Ancient fish weir technology for modern stewardship: lessons from community-based salmon monitoring
Introduction: The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples states that indigenous people have a fundamental right to contribute to the management of the resources that support their livelihoods. Salmon are vital to the economy and culture of First Nations in coastal British Columbia, Canad...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
2017-06-01
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| Series: | Ecosystem Health and Sustainability |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/20964129.2017.1341284 |
| _version_ | 1797717926495649792 |
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| author | William I. Atlas William G. Housty Audrey Béliveau Bryant DeRoy Grant Callegari Mike Reid Jonathan W. Moore |
| author_facet | William I. Atlas William G. Housty Audrey Béliveau Bryant DeRoy Grant Callegari Mike Reid Jonathan W. Moore |
| author_sort | William I. Atlas |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Introduction: The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples states that indigenous people have a fundamental right to contribute to the management of the resources that support their livelihoods. Salmon are vital to the economy and culture of First Nations in coastal British Columbia, Canada. In this region, traditional systems of management including weirs – fences built across rivers to selectively harvest salmon – supported sustainable fisheries for millennia. In the late-19th century traditional fishing practices were banned as colonial governments consolidated control over salmon. Outcomes: In collaboration with the Heiltsuk First Nation we revived the practice of weir building in the Koeye River. Over the first four years of the project we tagged 1,226 sockeye, and counted 8,036 fish during fall stream walks. We used a mark-recapture model which accounted for both pre-spawn mortality due to variation in temperature, and tag loss, to produce the first mark-resight estimates of sockeye abundance in the watershed (4,600 – 15,000 escapement). Discussion: High river temperatures are associated with increased en route morality in migrating adult sockeye. We estimated pre-spawn mortality ranged from 8 – 72% across the four years of study, highlighting the degree to which climate conditions may dictate future viability in sockeye salmon populations. These results demonstrate the power of fusing traditional knowledge and management systems with contemporary scientific approaches in developing local monitoring. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T08:44:33Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-156a7f98f2d94d5096c35a906b2a293f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2096-4129 2332-8878 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T08:44:33Z |
| publishDate | 2017-06-01 |
| publisher | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecosystem Health and Sustainability |
| spelling | doaj.art-156a7f98f2d94d5096c35a906b2a293f2023-09-02T16:30:37ZengAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)Ecosystem Health and Sustainability2096-41292332-88782017-06-013610.1080/20964129.2017.13412841341284Ancient fish weir technology for modern stewardship: lessons from community-based salmon monitoringWilliam I. Atlas0William G. Housty1Audrey Béliveau2Bryant DeRoy3Grant Callegari4Mike Reid5Jonathan W. Moore6Qqs Projects SocietyQqs Projects SocietyUniversity of British ColumbiaQqs Projects SocietyHakai InstituteHeiltsuk Integrated Resource Management DepartmentSimon Fraser UniversityIntroduction: The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples states that indigenous people have a fundamental right to contribute to the management of the resources that support their livelihoods. Salmon are vital to the economy and culture of First Nations in coastal British Columbia, Canada. In this region, traditional systems of management including weirs – fences built across rivers to selectively harvest salmon – supported sustainable fisheries for millennia. In the late-19th century traditional fishing practices were banned as colonial governments consolidated control over salmon. Outcomes: In collaboration with the Heiltsuk First Nation we revived the practice of weir building in the Koeye River. Over the first four years of the project we tagged 1,226 sockeye, and counted 8,036 fish during fall stream walks. We used a mark-recapture model which accounted for both pre-spawn mortality due to variation in temperature, and tag loss, to produce the first mark-resight estimates of sockeye abundance in the watershed (4,600 – 15,000 escapement). Discussion: High river temperatures are associated with increased en route morality in migrating adult sockeye. We estimated pre-spawn mortality ranged from 8 – 72% across the four years of study, highlighting the degree to which climate conditions may dictate future viability in sockeye salmon populations. These results demonstrate the power of fusing traditional knowledge and management systems with contemporary scientific approaches in developing local monitoring.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/20964129.2017.1341284Local managementtraditional ecological knowledgeFirst Nationssalmonfood fisheriesmark-recapture |
| spellingShingle | William I. Atlas William G. Housty Audrey Béliveau Bryant DeRoy Grant Callegari Mike Reid Jonathan W. Moore Ancient fish weir technology for modern stewardship: lessons from community-based salmon monitoring Ecosystem Health and Sustainability Local management traditional ecological knowledge First Nations salmon food fisheries mark-recapture |
| title | Ancient fish weir technology for modern stewardship: lessons from community-based salmon monitoring |
| title_full | Ancient fish weir technology for modern stewardship: lessons from community-based salmon monitoring |
| title_fullStr | Ancient fish weir technology for modern stewardship: lessons from community-based salmon monitoring |
| title_full_unstemmed | Ancient fish weir technology for modern stewardship: lessons from community-based salmon monitoring |
| title_short | Ancient fish weir technology for modern stewardship: lessons from community-based salmon monitoring |
| title_sort | ancient fish weir technology for modern stewardship lessons from community based salmon monitoring |
| topic | Local management traditional ecological knowledge First Nations salmon food fisheries mark-recapture |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/20964129.2017.1341284 |
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