Kokanee Shore Spawner Counts in Okanagan Region Lakes, 1974-2018

Historical and recent data on kokanee salmon shore spawner counts and locations from Okanagan, Wood, Kalamalka, and Christina Lakes. The dataset combines historical records from 1974, 1977-1980 with more recent boat and GPS-based counts from 2001-2016 and 2018, and includes specific night-time enumeration data for Christina Lake from 2003-2006. It is provided by the Government of British Columbia and includes data in WMS and KML formats.

Use Cases

• Modeling kokanee population trends over time based on the multi-decade count data.
• Mapping spawning habitat preferences and distribution based on the georeferenced spawner locations.
• Analyzing the impact of survey methodology on population estimates by comparing historical hand-drawn data with modern GPS counts.
• Studying spawning phenology by examining count data collected over the entire spawning cycle for recent years.

Strengths

• Combines historical data from the 1970s with modern GPS-based counts from 2001-2018, providing a multi-decade perspective.
• Includes data from multiple lakes (Okanagan, Wood, Kalamalka, Christina) within the Okanagan region.
• For Christina Lake, includes both spawning fish counts and spawning redd (nest) counts for the 2004/2005 and 2005/2006 seasons.

Limitations

• The historical data (1974, 1977-1980) was digitized from hand-drawn air photographs and may not capture the peak reach count for those years.
• Row count and column-level documentation are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data freshness should be verified; the last metadata update is listed as 2026-07-08.

Provenance

Source

Government of British Columbia

Collection Method

Historical data derived from field observations hand-drawn onto air photographs and later digitized. Recent data derived from boat counts along shorelines using GPS to record locations and numbers.

Time Range

1974, 1977-1980, 2001-2016, 2018; Christina Lake data from 2003-2006.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-07-08 18:31:27.058490; data collection ended in 2018.

Geography

Okanagan, Wood, Kalamalka, and Christina Lakes in the Okanagan Region, British Columbia, Canada.