SkeenaWild provides science support to several First Nations and their respective fisheries programs – including Wet’suwet’en, Gitksan, and Ned’u’ten – towards the development of recovery plans for diminished sockeye salmon populations. Our work with Wet’suwet’en Fisheries Program has culminated in the implementation of priority research programs outlined in their Morice Sockeye Recovery Plan, which is composed of three major projects:

1. Juvenile health monitoring. A study that live captures juvenile sockeye emigrating from Morice Lake, with the aim to determine age at emigration, size at age, and ultimately to explore whether mortality during this life stage is impeding the population’s recovery.
2. Spawning distribution. A study that tracks adult sockeye back to spawning grounds. Fish are inserted with tags at Witset Canyon that transmit a signal, which we track via helicopter and fixed stations located throughout Wet’suwet’en territory. We also use environmental DNA technology (water samples filtered for DNA shed by salmon) to monitor unique populations.
3. Habitat assessment. A study to assess the change in riparian habitat of the Nanika River due to logging and associated road building. The Nanika River hosts the primary spawning grounds for sockeye in Wet’suwet’en territory, yet this sub-basin remains largely unprotected.