| Abstract/Description or Keywords |
This report is a follow-up to an earlier volume (Gottesfeld et al. 2002) which was prepared as part of the Skeena Watershed Fish Sustainability Plan process. The earlier report, Conserving Skeena Fish Populations and Their Habitat, presents an overview of the biophysical features of the Skeena Watershed, the important fish populations of the Skeena, the nature and history of resource development and a brief overview of the socioeconomic status of the watershed. The earlier report identified the eleven subwatersheds with the most productive fish habitat and most important fish populations. Rather than issuing a supplementary volume, we decided to expand and update the first volume to include all areas of the Skeena. This volume is funded by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, North Coast, Stock Assessment and Habitat and Enhancement Branches, alongside continued funding by the Skeena Fisheries Commission. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the funding agencies. An abundance of fish was once taken for granted in the Skeena River system. First Nations across the watershed relied heavily on the salmon that they both managed and used for thousands of years. Over the course of the last century, in the Skeena and its tributaries, fish populations have suffered consequences from over fishing and habitat alteration. Population declines have been a concern for many coho, chum, and sockeye stocks, and some chinook and steelhead stocks, while some pink salmon populations and enhanced Babine Lake sockeye have reached record levels of abundance in the past decade. Salmon populations in the Skeena Watershed face environmental challenges from high rates of logging and to a minor extent from highway, mining, farming, and urban development. The Skeena will also likely witness changes in water quality and stream habitats due to human caused climatic change and in some portions of the watershed, these changes may limit salmonid productivity. The focus of this report is on the watersheds: their physical qualities, their freshwater ecology, and the history of salmon escapement and human occupation. Of course, there is more involved in the life cycle of salmon than the freshwater habitat; there is the other half of salmon life cycle, the part that occurs in the ocean. Discussion of the marine part of the salmon cycle would include: early ocean survival of post-smolts, ocean growth conditions, and the effect of the various ocean fisheries, past and present. Although there are references to these factors throughout the report, detailed consideration would require a separate volume. We need to make a concerted effort to rebuild weak fish populations, maintain the stronger stocks and ensure they have the conditions necessary to thrive. We need to do it for the fish and for ourselves – both current and future generations. |
