Fisheries – Cheri Frocklage

Fisheries

Director Report

Cheri Frocklage

Fisheries Director With a busy and productive field season drawing to a close, I want to share a few highlights from the Fisheries Department.

Our field season commenced in April, and on October 29th, the Coho Assessment Project field staff mobilized from the Lower Stikine River Camp by boat with Myles Sampson. This will conclude the final project to be delivered this year. Yes, they went by boat. Sounds cold, doesn’t it? Our technicians are tough. It was a very busy season and I express my sincere gratitude to the Tahltan Central Government (TCG) Fisheries Department staff for their ongoing dedication and commitment to the Stikine River salmon resources and the monitoring and stock assessment projects we conduct. For detailed information on 2022 catches and escapements, and project activities, please watch for the upcoming Fish & Wildlife Newsletter.

We were very fortunate to have the Multimedia Director, Adam Amir, join us on site for four days of filming during the Tahltan Lake sockeye egg take. It was a pleasure to have him at the lake with the crew and we are looking forward to seeing what he captured from the department’s activities to share with our membership. Watch for the video release soon. We look forward to many more collaborations with Adam.

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation found me sitting in the Museum of Anthropology attending Tahltan Stewardship Initiative (TSI) meeting sessions with other TCG Directors. We were provided a tour of the museum, and I was humbled to walk through the displays on a day of such magnitude and significance to me as a Tahltan First Nation member.

To see the Tahltan artifacts contained within, brought tears to my eyes. Until then, I had only seen these beautiful, historic items in photographs. I had my ancestors in my heart and in my mind as we walked through. It was a spiritual experience, and a solid reminder of why I have chosen this important work.

I attended the TCG Strategic Planning Sessions in Vancouver along with my fellow directors and presented the Fisheries Department strategic goals to the new Board of Directors and Leadership. It was truly an honour to sit in the presence of the Board over the course of the meeting and to strengthen the growing relationships with all the TCG Department Directors and Leadership. I am excited for the work and years ahead to accomplish these goals.