(Piscis)
Fish are aquatic vertebrates. They have skin covered in scales, 2 sets of paired fins, some unpaired fins, and a set of gills. Most are cold-blooded animals with torpedo-shaped bodies, adapted for efficient movement in the water.
Dungeness Crab, Vancouver Island, BC, Photo By Bud Logan
Chitons
Chitons belong to the class Polyplacophora; this class has over 500 living marine species in its order. They have 8 overlapping plates that make up their armour. The plates or valves, as they are sometimes referred to as are joined by a leather-like girdle. This allows them to roll up into a ball when it is disturbed or threatened, hence their common name of butterfly shells. Read More….
Coral
Most people, when they think of Coral, envision warm tropical waters. Did you know, you can find a stunning variety of corals that live off the coast of BC? They make their homes in deep water on sandy bottoms and rocky reefs along the Pacific Northwest Coast. Read More….
Crustaceans
Vancouver Island has many areas for sport fishing of Crustaceans, and you will not be disappointed. I love going out to get my own crabs and prawns. I used to go out at low night tides, towing a small skiff behind me, a clam rake in hand with a flashlight. Read More….
Freshwater Fish
Most good fishing areas have available campsites, some are full campgrounds with fire pits, tables, and boat launches, and others can be very rustic. But camping is fun at any of them. Vancouver Island has many lakes and rivers, and they all have Freshwater Fish. Some, like Cameron Lake, have lunkers that can reach 7 kilos in weight. Read More….
Jellyfish
Phylum Cnidaria (Jellyfish) are invertebrates that are well known for their ability to sting. They have capsules in their tentacles that surround the mouth. We have around 300 different cnidaria living in the waters that surround Vancouver Island. Read More….
Marine Worms
Serpula columbiana, Platyhelminthes, Nemertea, Annelida, Chaetognatha, Hemichordata, Polychaete, and Phoronida are all kinds of marine worms. Some are harmless, some are beautiful, and some can sting with powerful toxins. Read More….
Nudibranchia
Of all the beautiful creatures that live under the sea, Nudibranchia is the wonder of them all. They are known as sea slugs or sea butterflies due to their undulating motion when they swim. I think they are the most beautiful animals in the waters of the Pacific Northwest. Read More….
Saltwater Fish
Vancouver Island’s surrounding waters are full of Saltwater Fish. The variety of life is overwhelming. From the salmon to the coral, from the jellyfish to the kelp. It’s awesome to observe. Tidal pools are a great place to start. Read More..
Shellfish
We are so lucky here on the West Coast to have such a variety of amazing Shellfish. Many of the commercial species we have here have been introduced from other parts of the world. But I think that they have little impact on the native shellfish population and have indeed found a niche here. Read More….
Sponges
Sponges are fixed or sedentary animals that are quite common inhabitants of most of the world’s marine environments. They are very common in the waters surrounding Vancouver Island. They can be seen from the intertidal zone right down to over 700 meters deep. There are even a few species that live in freshwater environments. The variety of colours associated with sponges is pretty damn awesome. Sometimes the seafloor is ablaze with colour from the various sponges living there. Read More….
Starfish
Although they come in many forms and body shapes, they all have radial symmetry and a five-part symmetry, and they all have tube feet or tubular appendages. Echinoderms like sea urchins and sea stars play a very important role in the ecology of the ocean shore by controlling the quantity and quality of seashore creatures with their ferocious appetites. Some of them will only eat live animals, while some will eat both live and dead creatures, helping to keep the shores clean, and some others only eat plant life. Read More….
Fish are aquatic vertebrates. They have skin covered in scales, 2 sets of paired fins, some unpaired fins, and a set of gills. Most are cold-blooded animals with torpedo-shaped bodies, adapted for efficient movement in the water.
The Tuna, swordfish, and a few shark species are warm-blooded. Some, like the rays, are flat-bodied and are not streamlined. These fascinating creatures move through the water like giant birds, undulating their wing-like, broad pectoral fins.
Most species require different habitats to carry out their natural life functions. Environments needed will vary with their life stages: feeding, resting, hiding from predators, and spawning.
You never know what you might see as you wade in our waters along the shores. You might see a big Dungeness crab going about its business or perhaps the discarded shell of one. People often mistake empty Dungeness shells strewn along beaches for dead crabs. Crabs shed and grow new shells regularly as part of their growth process. The old shell splits at the back and along the sides so the crab can back out. The shell the crab leaves behind is an almost intact replica of the crab.
Dungeness crabs are typically light brown. These creatures have one pair of claws and four pairs of walking legs. Their claws are serrated, and so are the edges of their shells
Crabs are measured by the width of their shell. A male Dungeness crab can grow to a width of about 230 mm and weigh up to about 2 kg. The Dungeness crab’s slender, light-coloured claw tips distinguish it from other crab species, as does its relatively large size.
As a predator, the Dungeness crab eats clams, mussels, crabs, and other crustaceans as well as some small fish. Crabs pursue prey more actively at night, tending to bury themselves in the sand during the day. When moving along the seafloor, these crabs find and capture prey by probing the sand with their legs or claws.
Dungeness crabs can move in any direction quickly enough to give a scuba diver a run for his money!
