Brook Trout Population Sampling in Strasburg Creek, Kitchener
Strasburg Creek in Kitchener, Ontario, is one of only a few remaining coldwater urban waterways in the city. In response to concerns regarding planned development in the area, Biotactic began monitoring water temperatures and conducted a survey of Brook Trout population size and health within a 500m stretch of the creek located behind an existing subdivision and along well maintained trails in 2022. A temperature logger was installed and recorded water temperatures hourly from April 12 to October 25. Recorded temperatures ranged from 5 to 19C during this period. During electrofishing surveys conducted July 6 and 7 a total of 977 fish and 8 species were captured within the 500m stretch. Species included blacknose dace, brook trout, brook stickleback, creek chub, longnose dace, mottled sculpin, pumpkinseed and white sucker. Of the 977 individuals captured, 333 fish (34%) were brook trout. Sizes ranged from 53 to 243 mm total length. Both water temperature and population monitoring will continue into 2023.




