Fisheries Manager’s Message – Kerry Carlick

FISHERIES

Manager’s Message

Kerry Carlick

Fisheries Manager

What a year 2021 was for the Fisheries Department! It was a whirlwind of a season and our most active one to date with a total of 26 projects. This was the busiest that I have been as a manager.

I have taken on a lot more responsibility with staffing, logistics, project planning, budgeting, payroll and other tasks. It is all worth it to see the growth within our team.

This year I will share two of my proudest accomplishments:

1. Facilitating eleven staff receiving a professional

Biological Technician designation upon their successful completion of a ten-day course through

Natural Resources Training Group. This training, combined with all their traditional knowledge and experience, will make our department even more successful out in the field and wherever they may conduct their work.

2. Starting of the Steelhead Study. Ever since starting as the Fisheries Manager in 2017,

I wanted to know more about the Steelhead in the Tahltan River as so little was known about them. In talking with Pete Etherton, a biologist and retired Department of Fisheries and Oceans

Canada (DFO) Manager, he shared the same interest. So, through those conversations, we came up with a plan to do a Steelhead Study.

To see it starting to take shape is amazing.

Since joining the Tahltan Central Government (TCG), the Fisheries Department has seen a lot of growth and the development of many cool projects and initiatives that will show benefits to our fisheries resources. There is still so much more that we want to do. Through adding to our team, we will increase the capacity needed to grow, taking more of a management role in our fisheries resources.

It is awesome to see our department evolve from just working alongside DFO on long-term projects, to doing more of our own work with other species, such as Steelhead for instance, and more of our own habitat projects on other river systems.

The use of new technology, such as drones and sonar equipment in our work adds to excitement for the future with our growing fisheries team.

Opposite + Right: Kerry Carlick and Kyle Inkster collecting Chinook DNA samples, July 31.