VANCOUVER – Young steelhead and salmon grew dramatically in streams seeded with sacks of slow-release fertilizer, a method that shows real promise to help rebuild collapsed spawning populations, according to B.C. biologists. The method has proven effective at improving steelhead growth and survival in Vancouver Island streams in programs dating back to 1989.
Steelhead fry in treated areas are typically about 95-per-cent larger than those in untreated streams, while coho fry are about 40-per-cent bigger. Fish counts in the Keogh River found a 50-per-cent increase in the number of coho that survived the freshwater stage of life.
Read full article on the Vancouver Sun website: http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/Fertilizers+boost+declining+fish+populations/4275643/story.html