The Bow is Doomed

[barbless]

From the CTV news this morning they have found one crayfish in the upper reaches of the Bow River. They figure it was put there intentionally by humans. So far only one at 8 cm long. It's illegal to have to have live crayfish in your possession they say let alone transport and relocate. Guess some others figure we need them in our water system here just like the carp. They mention that the closest area would be 200 km away from that area where they would be found. They still have traps set up to see if there are others. Or maybe they hitched a ride on the bird scenario :thinking-006::thinking-006: UNREAL. That area is really delicate and would be devastated if they multiplied and moved on.

[Sooner]

I thought the perch bucket brigade into trout ponds was bad enough. The amount of invasive species being dumped into our waters in the last few years is crazy.


Impossible to catch the ones doing it and impossible to put the genie back in the bottle after they do. Brutal.

[Jims83cj5]

There has been cray fish all through the bow river system for 40 years

[Smoky buck]

Trout eat crayfish and many of the best trout waters in BC are loaded with crayfish

The sky is not falling

[Soab]

Maybe the fish will get some mass to them , quite a few skinny fish the last few yrs....

[tallieho]

People all most line up to catch them,in beddington creek/nose creek.Bridges crossing the creek,vechiles are all ways there,when the water is low.

[tallieho]

People all most line up to catch them,in beddington creek/nose creek.Bridges crossing the creek,vechiles are all ways there,when the water is low.Which flows into the Bow river..

[ÜberFly]

Invasive species how ever long they have been in the system are NEVER good for the eco system!

There has been cray fish all through the bow river system for 40 years

[buckman]

Crayfish are inevitable now throughout Alberta. Trout certainly eat them along with most other fish.On the topic of invasive/non native species,Browns,non native rainbows,and brookies provide most, and in many cases all of the fishing in Alberta's streams.

[ÜberFly]

Non-native vs invasive

Brookies are non-native (introduced) but invasive (especially when they out compete Westslope Cutthroat and native Bull Trout (and hybridize with bullies) - Browns non-native (introduced), but not invasive, Rainbows (in some (most) watersheds are non-native and introduced, others are native , eg. Athabasca) could be considered invasive when they breed with native Westslope cutthroat.

Its not optimal however you look at it from a ecological standpoint.



Crayfish are inevitable now throughout Alberta. Trout certainly eat them along with most other fish.On the topic of invasive/non native species,Browns,non native rainbows,and brookies provide most, and in many cases all of the fishing in Alberta's streams.

[thumper]

Herons, pelicans, grebes, mergansers, loons, kingfishers, gulls, eagles - all seem to love crawfish! Maybe they'll leave more of the trout we've stocked, for us!

[Marty S]

The sky is falling… AKA fricking prussian carp

How fast they have come on

Theres no stopping them, it's only begun and i get a sense that this will have catastrophic consequences to our fisheries/sport-fishes as this plays out.

I believe a corporation brought them here, if so they should be sued for all they are worth and pay annually into grande scale sportfish hatchery and rearing operations to maintain our sport fishes

Lill crayfish zero impact comparatively

[Sundancefisher]

The sky is falling… AKA fricking prussian carp

How fast they have come on

Theres no stopping them, it's only begun and i get a sense that this will have catastrophic consequences to our fisheries/sport-fishes as this plays out.

I believe a corporation brought them here, if so they should be sued for all they are worth and pay annually into grande scale sportfish hatchery and rearing operations to maintain our sport fishes

Lill crayfish zero impact comparatively

Crayfish are on,y native to the Beaver River system.

Prussian carp came from a farm in the Strathmore area that liked having a fish from home in their ponds. Floods send they pouring into local creeks and down to rivers. People since have spread further.

Same with crayfish. People devastating Alberta by moving invasive around.

They should put a million dollar fine in place and run tons of ads.

[Quigley2000]

Invasive species how ever long they have been in the system are NEVER good for the eco system!


I’m not opinionated on the crayfish since more research would need to be done to try and predict the future of the system, but never seems like a pretty strong word. Suppose in the spirit of eliminating non native fish we should wipe all the rainbows and browns in the bow too? They were dumped in in the 30s and 40s.


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[DRhunter]

Went fishing at Newell this summer.. the walleye throats were full of crayfish. And the walleye were like footballs, must be getting some good growth from all that available food source.

I have no idea on the long term effect of crayfish on the water system, however it would seem to me that that have been in the lower bow river system and related reservoirs for at least 20 years we know about, with so far no visible Ill effect?! Plus the kids love catching them and boiling them up for a fun snack!

DR


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[buckman]

I have noticed that the Cormorants are congregating, and feeding in some of the larger storm water ponds/lakes in Calgary.Also have seen Pelicans on a few occasions.I assume that they are eating the carp. Perhaps it will take the pressure off the trout on the Bow.

