THE RUNNER
Sq’eptset Syoyes Sth’o’th’eqwi
October 2021 • Lower Fraser Fisheries Alliance
Fishers working together
The Runner • October 2021
staff & contributors
02
Murray Ned Executive Director Rosalie Hope Program Manager Vanessa Serroul Program Assistant Dionne Bunsha Aboriginal Knowledge Coordinator Aidan Fisher Staff Biologist Ian Hamilton Staff Biologist Ashlee Prevost Staff Biologist Janice Kwo Staff Biologist Caytlyn McFadden Fisheries Project Coordinator Eden Toth External Communications Gillian Fuss Emergency Planning Secretariat Coordinator Maggie Mazurkewich Emergency Planning Secretariat Outreach Assistant Leah Ballantyne RELAW Coordinator Donald B. Simpson LFE Inc. and LFE-LP, Economic Development Manager
EDITORIAL POLICY The Runner newsletter is produced quarterly by the Lower Fraser Fisheries Alliance. Our purpose is to inform readers about LFFA organization processes, developments and news. We will gladly accept signed comments, questions and opinions about our newsletter and will consider withholding contributor’s name if desired.
Individual articles from The Runner may be reprinted, photocopied or redistributed with permission from The Runner provided the date of publication and source of the material is indicated. Please notify The Runner if you would like to reprint an article. All community members are welcome to contribute thoughts, articles and letters to The Runner.
Submissions and letters should be send to: The Lower Fraser Fisheries Alliance 3092 Sumas Mountain Road Abbotsford, BC V3G 2J2 Phone: 778.847.3323 Email: communications@lffa.ca Publication is not guaranteed.
Lower Fraser Fisheries Alliance
in this issue 04 06 07 08 09 10 12 13 13 14 15
Fishery Management Update LFFA-RELAW Staff Update Sturgeon Bank Pilot Project Lower Fraser Enterprise Limited Partnership Upper Pitt Restoration Project Eulachon Assessment Survey Habitat Restoration & Climate Adaptation Strategy Selective Fishing Project Emergency Planning Secretariat Bank Stabilization Project
In the old days there was a house on the top of Chilliwack Mountain facing down-river. The man who lived there had only one job; to watch for two silver bands on both sides of the river; millions of oolichan arriving. His job then was to run down the mountain to spread the word to other runners. People would come from near and far each year. The Runner endeavors to do this job once again, albeit electronically. -Ken Malloway, LFFA Chair
03
04
The Runner • October 2021
Fishery Management Update Aidan Fisher, Staff Biologist Fisheries are winding down throughout the Lower Fraser, with only Fraser chums remaining for fisheries in 2021. As of this update the final in-season estimate from DFO for Fraser chum is 481,000. This run size estimate is below the lowest management breakpoint of 500,000. DFO Fishery management for Fraser Chum at this run size is restrictive to all fisheries: • Reducing FSC fisheries to 10% harvest of the total run size. FSC harvest targets for all Lower Fraser First Nations chum fisheries will be scaled down as to not exceed 48,100 for all fisheries. • Commercial fisheries for Fraser chum in-river are closed. • Recreational fisheries in the Fraser and tributaries will shift to chum non-retention or no fishing for chum. This run size is fairly low compared to recent observed in-season estimates. It should be noted that there is uncertainty around the exact run size, and the run size estimation model is biased high in low return years. This could indicate it is more likely that the run size is lower than the reported in-season estimate. Once escapement estimates are concluded for the year we will have a better understanding of the Fraser chum run size. For Fraser chum FSC fishing this year, DFO is imposing additional restrictions on FSC fishing under the guise of Interior Fraser Steelhead conservation. It should be recognized that Lower Fraser First Nations are subject to a complete FSC fishing closure for 27 days and 41 days for
Lower Fraser Fisheries Alliance
EO/commercial fisheries to protect these Steelhead. These additional restrictions are applied after the Steelhead closure, and are carried through the entire fishery. These are the same imposed restrictions DFO implemented without any consultation with Lower Fraser First Nations: • Set nets only licenced during daylight; • Full net attendance on set nets. DFO is suggesting that this will reduce Interior Fraser Steelhead mortality. DFO has not produced any estimates on how many Steelhead are present after the window closure. They have also not produced an estimate of how many Steelhead may be encountered during the fishery. To date the only rationale DFO has communicated on the additional restrictions following the window closure is anecdotal that encounters with set net fishing gear will result in lower release mortality. There has also been no consideration for lifting these restrictions before the end of the chum fishery. DFO is engaging with First Nations throughout the Lower Fraser to licence FSC fisheries for Fraser chum. If you are looking for details on licence conditions, contact your local fish rep or Aidan Fisher (Aidan.Fisher@LFFA.ca).
