DFO - Great Slave Lake

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Gary McLaughlin
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1 DFO - Great Slave Lake Fisheries Management Prepared by: George Low Taiga Borealis 13 Riverview Drive Hay River, NWT, XOE 0R7 Ph

2 Great Slave Lake Fisheries >Sports Fisheries >First Nation Fisheries >Non-aboriginal Domestic >Commercial Gillnet > Exploratory Fisheries

3 Sports Fishery Management > Licencing and regulation > Enforcement > Management > The recreational Fishery > Lodges and Outfitters

4 First Nation Food Fisheries > Priority > Enforcement & Regulation > Stock Protection > AFS & AAROM ^i;^t ^S^-SH^

5 Great Slave Lake Areas Closed to Commercial Gillnet Fishing AREAS CLOSED TO COMMERCIAL FISHINO FISHINO LODOES FISH PLANTS SPftlMOCLOSURES (INCONNU PROTECTION) w IE tonnes / 31 bnntf HAY RIVER buffauj river river

6 Non-Aboriginal Domestic Fishery > Surplus Resource > Mainly Hay River and Yellowknife > Licence quota and area > Limited harvest > Avoids heavy use areas

7 Commercial Gillnet Fishery > Regulation and Enforcement > Quotas and Areas > Certificates and Licences > Mesh size > Closed areas > Exploratory Fisheries

8 Commercial Fishery Management Areas to present Areas with quotas used to limit exploitation and distribute effort; managed for whitefish offshore. Boundaries variable from ; stabilized in Quota management is primarily for whitefish in West Basin; other species managed by area closures. "f" AREAS CLOSED TO COMMERCIAL FISHJHO FISHJMO WOOES SPRING CLOSURES (iriconnu PROTECTION) Some areas closed to commercial fishing permanently (e.g., VI) to promote trophy sport fishery for lake trout. Some areas closed seasonally (e.g., south shore spring) for inconnu conservation (by-catch management). BUFFALO Some areas closed to ensure fish RIVER R(VER Seven Areas with Quotas: Quota set annually for both lake whitefish (WF) + lake trout (LT) combined (presently mostly for WF). As total catch approaches area quota fishing is halted. for subsistence fisheries.

9 5000 Fishery Start East Ann (VI) Closed Lake Quota i Total Catch Whitefish Catch Lake trout Catch Inconnu Catch Pike Catch 2 o a Walleye Catch Other spp. Catch Quotas reduced to prevent WF overexploitation due to smaller g mesh size. a: u I /2" mesh Year 77%WF+13%LT Lake trout collapse Fluctuations (1975-present) ' 1980 "^--^2s^r:r- driven by market forces, i^*^ 1""* subsidies and costs which 5 1/4" mesh 1990 affect number, effort and interest of fishermen. Commercial Catch over Time

10 The Economic Decline of the Fishery 2500 Quota taken in these areas 1W 1W 1W 2 1W 1E 1W 1W 1W1W 1W1W 1W 1W 1W 1W 2 1W W 1W1W1W 2000 Lake Quota Whitefish & Trout vvniiensn oniy - except Area 5-Whitefish & Trout 1500 Whitefish and Trout Whitefish plus Area 5 Trout CO 1000 Whitetish Minimum 500 esh Areas 1E & 4 5 1/4" to 5" <1W a Year Later) SEASON (November 1 to October 31)

Great Slave Lake Advisory Committee > Purpose; ensure long-term conservation, wise use & health offish and fish habitat > Advises DFO on Fishery Mgmt.

11 Great Slave Lake Advisory Committee > Purpose; ensure long-term conservation, wise use & health offish and fish habitat > Advises DFO on Fishery Mgmt. Issues > Membership > Terms of Reference; (under review) > Meetings (twice annually) > DFO consultation; (Does NOT preclude direct consultation with FN's or other groups

12 GSLAC Membership Membership: Chairperson, 12 Voting & 4 Non-voting Members Voting Members; groups nominate their member(s) and altemate(s) Akaitcho Territory Government 1 Member Dehcho First Nations 1 Member Tlicho Government 1 Member NWT Metis Nation 3 Members NWT Fishermen's Federation 4 Members Sports Fishing-Public at Large 1 Member Sports Fishing-GSL Lodges and Outfitters... 1 Member Non-Voting Members; groups nominate their members DFO-Fisheries Management 1 Member Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation 1 Member GNWT-Environment & Natural Resources... 1 Member GNWT-lndustry, Tourism & Investment 1 Member

