelgrass

1. Eelgrass is not Seaweed!

Eelgrass is different from a seaweed. When we see seaweed, what we are seeing is a marine algae. Eelgrass is a plant which spreads by rhizomes and roots. Because it is a plant, eelgrass also blooms and creates seeds.

2. Eelgrass is not Evergreen.

Eelgrass beds, like underwater meadows, grow and change over time. Eelgrass will die off in the fall and winter to regrow anew in the spring.

3. Blades of eelgrass can grow to be 3 ft tall!

Eelgrass blades can be extremely long, creating a forest similar to a kelp forest, which is an important source of shelter for many types of marine organisms, of which salmon are only one species.

4. Eelgrass is Useful.

Humans have found many uses for eelgrass in the past. The Seri people of Mexico eat and use eelgrass in a variety of ways. It has been used as a padding and packing material, and some Danish people have used eelgrass to thatch their roofs. Eelgrass roofs are known for being heavy but durable.

5. Eelgrass is Food for Birds.

Some species of birds, such as brant geese and wigeons, depend on eelgrass as an important food source.

Our eelgrass mobiles have been a lot of fun to create and even more fun to have blowing in the warm summer breeze. We incorporated green eelgrass streamers and glued juvenile salmon in strategic hiding places. Note the Pacific Herring laying her eggs on the eelgrass – herring is an important forage fish, but unlike Surf Smelt and Sand Lance, herring need eelgrass to spawn.

A finished mobile at Kids R Best Fest

We’ve been having a great time making mobiles with youth both up and downriver. Look for us next at the Burlington Back to School Fair on August 22. After that, we’ll be at Fidalgo Bay Day on August 29.

If you’re interested in volunteering or joining us at any of these events, send a message to sfeg@skagitfisheries.org.