05
06
The Runner • October 2021
Revitalizing Indigenous Law for Land, Air and Water (RELAW) Leah Ballantyne, RELAW Coordinator The LFFA-RELAW (Revitalizing Indigenous Law for Land, Air and Water) project focuses on
Indigenous legal traditions as a distinct area for Indigenous knowledge capacity development.
The first phase of this project wove together the stories and voices of knowledge holders of the Lower Fraser to produce a 7-volume legal
synthesis report on Legal Traditions of the
Peoples of the Lower Fraser, along with its
summary report, which can be accessed on the LFFA website: www.lffa.ca/initiatives/relaw Phase 2 will be about deepening
community-based capacity to engage in the articulation, revitalization, and application of Indigenous laws related to watershed
management and fisheries governance in the
Lower Fraser. This includes enabling knowledge transmission about Indigenous stories and law
among LFFA communities, while building deeper understanding of Indigenous law(s) among Tier
2 and 3 audiences through public education and facilitated dialogues/gatherings.
The LFFA-RELAW team has applied to the 2021
– 22 AAROM Innovation and Collaboration Fund in order to fund this next phase of the project,
which will be conducted through field trips,
presentations, guided dialogues and strategic sessions in participating communities.
Ultimately, this project offers a way into
understanding why fish, water and fisheries are
vital to First Nations and to everyone by further
understanding the stories of the land and water.
The dialogues aim to convey that restoration and conservation efforts must be done in collaboration.
You can find more information about RELAW,
including photos and blog posts from our team, online at www.lffa.ca/initiatives/relaw
Lower Fraser Fisheries Alliance
Staff Update
The technical team at LFFA is pleased to
welcome Caytlyn McFadden as a new Project Coordinator.
Caytlyn is originally from Prince George but
has spent the last eight years in Halifax where
she completed her master’s degree in Resource and Environmental Management. She brings a wealth of experience in restoration work and
nature-based climate change adaptation to her new role in the lower Fraser watershed, where she will be primarily focussed on selective fishing and ghost net removal projects.
Caytlyn is pleased to be back home on the
west coast and is looking forward to working
with, and learning from, the communities that make up the LFFA network. Welcome, Caytlyn!
07
10 08
TheRunner Runner••October January 2021 The
Sturgeon Bank Sediment Enhancement Pilot Project Janice Kwo, Staff Biologist The Lower Fraser Fisheries Alliance, in partnership with Ducks Unlimited Canada, Raincoast Conservation
Foundation, and Tsawwassen First Nation, is embarking on a three-year pilot project at Sturgeon Bank, an
important fish habitat area at the delta front of the Fraser River estuary.
This pilot project aims to increase tidal marsh resilience by placing dredged sediment on the Sturgeon Bank foreshore. This will provide an area for marsh
vegetation to regrow, enhancing the natural processes
that have been impacted by human activity in the area over the last century.
Project map outlines where sediment will be deposited to create new habitat. Photo credit: Northwest Hydraulic Consultants
This internationally significant habitat is a year-round
home for 47 species of shorebirds and plays host to hundreds of thousands more migrating birds every
year. All five species of Pacific salmon use the nearby waters for passage, food, shelter and acclimatizing to
salt water and at least 27 species of non-salmonid fish, including herring, also occur here.
Deborah Carlson from West Coast Environmental Law joined me in co-chairing the first roundtable meeting where project partners and various levels of
government were invited to review the project concept an provide initial feedback. Next, we will be chairing
Technical Working Committee meetings, with our first one tentatively scheduled for mid-to-late November.
The field work is slated to begin in early 2022, with
monitoring of the newly re-sedimented areas happening a few months later, over the course of the summer.