13 GSL Commercial Fishery A Restricted Entry Fishery > Objective: To ensure the fishery does not become over-subscribed ("too many fishermen chasing too few fish") > NWT Fishery Regulations - Certificate required to operate a fishing enterprise on GSL > GSLAC recommends issuance of Commercial Certificates > GSLAC uses guidelines and a point system to prioritize applicants

14 Certificate Pool Season Class Number Summer Class A-Vessels 9.23 meters and longer 28 Class B-Vessels less than 9.23 meters 61 Winter Class A-Vehicles greater than 2000KG GVW 32 Class B-Vehicles other than Class A 49 Effective January 1,1981*, no person shall hold more than; One Summer Class A Certificate One Summer Class B Certificate One Winter Class A Certificate One Winter Class B Certificate * Grandfathered

15 New Entry Category > Application to DFO in Hay R. or YK; complete application with supporting docs. at least 3 working days before meeting > DFO presents the applications to GSLAC > Criteria; Residency Criteria & Point Criteria > Residency Criteria; Canadian citizen 2 year full time resident of the NWT

16 New Entrant Point Criteria > a) One point - each year of NWT residency to 15 > b) One point - each year operator or helper > OR One Point - each year holds GHL, NWT Treaty Card or enrolled as a beneficiary of a Land Claim to 15 > c) One point - each year family member Cert.to 10 to 10 OR One point - each year family - lapsed Cert, (to 5) > d) One point - each year applicant resided in community on shores of GSL to 10 OR One point - each year resided in any NWT community (to 5) e) One point - each year applicant continuously applied to 10

17 Renewal Category > DFO will automatically re-issue commercial certificates if holder meets minimum production requirements Summer & Winter Class A 2000kg Summer & winter Class B 200kg Other > There are rules governing notification, claiming certificates and operational readiness > There is an appeal process On grounds of being denied a Certificate Appeals directed to DFO, Western Arctic Area at any Area office DFO notifies GSLAC and the Appellant of its decision in writing

18 GSL Research and Monitoring > DFO Science - Stock Assessment sector FWI-Wpg > DFO Fisheries Mgmt. Sector. WAA - Hay River > Fish Plant Samples Size and age > Experimental Gillnetting > Fishery Observations > Species Studies - eg. Inconnu > AFS & AAROM Co-mgmt. supported studies

19 03 O 00 I CO

20 Dehcho Watershed Ecosystem Advisory Committee - AAROM &AFS > A Capacity Building and Collaborative Mgmt. program > Working with DFO. AAROM. AFS

$Regs. Resident of Kakisa; 6 months Sustainable fishery since the 1946 (Transient stock problem in the1990's).-.v-j ^ij> k"1."' -': ". ' ' - "~'-S"'' 1~.':~r~. ". i^\^ijm^^",-.$

21 Kakisa Lake Commercial Fishery Main species - Walleye Other species - Pike Walleye quota - 20, 000 kg annual Gear - 41/4" gillnet Commercial fishing licence by NWT Fishery Regs. Resident of Kakisa; 6 months Sustainable fishery since the 1946 (Transient stock problem in the1990's).-.v-j ^ij> k"1."' -': ". ' ' - "~'-S"'' 1~.':~r~. ". i^\^ijm^^",-.~.i.

Tathlina Lake Commercial Fishery Quota = 20 000 kg of Walleye The stock has been depleted since 2001 May be a combination of heavy exploitation and spawning failure Tathlina - a shallow

22 Tathlina Lake Commercial Fishery Quota = kg of Walleye The stock has been depleted since 2001 May be a combination of heavy exploitation and spawning failure Tathlina - a shallow lake subject to winter-kill & other problems Climate change may be affecting the recovery - usually recovers in three or four years Kakisa Band working with DFO on the recovery strategy

Fish Conservation and Management

Post et al. 2002 Fish Conservation and Management CONS 486 Fisheries OVERexploitation Ludwig et al 1993 Pauly et al. 2002 Topics: Fisheries overexploitation Causes of commercial fishery overexploitation