The British Columbia Forest Practices Code specifies planning and operational guidelines for each phase of timber harvesting operations around streams, lakes, and wetlands. This guide describes suitable practices to meet the objectives of the riparian management regulations within the Code, specifically the requirement to correctly identify streams on the basis of fish presence in order to ensure the protection of fish populations and habitats during all phases of forest harvesting. The guide defines the classes of streams distinguished for aquatic ecosystem and riparian zone management, identifies fish species that define a stream as fish-bearing under the Code, and describes factors influencing fish-stream identification such as stream reach, gradient, stream size, natural barriers, and fisheries sensitive zones. The guide concludes with methods for identifying fish streams, including measurement, sampling, data recording, and mapping procedures.