Project map outlines where sediment will be deposited to create new habitat. Photo credit: Northwest Hydraulic Consultants
Sturgeon Bank: an important fish habitat at the delta front of the Fraser River estuary.
Lower Fraser Fisheries Alliance
Lower Fraser Enterprise Limited Partnership Don Simpson, Economic Development Manager LFELP Since its formation, LFFA has been in pursuit of
(ii) to solicit and negotiate new business
Canada’s Pacific Integrated Commercial Fisher-
affiliates; and
a Commercial Fishing Enterprise (CFE) through ies Initiative (PICFI), a program designed in
opportunities for the benefit of LFFA and its
2007 to increase First Nations’ access to the
(iii) any other business approved by the
Until recently (2019), DFO placed a moratori-
Earlier this year, LFELP was successful in being
of conservation concerns, and so LFFA was
and DFO entered into a capacity building
commercial fisheries in British Columbia.
um on allowing new program entrants because unable to secure a CFE. LFFA did, however,
secure funding for an Aquaculture Development Source Agreement to invest in the
expansion of Sth’oqi Aquaculture Limited
Partnership’s (SALP) on-land/R.A.S. Tilapia farm.
limited partners.
approved for a CFE New Entrant designation
support contribution agreement whereby DFO agreed to contribute up to $170,000 for the purpose of establishing administrative and business operations of a new CFE.
This funding also included support for the
In the meantime, LFELP is serving as a transi-
With this support, LFFA established LFELP, a
and pursuing economic opportunities with third
establishment of a for-profit entity.
limited partnership having Lower Fraser Enter-
prises Inc. as general partner (LFFA is the sole shareholder of this company) and LFFA as
tional entity, submitting funding applications
parties until the establishment of a new CFE entity.
limited partner. LFELP then used the funding to
Since COVID-19 has revealed important gaps in
partner.
Mainland and the federal government is releas-
purchase assets to invest in SALP as a limited
In particular, the business purposes of LFELP are:
(i) to generate income to support LFFA in carrying out its purpose to promote and
support the management of a robust and
expanding fishery for the First Nations of the Lower Fraser River;
the local food supply chain across the Lower ing stimulus funding and economic recovery
funding, it is noted that now is an opportune moment to develop and launch new, First Nations-led enterprises.
11 09
10
The Runner • October 2021
Upper Pitt Restoration Project Ian Hamilton, Staff Biologist As part of ongoing restoration efforts led by Katzie First Nation, the LFFA Habitat
Restoration Department staff brought a crew into the Upper Pitt River to plant the riparian area of a newly created sockeye spawning channel, called Sθqəy.
Two 32ft panel vans were loaded up of native species – included Sitka Spruce, Coastal Douglas Fir, Vine Maple, Salmonberry, Thimbleberry, Willow Stakes, Oregon Grape and Sword Fern – and planted in the terraces adjacent to the new spawning channel.
The LFFA team was also joined by Katzie community members Luke Johnny, Francis
Pierre, Miya Meunier and Kerrie Charnley. The planting crew enjoyed a few sunny days but spent most of the time braving heavy rain and cold temperatures to get the
extensive job completed: in total, over 1800 native species were planted over 750
metres of spawning channel. Over time, these plant species will grow to provide shade,
food resources and in-stream habitat for the sockeye and coho salmon that have already made this new habitat their home.
Restoration efforts over the past 3 years have focussed on restoring degraded habitat
and creating new spawning channels throughout the Upper Pitt valley. Replanting efforts
are critical to ensuring that both restored, and newly created habitats are given the best chance to thrive and support the salmon that will come to rely upon them – is it also
yet another example of the impact Indigenous-led stewardship can have on vital salmon habitat.
Thank you to all Katzie members and staff who supported the expedition, and WWF-Canada who helped secure the funding for this important work.
Lower Fraser Fisheries Alliance
The newly created Sθqəy Spawning Channel in yellow, outlined beside the existing Alvin Patterson Channel in green, which was created by DFO in the 1990s. The entire length of the new Sθqəy Channel was planted this month over a period of 7 days. A side channel, in blue, connects the Sθqəy Channel to the hatchery creek wetland, allowing coho and sockeye access until the main water intakes are opened fully in 2022.
Central planting terrace with team members hard at work, new channel in foreground.
