Port Moody Ecological Society

Port Moody Arm of Burrard Inlet

Forty-one (41) named watersheds* flow into the Port Moody Arm of Burrard Inlet

 * These 41 named watersheds are soon to be listed separately with relevant details and graphics elsewhere on this Web site.

 A Very Preliminary Plan for Fish and Fish Habitat Restoration and Enhancement for the 41 Streams / Creeks / Watersheds Flowing into Port Moody Arm of Burrard Inlet and for Port Moody Arm Itself - 2001 - 2003 and Beyond.

Port Moody Arm runs in an east - west direction.  The entrance to Port Moody Arm of Burrard Inlet is a line drawn from Admiralty Point, in GVRD Belcarra Regional Park, in the Township of Belcarra on the north side to Gosse Point in the Barnet Marine Park, in the City of Burnaby on the south side.

Biodiversity:  In 2001, 55 fish species listed using Port Moody Arm for loafing, foraging, in-migration & out-migration for all or part of their life-cycle ecology. In 1994, 45 fish species listed.

Port Moody Arm basin consists of Port Moody Arm itself and the 41 named streams/creeks/watersheds flowing into Port Moody Arm of Burrard Inlet, several of which have possible fish habitat restoration and enhancement projects planned for the future, one of which is Noons Creek.

10 named streams/creeks/watersheds, including tributaries, flow into Port Moody Arm of Burrard Inlet from the north shore of Port Moody Arm.

31 named streams/creeks/watersheds, including tributaries, flow into Port Moody Arm of Burrard Inlet from the south shore of Port Moody Arm.

These 41 named streams/creeks/watersheds have headwaters in and/or flow through: Eagle Mountain Provincial Park; GVRD Belcarra Regional Park; the Township of Anmore; the Township of Belcarra; the City of Coquitlam; the City of Burnaby and the City of Port Moody.

The Vancouver Port Authority has jurisdiction over the foreshore of Port Moody Arm of Burrard Inlet to the high tide mark.

10 Named Streams/Creeks/Watersheds flow from the North Shore into Port Moody Arm of Burrard Inlet:

1. Admiralty Creek headwaters: pond in GVRD Belcarra Regional Park in Township of Belcarra;
2. Imperial Creek, headwaters: side hill run-off from the Imperial Oil refinery site in Port Moody;
3. North Schoolhouse Creek, headwaters: side-hill run-off in Anmore Township flowing through Port Moody [see Brooke Marshall watershed profile];
4. Mossom Creek, headwaters: side-hill run-off in Eagle Mountain Provincial Park flowing through the Township of Anmore and Port Moody [see Brooke Marshall watershed profile];
5. Hett Creek, headwaters: side-hill run-off in Port Moody;
6. Wilkes Creek, headwaters side-hill run-off in Port Moody;
7. Turner Creek, headwaters: side-hill run-off in Port Moody;
8. Hutchinson Creek, headwaters side-hill run-off in Port Moody;
9. Noons Creek main-stem, headwaters: in Cypress Lake, in Eagle Mountain Provincial Park flowing through Coquitlam and Port Moody [see Brooke Marshall watershed profile];
10. West Noons Creek, main tributary of Noons Creek, headwaters: side-hill run-off in Eagle Mountain Provincial Park, flowing through Port Moody, confluence of West Noons Creek and Noons Creek just downstream from Deerwood Place in Port Moody.

1. Suter Brook, headwaters side-hill run-off from 'The Chines' in Coquitlam and flowing through Port Moody [see Brooke Marshall watershed profile].
2. Pigeon Creek, headwaters side-hill run-off from 'The Chines' in Coquitlam and flowing through Port Moody.
3. Slaughterhouse Creek, headwaters tributaries listed below from side-hill run-off from 'The Chines' in Coquitlam and flowing through Port Moody [see Brooke Marshall watershed profile]. 
          & Four tributaries:
4.        Dallas Creek;
5.        Correl Brook;
6.        Elgin House Creek;
7.        And Williams Creek;
   
