| Abstract/Description or Keywords |
From April 2006 to March 2007 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 community members, 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 that were previously developed with community catch monitors and fishers to report information regarding encounters with sturgeon were confirmed and continued. Additionally, efforts to transition existing non-selective gillnet fisheries for sockeye towards more selective means were undertaken, including the implementation of a selective seine fishery for sockeye on the Nautley River. 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. The Nechako’s populationwas added to Schedule 1 of the Species at Risk Act in August of 2006. One of the remaining direct sources of human-caused 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 2006 and early 2007 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 continued to improve. There is support for the development of selective means of sockeye harvesting, and a pilot-scale fishery on the Nautley River demonstrated substantial success. Recommendations for further outreachrelated work and harm-reducing selective fishery development have been developed. |
