Hundreds of dead crayfish and coho fry have been found in 91原创鈥檚 Nicomekl River, and a local biologist believes industrial runoff is to blame.
The spill happened Friday morning, said Jim Armstrong, a biologist who has worked with DFO, Metro Vancouver, and has worked with the Nicomekl Enhancement Society鈥檚 hatchery since 2009.
鈥淭here were hundreds of crayfish killed,鈥� Armstrong said. Coho fry and young cutthroat have almost completely vanished, with hundreds thought to be killed.
Armstrong suspects the cause is an industrial plant upstream near Fraser Highway that might have washed cement into the creek.
The high pH chemical can burn the gills of creek life.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not good,鈥� Armstrong said of the impact it will have on the creek鈥檚 health. A truck already spilled into one of the river鈥檚 tributaries earlier this year, causing a previous fish kill.
Now another major spill has killed an unknown number of immature fish before they could swim out into the Pacific.
鈥淔our years from now, we won鈥檛 have the numbers coming back [to spawn],鈥� Armstrong said.
The situation is so bad, Armstrong is considering not releasing any of the 400,000 fry the Nicomekl Hatchery usually releases into this stream.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to have to look at other tributaries to release,鈥� he said.
The Nicomekl River flows west through 91原创 and Surrey into Mud Bay.
