Kuujjua River Arctic Char: Monitoring Stock Trends Using Catches from an Under-Ice Subsistence Fishery, Victoria Island, Northwest Territories, Canada, 1991 – 2009

Abstract

A standardized, harvest-based monitoring program was conducted during the main under-ice subsistence fishery for Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) of the Kuujjua River for 18 winter fishing seasons between 1991 and 2009. The program was a response to the concern of Ulukhaktok residents that Arctic char were becoming fewer in number and smaller in size.

Change in the Beaufort Sea ecosystem: Diverging trends in body condition and/or production in five marine vertebrate species

“…In the western Arctic, anadromous Arctic char of the Kuujjua River stock have been the subject of a long-term (1992-present), harvest-based monitoring study at Tatik Lake, Victoria Island, NT (Harwood et al, 2013). Anadromous Arctic char migrate to the ocean in summer, where they access rich marine resources for 2-3 months (Dempson and Kristofferson, 1987), building condition before migrating upstream to lakes for overwintering (Johnson, 1980;Boivin and Power, 1990;Gyselman, 1994).…”

“…Anadromous Arctic char migrate to the ocean in summer, where they access rich marine resources for 2-3 months (Dempson and Kristofferson, 1987), building condition before migrating upstream to lakes for overwintering (Johnson, 1980;Boivin and Power, 1990;Gyselman, 1994). With two decades of fall sampling conducted at the same location and time of year, soon after the fish returned from summer feeding, annual measures of char condition reflect the annual quality/quantity of marine prey available in nearshore waters of the eastern Amundsen Gulf (Harwood et al, 2013). Harwood et al (2013) reported that mean annual condition indices of the char were variable among the years of study, with annual condition indices being significantly correlated with timing of sea ice retreat in spring (Fig.…”

“…With two decades of fall sampling conducted at the same location and time of year, soon after the fish returned from summer feeding, annual measures of char condition reflect the annual quality/quantity of marine prey available in nearshore waters of the eastern Amundsen Gulf (Harwood et al, 2013). Harwood et al (2013) reported that mean annual condition indices of the char were variable among the years of study, with annual condition indices being significantly correlated with timing of sea ice retreat in spring (Fig. 3).…”

“…Earlier retreat of the fast ice in spring was linked with increased char condition, while late retreat was linked with poor condition (Table 1, Harwood et al, 2013). Observations of local fishers, and long-term, standardized measures of fish size and catch-per-unit-effort also show that the char have increasing growth rates, are becoming larger, and are more abundant than a decade ago (Knopp, 2010;Harwood et al, 2013). Similar to the BCB bowhead whales, the Kuujjua River Arctic char stock appears to be gaining some degree of improved fitness related to changes in environmental productivity and sea ice, although subject to annual variation.…”

Spawning, Overwintering and Summer Feeding Habitats Used by Anadromous Arctic Char (<i>Salvelinus alpinus</i>) of the Hornaday River, Northwest Territories, Canada

“…The Inuvialuit of Paulatuk, a community of 314 (Northwest Territories Bureau of Statistics, 2013) located approximately 14 km west of the Hornaday River, have harvested char from this system for subsistence since the community was first settled in the early 1940s. The Hornaday is the largest river draining into Darnley Bay, and it supports the largest stock of Arctic char in the area, with the next large stock located 300 km to the east on Victoria Island (Harwood et al, 2013). A test fishery at the Brock River, the other main river draining into Darnley Bay (Fig.…”