Inventories of Stream Fish Communities in the Driftwood, Assineau, Mooney and Sawridge Drainages, Alberta
Author(s)
Leanne Osokin
Summary
The Slave Lake area Co-operative Fisheries Inventory Program (CFIP) is a collaboration
among the Alberta Conservation Association (ACA), Alberta Sustainable Resource
Development (ASRD), Slave Lake Pulp Corporation, and Weyerhaeuser Canada Ltd.
(Slave Lake Division). This report presents the results of fish inventories completed in
the fourth and final year of CFIP within Slake Lake Corporations Forest Management
Agreement (FMA). Specifically, I present information on the distribution and
abundance of stream fish communities in the Driftwood River, Assineau River, Mooney
Creek, and Sawridge Creek surveyed between 10 June 10 and 3 October 3, 2003.
Sample sites in the Assineau River, Mooney and Sawridge drainages, making up the
majority of the sites sampled (63%, 73% and 100% respectively) were chosen for study
by Slave Lake Pulp Corporation staff. In total, thirty five sites were inventoried in the
Driftwood River drainage with an additional 38 sites from the Assineau River (n = 11
sites), Mooney Creek (n = 18 sites) and Sawridge Creek (n = 9 sites). Fish were found at
26% of the sites sampled in the Driftwood River drainage, no fish were found in 57% of
the sites and 17% of sites were sampled for habitat parameters alone. Sport fish were
not captured in the Driftwood River drainage. Fish inventories conducted on the
Assineau River sites resulted in fish species found at nine percent of sites with no fish
were found at 55% of sites. Habitat assessments (n = 4) were completed where fish
inventory methods could not be applied. Mooney Creek results were 11% were
sampled with fish, no fish were found at 44.5% of the sites and 44.5% were sampled for
habitat parameters only. Sampling on the Sawridge tributaries resulted with fish not
found at any of the sites; 78% of the sites were electrofished and 22% were sampled for
habitat parameters only.