Drought: Impact on freshwater fish, and how anglers can help
British Columbia has just experienced the most severe heat wave, or “heat dome,” ever recorded. With little rain accompanying the heat, evaporating surface waters have not been replenished, and flows are now also at record lows for this time of year. Reduced lake levels mean less volume, compressing the habitat for all species and raising water temperatures. Warmer water elevates aquatic organisms' metabolic rates, which increases their oxygen requirements. At the same time, warmer waters also reduce the amount of dissolved oxygen available to these organisms – right at a time when they need more of it. This is all bad news for freshwater fish.
As recreational anglers, we can be proactive and take steps to help protect fish when summer temperatures start to climb. On the blog, we take a look at several ways anglers can help to reduce the physiological stress on fish by being selective of when and where to fish, practicing proper catch-and-release methods, and abiding by closures to fishing in some streams (see the In-Season Regulation Changes).
