| Abstract/Description or Keywords |
From April 2005 to March 2006 several technicians from the Carrier Sekani Tribal Council (CSTC) conducted numerous outreach meetings with First Nations communities situated within the Nechako basin. The focus of these sessions was the distribution of information to these communities, and specifically First Nations fishers, regarding the status and plight of the Nechako sturgeon, the ongoing recovery initiative activities, and the role First Nations are playing within this process. Tools were developed and applied during these sessions to directly and indirectly facilitate fishing methods that would reduce the potential for harming sturgeon. Further, information sharing protocols were developed with community catch monitors and fishers to report information regarding encounters with sturgeon. Additionally, efforts to transition existing non-selective gillnet fisheries for sockeye towards more selective means were completed, including the development of a policy to facilitate the transition toward selective fisheries. The white sturgeon in the Nechako watershed have been identified as a genetically unique stock. It has been documented that the stock has been suffering from a severe recruitment failure since the 1960s, resulting in a rapidly diminishing population of nearly exclusively older fish. The Nechako stock, and all other white sturgeon, have been designated as Endangered by the COSEWIC, and may potentially be added to Schedule 1 of the Species at Risk Act in the near future. One of the remaining direct sources of humancaused mortality on the Nechako stock are non-selective First Nations Food, Social and Ceremonial (FSC) gillnet fisheries for sockeye salmon. Reducing the remaining direct sources of mortality on this stock was identified as a Priority 1 activity within the recovery plan developed for this population. Activities undertaken in 2005 and early 2006 have been largely successful in furthering communication between the CSTC and its member and nonmember communities within the Nechako watershed regarding the plight of the Nechako sturgeon. Reporting related to sturgeon encounters has improved. There is support for the development of selective means of sockeye harvesting, and a pilot-scale fishery on the Nautley River demonstrated substantial success. It was evident that a comprehensive policy to guide the planning, implementation and management of selective fisheries was required, which has been initiated. Recommendations for further outreach-related work and harm-reducing selective fishery development have been developed. |