Predators of the Dungeness crab include octopus, halibut, dogfish, sculpin, birds, and other crabs. Crabs are most vulnerable immediately after they’ve moulted, when their bodies are soft and lack the protection of a hard shell.
When I was a young man, my friend Jimmy and I were hand-logging up in Blunden Harbour across from Port Hardy. We had no way of freezing meat, so we were on a diet of canned meats for the 3 to 4 months we would be in there. So we would supplement this diet with the odd Canada goose or mallard duck, along with fish, and we also set out crab and prawn traps.
One day, a crab trap I was pulling up seemed to be very heavy, and I assumed that a large starfish had attached itself to the outside of the trap. But as I got the trap up to where I could see it in the water, I realized that it was a very large, and I mean a giant, Dungeness crab.
This crab was on the outside of the trap and hanging on. I started to pull as fast as I could, and just as I was getting the trap into the skiff, the crab fell off, but it landed in the boat. This was the biggest crab I had ever seen, even to this day.
Tourism and its recreational use of the various fish bring in much-needed revenue to BC coastal communities. Coastal BC has many areas that are great for sport fishing of salmon, shellfish, crabs and prawns, and other fish species. You will not be disappointed.
Salmon fishing is awesome in the waters of BC. The recreational harvesting of crabs is also great here. I love going out to get my own crabs and prawns. I used to go out at low night tides, towing a small skiff behind me, a clam rake in hand with a flashlight. When you see a crab scurrying away, you lightly step on it and slide the clam rake under your foot to hold the crab to your foot. You swing your foot over your skiff, holding the crab to it with the rake, and then you let the crab fall into the boat. The hand didn’t get wet, and the crab did not pinch you. Now they put on wetsuits and walk along at low tide with a large net that they use to swoop up crabs.
Digging for clams is another great way to gather seafood. We have many types of clams here on the coast that will give you such wonders on your table. I love chowder and harvesting clams, for it is a great way to work up an appetite.
We are so lucky here on the West Coast to have such a variety of amazing shellfish. Although many of the commercial species have been introduced from other parts of the world. But I think that they have had little impact on the native shellfish population and have indeed found a niche here.
The ocean waters flowing down the coast from northern climates are rich in nutrients and very cold. This makes the prime areas for shellfish production around the central area of Vancouver Island. The cold waters we have here are necessary to create the fine flavours of our shellfish. The nutrients that are in this water provide plenty of food for rapid growth.
There are many types of freshwater shellfish in the Coastal Waters, and although most are not edible, they are still very fascinating to study. I once made a freshwater mussel chowder and found it to be quite tasty. There is something quite awesome about seeing the variety and abundance in the waters surrounding Vancouver Island.
We have the protected Abalone here, a very beautiful creature. Then there is the variety of Barnacles that can be found growing alongside the many types of mussels, love seeing the giant species of both. Many types of clams can be harvested along the entire coast, as well as all the outer islands.
Scallops and oysters are both wonderful, and they look so awesome. On the West Coast beaches, they are in abundance, and they look so incredible. They are tough, too; they must be to survive the West Coast winter storms. These storms are amazing, and to see how unaffected they are shows just how well they have adapted to live here.
Fishing for both freshwater and saltwater fish is great along the coast, and the whole fishery brings in a much-needed source of revenue to isolated communities here. Many lodges and guides cater to those who seek out these kinds of adventures. I love to fish in the rivers and lakes, and we practice catch and release.
There are many lakes and rivers along the Pacific Coast, and they all have fish. Some coastal rivers have steelhead runs that contain fish that can weigh as much as 20 or more kilos. The Cowichan River on Vancouver Island has brown trout that can reach up to 7 kilos. Most of the rivers and lakes have fish in the range of 30 to 40 cm in length. So grab your rod, put on your boots, and try your luck; the fresh air will do you good. Most good fishing areas have available campsites, some are full campgrounds with fire pits, tables, and boat launches, and others can be very rustic. But camping is fun at any of them.
British Columbia contains a diverse and varied fish community. 10,000 years ago, the province was almost completely covered by a layer of ice. As the glaciers retreated, fish that survived the big freeze were able to move into new territories. Some of these early colonizers became isolated from other populations by barriers such as waterfalls. This allowed them to become almost separate species.
There are many types of fish here, some were saltwater fish that adapted to living in freshwater, arctic grayling, steelhead, and rainbow trout are all freshwater fish that originally lived in the sea.
Why do some fish normally live in freshwater and others live in seawater? The reason is that one or the other environment provides them with opportunities that have traditionally contributed to their survival. An obvious difference between the two habitats is salt concentration. Freshwater fish maintain the physiological mechanisms that permit them to concentrate salts within their bodies in a salt-deficient environment, whereas saltwater fish, on the other hand, excrete excess salts in their environment. Fish that live in both environments retain both mechanisms. Some freshwater fish come in the form of mussels.
Chinook Salmon, video credit, Eiko Jones
The commercial fishing industry, a key part of the growth & development of the BC Coastal Region over the last 100 years, maintains its vital role in coastal communities. Commercial harvesting of groundfish & salmon, and herring eggs is of great economic importance to BC. All fisheries on the Pacific coast, though, are in danger and require sustainable management before they too collapse, as the Atlantic fisheries have. Pictured above is the growth cycle of a Coho Salmon.