8. Kyle Creek (aka:  Flavelle Creek) headwaters and tributaries listed below from side-hill run-off from 'The Chines' in Coquitlam and flowing through Port Moody; 
           & Four tributaries:
9.         Goulet Creek;
10.         East Sun Dial Creek;
11.         West Sun Dial Creek;
12.         And Hatchery Creek;
13. Axford Creek;
14. Ottley Creek;
15. Frog Creek (possibly buried under Reichhold Ltd. property);
16. South Schoolhouse Creek, headwaters side-hill run-off from Como Lake Road and Miller Park in Coquitlam flowing through Port Moody [see Brooke Marshall watershed profile].
           & Two tributaries:
17.         Noble Creek, headwaters; side-hill run-off from the “Chines” 
                            in Port Moody and Coquitlam;
18.         And Melrose Creek, headwaters: side-hill from College Park 
                            area of Port Moody;
19. Aliceville Creek, headwaters: side-hill run-off from north face of Burnaby Mountain in Burnaby;
20. Crab Creek, headwaters: side-hill run-off from north face of Burnaby Mountain in Burnaby;
21. Submarines Creek, headwaters: side-hill run-off from north face of Burnaby Mountain in Burnaby;
22. Nichols Creek, headwaters: side-hill run-off from north face of Burnaby Mountain in Burnaby;
23. Simon Creek, headwaters: side-hill run-off from north face of Burnaby Mountain in Burnaby;
24. Thluck-Way-Tun Creek, headwaters side-hill run-off from north face of Burnaby Mountain in Burnaby;
25. Kask's Camp Creek, headwaters: side-hill run-off from north face of Burnaby Mountain in Burnaby;
26. Dynamite Creek, headwaters: side-hill run-off from north face of Burnaby Mountain in Burnaby;
27. Heron Creek, headwaters: side-hill run-off from north face of Burnaby Mountain in Burnaby;
28. Squatters Creek, headwaters: side-hill run-off from north face of Burnaby Mountain in Burnaby;
29. Campbell Creek, headwaters: side-hill run-off from north face of Burnaby Mountain in Burnaby;
30. Berry Point Creek, headwaters: side-hill run-off from north face of Burnaby Mountain in Burnaby;
31. Rainbow Creek, headwaters: side-hill run-off from north face of Burnaby Mountain in Burnaby.

Please Note:  To be added later…  In conversation with Eric Olsen, mentioned in passing to him by Peter Hulbert was another stream flowing from the north shore of Port Moody Arm, somewhere in the vicinity of the Ioco Townsite, in Port Moody, called Doctor’s Creek, probably between Imperial Creek and North Schoolhouse Creek. Bringing the total to 42 named streams flowing into Port Moody Arm of Burrard Inlet, eleven of which flow from the north shore, now including Doctor’s Creek.

Please Note:  The named streams listed as flowing into Port Moody Arm of Burrard Inlet, are those ‘we’ are currently aware of.  If anyone has corrections or additions, please contact PMES at address below.

Following is a list, updated May 4, 2001, of fish species found in Port Moody Arm  and in streams within 1 - 6 kilometres upstream into those 41 named watersheds.

This list, started in April 1994, had about 45 species.  The new updated list contains 55 fish species for Port Moody Arm.

Fish species abundance and diversity in Port Moody Arm and its 41 named contiguous watersheds, may or may not have changed since 1994.

Please Note:  Depending on their life cycle stage, many of the fish species listed above may simply loaf, visit or forage in Port Moody Arm and the 41 named watersheds flowing into it and may or may not be resident year round. Port Moody Arm is an important transition zone, for example, for out-migrating and/or in-migrating salmon and trout species.

Since the publication of "Wildlife Inventory of the Shoreline Park System Port Moody, British Columbia", in 1994, other people may have found and identified other fish species or some fish species may have disappeared, from Port Moody Arm and the 41 streams flowing into it.

Updates and corrections to the Port Moody Arm fish species list are encouraged and welcome. Please contact:

Sketches and/or pictures for some of these fish species [ ] will be posted soon on this site.