11
12
The Runner • October 2021
Eulachon Assessment Survey Ashlee Prevost, Staff Biologist Eulachon pre-season planning is quickly approaching
may provide more biological information pertaining
pertaining to the work that we conducted in Feb
of their life history, an aspect that is currently data
and the LFFA have a few exciting eulachon updates to May 2021. The annual eulachon report,
highlighting the results and analysis from the 2021
to eulachon, which can help with the understanding deficient.
season, will be ready in October. Overall, we
Lastly, we conducted a new pilot survey, called the
could have returned in 2021 and summarized new
deploying our sonar, the ARIS Explorer 1800 along
estimated in-season abundance of eulachon that components in our report. Specifically, we
enumerated the number of sexes returning, some of which were checked for presence/absence of teeth, which can provide more information on eulachon spawning within the river.
This year EAS surveys were conducted from March 8th to May 9th, we performed these surveys
without pause throughout the entire season and set the net 31 times. Overall, we processed 2492 fish, 31% of which were released. A total of 241
bio-samples were retained and most fish processed
Eulachon Hydro-Acoustic Survey (EHS). This entailed the bank near our New Westminster index site for five days from the end of April to early May. We
initiated this program to determine if eulachon can be identified on our ARIS and to develop a new
field program that will serve as a comparison to our annual EAS program. During our surveys we
successfully collected sonar footage of eulachon on all deployment days and will be developing the
program further, as well as the comparison analysis of the EAS and EHS to obtain a more robust estimate of annual abundance.
were sexed (728M, 698F). The overall estimated
We are looking forward to conducting our surveys
encouraging for eulachon as it is one of the
continue the surveys as well as EHS program.
abundance was 240 tons of fish, which is
strongest returns that we have estimated in recent
in early 2022 as we have acquired funding to
years (2019, was 116t and 2020 was 118t), apart from 2018.
In the report, we also summarized results from our exploratory surveys that were conducted for four field days in February. Overall, we caught a total of 75 fish. Furthermore, in 2020, we collected a small number of immature fish during these
surveys that we suspected were females. Similarly,
in 2021, we also caught immature fish during this
earlier period, which indicate that a portion of fish
mature in river. These findings are exciting as they
Swíwə, a culturally significant species, pictured here in a small harvest at Kwantlen First Nation.
Lower Fraser Fisheries Alliance
Climate Adapt Dionne Bunsha, Aboriginal Knowledge Coordinator
New: Selective Fishing Project
The LFFA Habitat Restoration and Climate
Aidan Fisher, Staff Biologist
last fiscal. And now, we are working with
Starting in 2021/2022 LFFA will be working with Lower Fraser First Nations communities to plan and develop selective fisheries.
Adaptation Strategy report was completed each of the Watershed Working Groups to discuss how we can implement the strategy.
We just finished the first round of meetings where we discuss the list of projects from the report and how we can start working on implementing potential projects.
We will have two more rounds of meetings during this fiscal.
The Climate Adapt website has also been updated so that Nations can view their
Aboriginal Knowledge interview data along
side the scientific data for this project. The website is: https://climateadapt.lffamaps.ca We are also planning to bring together all Lower Fraser Nations doing Guardian and stewardship work and look forward to hearing your advice on this.
Look forward to seeing you at the upcoming meetings.
This year will focus on background research and administration to develop selective fishing plans, with the goal of implementing these fisheries in the 2022 and 2023 fishing seasons. The high-level goals for the project are to expand fishing access for FSC and EO fisheries throughout the Lower Fraser via selective methods. In some cases, we will be looking to develop new and innovative fishing technologies and in other cases it will be reviving historic fishing methods with modern technology. Each watershed (Pitt, Stave, Harrison, Chilliwack) will have its own fishing plan developed with direct engagement with the local First Nation band and community members. This project is still very much in development, expect to see and hear much more about this over the 2021 winter. LFFA’s newest staff member Caytlyn McFadden will be leading the project and engaging with community fish reps, fishers and interested community members. Please contact Caytlyn McFadden if you want more information (Caytlyn.McFadden@LFFA.ca).
