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AKLAVIK
Community members in Aklavik will be allowed to fish in Big Fish River this August for the first time in nearly 30 years.

"I've lived here in Aklavik for 20 years and this is the first year they're going to be opening up the Big Fish River to harvesting," said Michelle Gruben, resource person for the Aklavik Hunters and Trappers Committee.

"After (the fishing season) is done we're going to have a big celebration here in Aklavik so that'll be something to look forward to here in September, end of August."

Community members will now be able to harvest 150 Dolly Varden, a close relative of Arctic char and bull trout.

Representatives from the Department of Oceans and Fisheries, Parks Canada, the Fisheries Joint Management Committee, Aklavik community members, the Gwich'in Renewable Resources Board and Inuvialuit beneficiaries worked together in various committees over several years to help the Dolly Varden char population in the Big Fish River recover, which began declining in the late 1970s.

"It's actually a really exciting time," said Dr. Michael Papst, interim member on the Fisheries Joint Management Committee. "It's kind of doubly exciting because it's the first time that we've really done one of these evaluations under this concept of an integrated fisheries management plan with very large community involvement and that crossover between science, (traditional knowledge), and the various government departments."

Papst said the Big Fish River was originally closed in the late 1970s when the community and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans noticed a continued decline in Dolly Varden fish population on the river.

"What often happens with this type of fishery is that it will return to normal if you take the fishing pressure off for a while," said Papst. "The research since then has ... shown that it wasn't just fishing that was the issue on the Big Fish, it was probably also due to some habitat change."

Papst said there was also concern that, as the char followed the river into the Beaufort Sea, they would be caught at coastal fishing locations like Shingle Point. However, preliminary studies nearing completion last fall indicated that fish from Big Fish River make up less than 10 per cent of the fish caught at Shingle Point.

"That was encouraging and indicated there wasn't a lot of pressure on the system," said Papst.

The Dolly Varden population has been steady over the past 10 years, with a slight increase, which indicates that any habitat changes have settled down since the population drop in the 1970s, said Papst. As a result, when Alkavik community members proposed a modest fish harvest in the Big Fish River to a fishing management working group, they were granted a harvest of 150 Dolly Varden.

"The working group has also worked with (the Department of Fisheries and Oceans) and the community and set up a communication plan so they can stay within the harvest level," Papst said. "There will be a community monitor down at the site for the whole period."

Gruben said the hunters and trappers committee has always had a good understanding with the community and that members who do fish work hard to stay within quotas. She said it's very rewarding to see the hard work pay off.

"Over the years (harvest reporting) has been a voluntary thing where people provide their numbers and ... we've got a good understanding with the community," she said.

"Now we can see the process as it goes from the HTC level and then they bring it to another co-management board and then they bring it to another co-management board, then, you know, we start to see the result."

Gruben said the hunters and trappers committee office is looking for pictures people may have of past family members fishing at the Big Fish River.

She said the committee would like to make copies of the photos and showcase them at the upcoming celebration.

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