Class Chorndrichthyes (Cartilaginous Fishes)

SQUALIDAE. Shark Family

Class Osteichthyes (Bony Fishes)

CLUPEIDAE. Herring Family

ENGRAULIDAE. Anchovy Family

SALMONIDAE. Salmon & Char Family

OSMERIDAE. Smelt Family

BATRACHOIDIDAE. Toadfish Family

GADIDAE. Codfish Family

ZOARCIDAE. Eelpout Family

AULORHYCHIDAE. Tube-snout Family

GASTEROSTEIDAE. Stickleback Family

EMOBIOTOCIDAE. Surfperch Family

STICHAEIDAE. Prickleback Family 

PHOLIDAE. Gunnel Family

AMMODYTIDAE. Sand Lance Family

GOBIIDAE. Goby Family

SCORPAENIDAE. Scorpionfish Family 

HEXAGRAMMIDAE. Greenling Family

COTTIDAE. Sculpin Family

CYCLOPTERIDAE. Lumpfish & Snailfish Family

BOTHIDAE. Lefteye Flounder Family

PLEURONECTIDAE. Righteye Flounder Family, i.e:  Sole

PETROMYZONIDAE. Lamprey Family

RAJIDAE. Skate Family

*******************************************************

References:

"Wildlife Inventory of the Shoreline Park System Port Moody, British Columbia" , written by Christine Hanrahan, with contributions by Dr. Elaine Golds, Dr. Jay Burr & Rick Simpson, Burke Mountain Naturalists, April 1994, 121 pages.

"Coastal Fishes of the Pacific Northwest", by Andy Lamb and Phil Edgell, Harbour Publishing, 1986, 224 pages.

"The Audubon Society Nature Guides: Pacific Coast", by Bayard H. McConnaughey & Evelyn McConnaughey, Alfred A. Knopf, 1985, 633 pages.

"Beachwalker: Sea Life of the West Coast", By Stefani Hewlett Paine, Douglas & McIntyre, 1992, 170 pages.

"Field Guide to the Freshwater Fishes of British Columbia", by J.D. McPhail & R. Craveth, , 1993, 239 pages.

"Freshwater Fishes of Canada", by W.B. Scott and E.J. Crossman, 1998 reprint, original 1973 - reprinted 1979, Galt House Publications Ltd., 966 pages.

"Pacific Fishes of Canada", by John Lawson Hart, Fisheries Research Board of Canada, original 1973, reprinted 1975, 1980, 1988, Bulletin 180, Canadian Government Publishing Centre, Supply and Services Canada, Catalogue No. Fs94-80, ISBN 0-660-10459-8, 741 pages. 

Acknowledgements: 

Information and corrections for this revised 2001 Fish Species List for Port Moody Arm and the 41 Named Streams Flowing Into It, were kindly provided by:  Janice Boyd, Lorri Cashman, Dr. John Jordan, Jamie Lamb, Gary Rosberg and Kent Smith. Thank you !

___________________________________

This original 1994 fish species list was compiled from reports provided by (1) Lee Harding, (Environment Canada [Regional Data Report DR 87-03]), (DFO/MOEP Fish Habitat Inventory and Information Program, Stream Information Survey}; (2) Jason Hwang, Fisheries & Oceans Canada (DFO April 1992, Two Beach Seines, Port Moody Arm); (3) Judy Russell, Reed Point Marina Ltd. (Official Catch Records of the 8th Annual Fishing Derby); Ken Berry, Westcoast Energy (Land, Right-of-Way and Environment Files, May 19, 1992); (5) Wilda Booth & Bill Harris, Pacific Coast Terminals Ltd. (Environment Evaluation for an Expansion of the Pacific Coast
Terminals Company Ltd. at Port Moody); Mark Johnson, Fisheries & Oceans Canada (Log Book, Electroshocking Noons Creek, 1992).

The following people provided invaluable assistance in compiling the list of fish species:  Peter Caverhill; Maurice Coulter-Boisvert; Ruth Foster; John Gregson; Elaine Golds, Al Grist; Lee Harding; Wendy Hessler; Jason Hwang; John Jordan; Mark Johnson; Alan Kolok; Tim Lissamore; Elmer "Al" Rudolph; Judy Russell; Louis Rzen; Fred Smallenberg; Al Sawchuk; Gary Taccogna; Chris Tulloch; Rob Way and Ian Whyte.