Anishinabek/Ontario Fisheries Resource Centre

A/OFRC Annual General and General Business Meetings

The A/OFRC is conducting its Annual General and General Business Meetings in Ottawa, Ontario this year in conjunction with the American Fisheries Society's Annual Meeting and Conferences.

This year's meeting date is Augsut 18th, 2008.  The Annual General and General Business meetings are attended by the full Board and several staff and are integral to the operations of the Centre.  Each Director brings with him/her a unique perspective on the issues and the environment in which we operate.

Discussions at these meetings will include: 

• Approvals of Directors/Committees for the 2009/10 fiscal year
• Updates to the Board on the current field program
• Updates to the Board on the A/OFRC Capacity Building Initiative
• Financial update/discussions
• Policy items

A/OFRC to Facilitate a Symposium at the Americain Fisheries Society Annual Meeting - Ottawa, ON

The A/OFRC is pleased to announce that our organization is facilitating a symposium entitled “The Changing Role of First Nation/Tribal Communities in Fisheries Management” at the upcoming American Fisheries Society (AFS) Annual Meeting in Ottawa, Ontario.

The AFS Conference runs from August 17 - 21, 2008 and our symposium takes place on Wednesday, August 20^th. 

Our entire staff, our interns and several members of our Board will be attending the AFS conference.  It will be an excellent well attended event and by facilitating a symposium, our Centre is well positioned to receive a lot of attention.

The August 5^th deadline for registration is fast approaching.   For registration information, go to the AFS site.   Information on the conference schedule and program can also be found on their site.

Our Symposium synopsis:

“The Changing Role of First Nation/Tribal Communities in Fisheries Management

Fisheries management and co-management agreements within Aboriginal communities vary greatly throughout Canada and the United States.  There are a number of factors which may contribute to the types of management arrangements or the method of management which is in place in a particular community.  These factors can include the political relationships that exist between the First Nation, or tribal community, and the various levels of government.  Financial, or human resource constraints, and the cultural and subsistence significance of the fisheries resource to a particular community also play a role.  Traditional ecological knowledge is a critical resource in many management regimes and the manner and degree to which this information is incorporated into management initiatives is variable.  Since fisheries management can take a number of forms, the results and the success or failure of a particular arrangement will also be variable.  Our symposium will highlight historical and present day examples of the fisheries management which is present within First Nation or tribal communities.  In addition, presentations which highlight specific fisheries projects that have been undertaken within communities will be a valuable adjunct to our symposium.”

Pic River Sturgeon Telemetry Project Update

A/OFRC Biologist Nikki Commanda and Fisheries Management Trainee Angelina Commanda track lake sturgeon on the Pic River

Perry McLeod-Shabogesic A/OFRC Community Liaison Specialist visited the Pic River Sturgeon Telementry Project recently. During this time they were able to catch a sturgeon large enough to insert a radio tag. All sturgeon tagged so far were tracked moving up and down the river.

Smoothrock Lake Sturgeon Assessment

A/OFRC Fisheries Intern Sarah A. Couchie of Nipissing First Nation holds a lake sturgeon from Smoothrock Lake

A lake sturgeon assessment was conducted on Smoothrock Lake located in Wabakimi Provincial Park. Elders from Namaygoosisagagun First Nation portage into Smoothrock Lake every spring, to catch lake sturgeon for the community. Since this lake is remote, it has not had the development of dams and the creation of commercial fisheries. Consequently, the lake sturgeon population has been only minimally affected and provides an interesting comparison with other more negatively affected populations. The purpose of this study was to obtain biological information from spawning lake sturgeon and an indication of abundance. This is the third consecutive year that lake sturgeon have been assessed in Smoothrock Lake.

Angling/Fishing Diaries & Communal Harvest Surveys

Namaygoosisagagun First Nation is an isolated community north of Lake Nipigon located on Smoothrock Lake

Namaygoosisagagun First Nation community member, Joanne Shapwaykeesic, has been hired to work part time through out the spring and summer to interview community members using the communal harvest survey (designed last year by Cynthia Roy and Maureen Peltier) and to give out angler diaries (designed by Kim Tremblay). This survey will document the locations of the main spawning shoals and the different lakes and seasons that certain fish species are targeted in. Joanne had also given out 65 angler diaries in the spring that she will collect in the fall. Angler surveys have been mailed out to a fishing lodge on Shawanibis Lake for their patrons to fill out for the duration of their stay. The lodge owner was very keen on participating in this study. A report will be prepared summarizing the methodology and findings in the winter after the angler diaries have been collected.

