Nose Creek crayfish

[Brent.ff]

One of the most polluted urban river in AB... No thanks



Edit: source

http://www.riverwatch.ab.ca/images/C...ort%202016.pdf

[D'z Nutz]

Originally posted by rage2

Better reference:


» Click image for larger version

Originally posted by schocker
2fncray

[speedog]

Originally posted by Brent.ff
One of the most polluted urban river in AB... No thanks



Edit: source

http://www.riverwatch.ab.ca/images/C...ort%202016.pdf

Maybe relay more of the story, samples were taken at the mouth of the tributaries. We were about 6 miles north as the crow flies before any Calgary effluent enters the creek, probably 7-8 miles of water and I don't think effluent moves upstream. Never the less, if I stop posting then you'll know I didnt survive, cool eh.

[phreezee]

Originally posted by Brent.ff
One of the most polluted urban river in AB... No thanks



Edit: source

http://www.riverwatch.ab.ca/images/C...ort%202016.pdf

_
The higher the ranking the cleaner. Nose Creek was the cleanest in the report.

[Sal0]

Originally posted by phreezee



_
The higher the ranking the cleaner. Nose Creek was the cleanest in the report.

Yeah - that is not right

Rage2 for the win!

[Brent.ff]

Originally posted by speedog

Maybe relay more of the story, samples were taken at the mouth of the tributaries. We were about 6 miles north as the crow flies before any Calgary effluent enters the creek, probably 7-8 miles of water and I don't think effluent moves upstream. Never the less, if I stop posting then you'll know I didnt survive, cool eh.

Considering the agriculture and the amount of runoff from deerfoot/QEii, Airdrie and crossfield, you still have a lot of shit (including literal shit) upstream of ya.

[D88]

Good. Capture as many as you can as they're an introduced (probably invasive) species.

[Kijho]

Damnet now you've got this on the front page of reddit, too. Everyone and their dogs are gonna be ripping up and down that dirt road where otherwise it was a nice quiet area.. There's already people bringing their off-road 4x4's and going thru the fence opening tearing up the field. That whole area's for sale sadly

[speedog]

Originally posted by Brent.ff


Considering the agriculture and the amount of runoff from deerfoot/QEii, Airdrie and crossfield, you still have a lot of shit (including literal shit) upstream of ya.

One also needs to note that crayfish are very sensitive to pollutants and such and are considered a good indicator of the health of a waterway.

[speedog]

Originally posted by Kijho
Damnet now you've got this on the front page of reddit, too. Everyone and their dogs are gonna be ripping up and down that dirt road where otherwise it was a nice quiet area.. There's already people bringing their off-road 4x4's and going thru the fence opening tearing up the field. That whole area's for sale sadly

Highly doubt that, most people can't be bothered because it'll take some effort and time. People are lazy.

[G]

Originally posted by speedog

Highly doubt that, most people can't be bothered because it'll take some effort and time. People are lazy.

Don't under estimate the Asians when it comes to "free".

[C_Dave45]

We used to always get them on our lines when fishing the Fraser River and smaller streams when I lived in Mission.

Never bothered to keep them and eat them.

Very curious to know how they taste SD!

[speedog]

Originally posted by G


Don't under estimate the Asians when it comes to "free".

Asians are on reddit now? Thought it was just a beyond thing.

[speedog]

What is interesting about this thread so far is the number of fearful people and the stuff they'll post. Now maybe I'm a little bit less fearful than others but I'm still alive and kicking and in fairly good health as far as I'm aware of.

I've foraged and eaten wild mushrooms growing in the city here with no issues. same thing with cattails, puff balls, pike, saskatoons, chokecherries, rosehips, spruce tips, horseradish and many other things.

Would I eat a crayfish from Nose Creek near the zoo, undecided at the moment but a lot reading will reveal that they will only exist in waterways that are healthy. The issue here is whether or not one would find a thriving population near the zoo and to date I've only started on this little adventure and can't report anything as of yet.

All I know is the area where we collected crayfish from has very clear water and an amazing amount of crayfish living and breeding in it which, from the reading I've done, would indicate that it is a healthy waterway.

But there are people in this world that are bothered by things such as this, hell I remember going on a hike a number of years back and a friend of my kids that was with us was disgusted by me actually picking up other people's garbage found along our hike.

Myself, I suppose doing stuff like this is just a bit too much on the edge for others. Those people probably wouldn't eat a pike out Glenmore or Chestermere Reservoirs either while I wouldn't have an issue with that. A little bit less plastic wrapping with my food isn't necessarily a bad thing in my eyes but for some people, it is an issue.

I won't judge those that are critical of what I'm doing or have done as I have close friends and family who would never do that and yet, they seem to be at the doctor's office on a regular basis for a variety of ailments while I have no issues. Maybe I've been lucky, maybe I'll die a few years earlier than I should've but I will have experienced a bit more than what I can just buy off of a supermarket's shelves and I believe that is a good thing.

[darthVWader]

http://streamtender.com/wordpress/?p=411

Crayfish are native to Alberta in only one watershed, the Beaver River, near Lac La Biche and Cold Lake. The crayfish that I had captured was definitely introduced illegally into the Nose Creek. Most likely, someone with an aquarium was moving and decided to free their pet crustaceans into the Nose Creek, rather than take them along on their move. Definitely a bad decision! Especially when you consider the consequences of such a stocking!

http://www.airdrieecho.com/2013/06/1...om-the-north-2

If people are careful with the city’s new residents, the species can be contained to Nose Creek. Calgary’s Bow River is cold enough that there’s little chance of it spreading significantly into that waterway, because the female won’t lay her eggs in water colder than nine or 10 degrees Celcius.

[speedog]

Originally posted by darthVWader
http://streamtender.com/wordpress/?p=411



http://www.airdrieecho.com/2013/06/1...om-the-north-2

There's even some question as to whether they're native to the Beaver River system as well.

Crayfish can be now found in most southern Alberta reservoirs and streams/creeks/rivers and in some areas, they've been there since the 90's. They are native in southern Saskatchewan and while it is suspected that there has been a natural expansion of their territory into Alberta, most of what's in Alberta has most likely been artificially introduced by humans including Beaver River.

The one in the picture in this thread (link) from McGregor Reservoir makes the ones we caught look quite small and McGregor is supposedly loaded with them. They're here to stay and are in the lower reaches of even the Bow River, difficult to say how far upstream they are in the Bow.

As far as temperatures, people saying a crayfish won't reproduce where the water temperature is less than 10C - well, just peruse the following chart for a bit and then decide whether or not they'll survive in the Bow River in Calgary...


» Click image for larger version

[darthVWader]

Since they are invasive and folks feel okay eating them. Then go to town.

Lots of reports of other invasive specifies in the Bow from gold fish to carp and if folk want to get picky the Brown trout and Rainbows aren't even native to the watershed.

[Brent.ff]

I've seen them while guiding on the Bow a few years ago, alive and well down by Southland..Im sure there are more then we think in it. Nose Creek is virtually inundated with them

[speedog]

Went out with two of my kids today at noon and pulled 170 out of Nose Creek up by Balzac - a number of them are too small to bother with cooking up/eating but at least 100 are a good enough size. Time spent was about an hour and there were still plenty more there - I would say that Nose Creek is quite infested with crayfish and despite anyone's efforts to remove them, they are now going to remain a part of that ecosystem.


» Click image for larger version

[phreezee]

Originally posted by speedog

Highly doubt that, most people can't be bothered because it'll take some effort and time. People are lazy.

This is how I feel about eating them. Tough shells for very little meat. Bad ROI for the effort, let alone going out to catch them.