Amanda Vaughan
Northern News Services
Published Friday, January 11, 2008

YELLOWKNIFE - Recreational anglers in Yellowknife may find themselves with even fewer ciscoes depending on the results of a study being conducted by the federal researchers.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) decided more than a year ago to cancel the only commercial licence for harvesting ciscoes from the Yellowknife river.

Jeff Mercer shows off a cooler full of freshly netted ciscoes at Tartan Rapids during the spawn run in October, 2004. Fisheries and Oceans Canada are considering reducing cisco harvest limits. - NNSL file photo

And last fall the department conducted a survey for the recreational harvest of the herring-sized bait fish.

The current recreational harvest limit of 350 ciscoes a year may see a reduction based on the survey and other study information, said Ed DeBruyn, DFO's acting director for the Western Arctic region.

He said anglers should be able to find out by the time the 2008 sport fishing regulations are released in April.

"We are actively discussing that concept right now," said DeBruyn.

He said the department is taking a "precautionary approach" to their study, which is focused on the future sustainability of the cisco harvest on the Yellowknife River area.

DeBruyn said it's been brought to their attention by their own officers plus aboriginal groups that harvest levels might not be sustainable.

He said further studies would take years to determine if cisco numbers are declining instead of just fluctuating naturally, and any decisions to limit harvests now are precautions to avoid making a potential problem worse.

"We can't make an intuitive decision based on some anecdotal evidence, some traditional knowledge and one year of science," said DeBruyn.

Orest and Marlene Hnatiw, owners of the lone commercial licence not renewed in 2006, say they will continue to apply each year in the hopes that one day they will be able to run their business again.

"We invested a lot of money in equipment," said Marlene Hnatiw, whose husband now works at the Ekati diamond mine.

She said they harvested ciscoes to sell to Northern businesses for eight years before their licence was revoked.

They had purchased vacuum packing equipment and a jet boat for their business not long before the decision.

Orest said he doesn't think the cisco numbers are declining. He said that DFO denied his application in 2006 at the request of the Yellowknives Dene.

He said he has noticed changes in the cisco migration, though.

"They used to run for two or three weeks, and recently, they didn't run as hard, but they ran for a longer period of time, as long as two months," he said.

In order to maintain their business, Orest said he might apply for a licence in another river if they don't get renewed next fall.

"We are putting our own fish back in our own water," Marlene said, mentioning with less local ciscoes on the market, more anglers are turning to bait imported from the south.

However, she said she thinks it's reasonable for the feds to limit the harvests until they know whether or not they are sustainable.

"We all want to look out for our own waters," she said.