Lake Huron Habitat Assessment

A/OFRC fisheries workers Angelina and Alex Commanda help map the shoreline during habitat project

The Kettle & Stony Point habitat study ran from June 16th to June 26th. The littoral zone and shoreline were characterized by mapping features such as: substrate composition, vegetation, bass nests, spawning shoals, shoreline slope, and existing shoreline development. As well, pictures were taken for every distinctively different section of shoreline. This project is currently on-going. We plan on going back down to complete the final stages at the end of August. We were faced with several unique challenges including, bad weather, rough waters, and an extremely shallow and rocky shoreline. The results of this study will include a series of three maps: shoreline habitat, littoral zone habitat and the shoal contour map.

Guidance from veteran commercial fisherman and A/OFRC board member Brian Monague from Kettle & Stony Point First Nation was much appreciated.

Georgina Island Habitat Assessment

Angelina Commanda, A/OFRC fisheries worker from the Algonquins of Pikwakanagan pulls a seine net to collect small fish along the shoreline of Georgina Island

Shoreline cruises were conducted around Georgina Island on Lake Simcoe during July 7th to the 18th. Collection of information regarding type of substrate and type of vegetation, critical fish habitat, existing in water man-made structures, and shoreline development were collected for the littoral and shoreline habitat. Seine netting at 17 locations (that were sampled in 1997 littoral zone study) will provide a good comparison for changes in fish diversity. This information will be entered into the ArcMap program to generate different value maps. After this data is collected, the A/OFRC can work together with the Chippewas of Georgina Island to create a habitat management plan.

Magnetawan River Walleye Tagging

A/OFRC biologist Maureen Peltier from Wikwemikong Un-ceded Indian Reserve navigates the boat to the trap net site on the Magnetawan River

The Magnetawan project ran simultaneously with the Pickerel River Walleye Tagging project. It ran from April 18 –May 5, 2008 on the Magnetawan River. Eighteen overnight trapnet sets were completed at three different sites. Netting began soon after ice-out and the water temperatures ranged from 4 – 9 degrees Celsius. Fish species captured included: northern pike, yellow perch, white sucker and redhorse sucker. No walleye were captured. Trapnets have not proven effective in this location; alternative techniques will have to be pursued in the future.

Pickerel River Walleye Tagging & ESTN

A/OFRC biologist Kim Tremblay prepares trap nets for the Pickerel River project

This project ran from April 19 –May 7, 2008 on the Pickerel River. Twenty overnight trapnet sets were completed at two different sites. Netting began soon after ice-out and the water temperatures ranged from 5 - 10 degrees Celsius. Fish species captured included: 16 walleye, 159 redhorse suckers, 59 channel catfish, 13 white sucker, 6 northern pike and 4 largemouth bass. Other species included muskellunge, black and white crappie, rock bass, brown bullhead, lake whitefish and bowfin.

Echo Lake Walleye Spring Tagging

A large carp is caught in the trap nets during the Echo Lake project

The Echo Lake Project ran from April 25th to May 8th. In total, 22 nets were set and 21 walleye were caught and tagged. On May 1st workers went out to do a night-time shoal spawning survey. No walleye were spotted. It has also been established that there are walleye spawning on the shoreline around Sand Point. The data will be entered into he FishNet data program. Age samples will also be sent out of the office for analysis.

Water temperatures between 6.7ºC and 8.9ºC trigger the spawn. (Scott and Crossman, 1973) The temperature in Echo Lake ranged from 5ºC at the start of the project and went all the way up to 8ºC during the last couple of days. Spawning temperatures appeared to be appropriate for the spawn, though not as many walleye were caught as was expected. After speaking with some of the locals it appears that over-fishing may be one of the main contributing factors for the drop in the walleye population. The lamprey barrier that was built on the Upper Echo Lake River, has also blocked off a large portion of their spawning sites.