[WayneChristie]

Went fishing at Newell this summer.. the walleye throats were full of crayfish. And the walleye were like footballs, must be getting some good growth from all that available food source.

I have no idea on the long term effect of crayfish on the water system, however it would seem to me that that have been in the lower bow river system and related reservoirs for at least 20 years we know about, with so far no visible Ill effect?! Plus the kids love catching them and boiling them up for a fun snack!

DR


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they eat a lot of Prussians in Newell too, and every reservoir down here

[DiabeticKripple]

do the crayfish eat the fish eggs?

[tallieho]

do the crayfish eat the fish eggs?

Typically they feed on the bottom.Much like a lobster bottom feeders

[Bushrat]

Yes they will eat fish eggs and just about anything else they can get their claws on. Even their own young.

[barbless]

Well they seem to be worried about that particular area of the Bow. I don't know. Yes I realize lots of fish like eating the crawdads but if they are stealing and devouring eggs can't be good. We use to use the artificial ones for bait. Bass loved em but no Bass here. Yes I've tried em (artificial) for trout but not much luck.

[EZM]

There has been cray fish all through the bow river system for 40 years

Yes they have been in nose creek for a few decades now (a part of the bow river watershed).

These things will spread, and I am a little surprised it could/would be found so far upstream in those much colder waters - but I guess it is possible.

Maybe it was the bucket brigade - not sure any of us will ever know - but either way, you are right - they were already here.

[FlyTheory]

Non-native vs invasive

Brookies are non-native (introduced) but invasive (especially when they out compete Westslope Cutthroat and native Bull Trout (and hybridize with bullies) - Browns non-native (introduced), but not invasive, Rainbows (in some (most) watersheds are non-native and introduced, others are native , eg. Athabasca) could be considered invasive when they breed with native Westslope cutthroat.

Its not optimal however you look at it from a ecological standpoint.

All watersheds containing the three aforementioned species would be better off without them. They are all naturalized non-natives and all invasive. Brown trout are sneaking higher into the watersheds with increasing water temps and directly competing with bulls. Introduced rainbows are frankly, the scum of the earth in my eyes. And we all feel similarly about brookies.

[fish99]

I never believed that walleye would eat crawfish until our trip to lake diefenbaker the wife caught a 64 cm walleye and when i cleaned it , it had 2 crawfish in its stomach .

[barbless]

To me Walleye and Pike, Perch, trout, be em brown, bulls, tiger, cutts, and for that matter any predator fish will eat anything that moves. Crawdad's are their lobster snack. As long as the pred's eat more than the little critters can reproduce. Good snack.

[mapleleafman3]

I'm no fish bio but I think Prussian carp are a much bigger worry that crayfish. Must not be much news to report on in AB.

[I’d rather be outdoors]

I'm no fish bio but I think Prussian carp are a much bigger worry that crayfish. Must not be much news to report on in AB.

Maybe they’re trying to use it as a excuse to further restrict the fishery somehow? Really scraping the bottom of the barrel if so.

[bowness]

Brown trout and Rainbow are “invasive species” that genetically wiped out the Cutthroat in the Bow system. Watch out for the wide sweeping generalizations. They lead to misinformation.

[bowness]

Oh poop. Should have read this first lol

[goldscud]

.

[WayneChristie]

I never believed that walleye would eat crawfish until our trip to lake diefenbaker the wife caught a 64 cm walleye and when i cleaned it , it had 2 crawfish in its stomach .

Lake Sturgeon, Goldeye, Silver redhorse suckers and Pike all eat them too

[chickensashimi]

Yup, wouldn’t want those crayfish messin with them native brown, and rainbow stocks, lmao!!

[calgarychef]

I was um..l ‘bout 7 years old 48 years ago when we lived in Moose Jaw. The creek was loaded with crayfish and we would often catch them, put them in buckets and spread then into eh road to watch cars run them over. Ya, little boys are ruthless little peckers. But they were there for a long time before I showed up. I doubt this is all a new thing as much as it is people just beginning to notice the crispy little lobsters more.

[Jayhad]

they have been in the Bow for a long time. The numbers of crawdads in nose creek is astounding, no surprise they made it to the Bow.
Trout all around the world gobble up crawdads, why would our trout be any different?

[Soab]

I was um..l ‘bout 7 years old 48 years ago when we lived in Moose Jaw. The creek was loaded with crayfish and we would often catch them, put them in buckets and spread then into eh road to watch cars run them over. Ya, little boys are ruthless little peckers. But they were there for a long time before I showed up. I doubt this is all a new thing as much as it is people just beginning to notice the crispy little lobsters more.

Haha I also grew up in moose jaw and did the exact same thing...
Snared, and drowned out alot of gophers down at the "creek"