Fish movement study for the Shell Jackpine Mine

May 28, 2009

Hatfield Consultants has been working in the oil sands region of northern Alberta for over six years. Our work in the region has focused on aquatic baseline studies for environmental impact assessments, air quality and wildlife surveys and monitoring aquatic conditions as part of the Regional Aquatics Monitoring Program.

Hatfield is currently undertaking ‘Operational Monitoring for Validating Fish Habitat Models’ as part of Shell’s Jackpine Phase I fish and fish habitat monitoring program. The objective of the study is to validate, refine and calibrate fish habitat suitability index models by comparing species biomass and abundance with physical environmental variables, such as vegetation type, stream flow and substrate composition found in representative study reaches.

In April 2009, Hatfield was selected to implement a multi-year fish movement study of the

Muskeg Creek, as part of the aquatic resources monitoring initiative undertaken by Shell Canada Energy in support of the Jackpine Mine. The program includes delineation of stream morphological characteristics using remote sensing data supplemented with ground-based surveys, small and large-bodied fish mark/recapture assessments, and operation of two-way fish counting fences. The primary objectives of the study are to assess the use of Muskeg Creek by fish populations and to quantify spring spawning migrations to upstream lake habitat.

For more information, please contact us:

Daniel Moats
Senior Environmental Specialist and Partner
HATFIELD CONSULTANTS PARTNERSHIP

E-mail: hcp@hatfieldgroup.com
Tel.: +1 604 926 3261
Toll-Free: 1 866 926 3261