Counting on their migration home: an examination of monitoring protocols and Saanich First Nations’ perspectives of Coho (Oncorhynchus kisutch), Chinook (O. tshawytscha) and Chum (O. keta) Pacific Salmon at Goldstream River and Saanich Inlet, Southern Vancouver Island, British Columbia

• Main Author: Paul, Roxanne
• Other Authors: Edgell, Michael C.R., Turner, Nancy J.
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2007
• Subjects: envir; demo; Pacific; Keta; First Nations
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1828/196

Records of abundance of salmon that return to their natal spawning stream (escapements) are important indices that can assist with monitoring, conservation, and management of a salmon population over time. On their own, however these data reveal very little about the habitat, ecosystem and human communities that salmon encounter on their journey from freshwater to sea and back again. This research examines monitoring protocols for Goldstream River salmon stocks (coho, chinook and chum Pacific salmon). It includes and reaches beyond biostatistics from stream surveys to gauge First Nations’ artisanal fishing activities at Goldstream River and Saanich Inlet as well as their commercial chum fishing endeavours in Saanich Inlet on south Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Methods included summations of major themes from interviews on traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) shared by local Saanich First Nation fishers whose families have lived in the communities around Goldstream River and Saanich Inlet for more than 200 years. Analyses of Goldstream salmon escapements for the period 1932 to 2004 and native harvest statistics of chum caught from Saanich Inlet between 1982 and 2004 are integrated with results from analysis of TEK research undertaken for this project. Key recommendations arising from the results of this research are: stream habitat restoration in response to loss and degradation of salmon-bearing streams; modification of stream survey procedures to measure for morphological and physiological attributes including indicators of the health of Goldstream salmon; monitoring and eliminating sources of pollution to Saanich Inlet waters; implementing precautionary measures to ensure that overfishing of Goldstream salmon and shrimp in Saanich Inlet does not recur; and safeguarding naturally abundant Goldstream chum populations at the river. Under current management of the Goldstream chum fishery, the maximum carrying capacity (K) or target escapement of chum that the Goldstream River spawning grounds sustain is ...