Lynnn Lau
Northern News Services

Inuvik (Mar 08/02) - The fisheries joint management committee is conducting its second annual survey of sport anglers in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region.

Last month, the committee mailed out close to 600 surveys to people who had purchased sport fishing licences and Parks Canada fishing permits in the ISR last year.

The new, expanded survey includes questions about fly fishing and preferred fish species.

The committee is holding a prize draw to encourage people to respond to the survey by April 12.

The survey results will help fisheries managers understand the impact of the sport fishery on the Inuvialuit Settlement Region stocks, says resource biologist Ed McLean.

"To effectively manage fish, we have some sense of the stock and populations, and you need to understand what people take," McLean says.

"It's not a big problem now, but if the population here continues to grow, the impact on slow growing fish species in these Northern lakes may become an issue in the future."

Although fishing by Inuvialuit beneficiaries has been studied for more than a decade, this is only second year that sport anglers have been polled.

Last year's survey results provided an interesting glimpse into the habits and preferences of sport anglers in the ISR.

Of 392 sport anglers who purchased GNWT sport fishing licenses or registered with the Hunters and Trappers Committees in the region, 203, or just over half, were residents of the settlement region, including Inuvik, Aklavik, Paulatuuq, Sachs Harbour, Holman and Tuktoyaktuk.

The remaining anglers came all over the world, with 26 U.S. states and many European nations represented.

Half of the 228 people who responded to the survey reported fishing within the boundaries of the ISR between April 1 and Sept. 30, 2000.

Of those who went fishing, 71 per cent caught and retained fish. The most common fish caught was lake trout, followed by northern pike and arctic char.

The top five spring and summer fishing spots in 2000 were Ya Ya Lakes at Richards Island, Diamond Jenness Peninsula on Victoria Island, Horton River, Mackenzie Delta and Husky Lakes. Ice fishing was not included in the survey.