13
14
The Runner • October 2021
Emergency Planning Secretariat Gillian Fuss and Maggie Mazurkewich, EPS Staff Over the last quarter, the Emergency Planning Secretariat (EPS) has continued to support and coordinate engagements with
lower Fraser First Nations to contribute to the development of
the Lower Mainland Flood Management Strategy (LMFMS) being written by the Fraser Basin Council (FBC).
FBC released Drafts 1 and 2 of the LMFMS earlier this year. EPS subsequently requested that FBC pause any further drafting of the strategy until some significant concerns over process have
been resolved with communities. As of now, FBC has indicated that it will proceed on schedule, with a final draft of the strategy set to be completed in the spring of 2022 – in response to this, EPS
Leadership Committee members formally withdraw from the FBC LMFMS Leadership Committee.
EPS staff will continue to participate in the FBC process and communicate back to communities and EPS leadership.
In other news, this fall EPS wrapped up the Mainland Coast Salish Flood Risk Assessment project, created to help
communities to understand how the most recent flooding could
impact community infrastructure. We held a regional meeting to discuss our general findings and determine next steps and are
now working on a high-level report to the Province and Federal governments on community flood risk.
The Indigenous Advisory Monitoring Committee has again made $50,000 in funding available for communities to grow their
emergency management programs. In addition to this, EPS is seeking funding to create a regional coordinated emergency planning and response training and exercise program. We encourage communities to apply for IAMC funding for
equipment or supplies and also to consider setting aside funding for community members and staff to participate in a regional training program, should EPS offer one in the near future.
EPS continues to co-host the Living Dike roundtable and Technical Working
Group with West Coast Environmental
Law. This pilot aims to enhance coastal marsh ecosystems at risk from “coastal squeeze” – a form of habitat
destruction where intertidal areas are
pinched between rising sea levels and
permanent flooding infrastructure – and serves as a nature-based solution to wave attenuation for flooding risk reduction. These meetings bring
interjurisdictional partners together to navigate the complex regulatory process.
In a similar vein, EPS has been
coordinating regular workshops that provide First Nation communities a
platform to liaise with project partners on the national Canadian Safety and
Security Program. This 3-year program
will study and monitor the effectiveness of nature-based solutions, such as the Living Dike pilot, for national design
guides on coastal risk reduction and
resiliency. Researchers are working with communities to monitor and collect
field site data to feed into modelling and lab simulations and are learning how to effectively use Indigenous
Knowledge to guide project and policy development.
Lower Fraser Fisheries Alliance
Bank Stabilization Project Ashlee Prevost, Staff Biologist The LFFA, in partnership with Sema:th First
over 900 ARIS files. We have also
survey that aims to understand the impact of
occur during Semath Food, Social and
Nation, is conducting an ARIS hydro-acoustic
bank stabilization initiatives along the Matsqui dike, a traditional fishing site of the Semath FN. Given the erosion of the bank due to high flows and back eddies, the City of
Abbotsford and Province will be constructing spurs for stabilization.
developed targeted ARIS Surveys that ceremonial fisheries (FSC) to address
questions pertaining to fishing. So far, we have deployed the ARIS for three
weekends that consisted of consecutive 24-hour surveys during the FSC fisheries.
Previous bank stabilization work in this area
For
sites. To avoid this issue, the LFFA are
thousand of fish (as of Sept 22nd, 21),
has effectively destroyed traditional fishing deploying our ARIS sonar to collect
information on fish species within the area.
We hope to answer questions pertaining to the impact of construction and will be
surveying the area before, during and after construction.
We are currently still in the “before” phase
of construction and have been collecting field data since 2020, with a brief pause from
March to June 2021. The data collected in 2020, is being formally analyzed by Milne Technologies, an expert organization that
deals with sonar data analysis. The results for this work will be available in late 2021.
Overall, during our 2020 surveys we have
collected 21 days of footage (400 ARIS files) and observed serval salmonid species, white sturgeon, and small resident fish species to date.
In 2021, we hired two field technicians to
conduct the fieldwork – they have acquired
all our surveys in each site,
we have manually counted several
many of which have been salmonid
species and sturgeon. We will continue to conduct our weekly monitoring and targeted monitoring during FSC
fisheries and would like to compare this year’s data that of 2020 to
develop a baseline understanding of
relative abundance of species during this “before” phase of construction.
15