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If you have any questions on the information presented, or require additional report data or attachments, please contact the Report Contact
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The goal of this project is to investigate the spatial ecology of sub-adult and adult Arctic grayling and their interactions with bull trout in the Parsnip River mainstem and tributaries, a core area of Arctic grayling populations in the Williston Reservoir Watershed.
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Author: Martins, E., B. O'Conner, M. Auger-Methe, M. Power, D. Patterson, M. Shrimpton, S. Cooke
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Old Reference Number: PEA-F19-F-2593
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Old Reference System: FWCP Fish Wildlife Compensation Program Peace
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Date Published: May 2019
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Report ID: 57723
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Audience: Government and Public
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Flooding of the Upper Peace after construction of the W.A.C. Bennett Dam in 1967 resulted in a considerable loss of riverine habitat to Arctic grayling. The decrease in available habitat, alteration of natural hydrology and evidence of drastic reductions in population size caused great concern for the sustainability of Arctic grayling (Thymallus arcticus) populations in the Williston Reservoir Watershed. The recent review by Stamford et al. (2017) and monitoring framework by Hagen and Stamford (2017) highlighted a number of critical information gaps related to the spatial ecology of Arctic grayling such as: (1) the unknown distribution of Arctic grayling within the streams of the different core areas (sensu Stamford et al. 2017); and (2) the lack of understanding of Arctic grayling migrations. Furthermore, its unknown whether populations of bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) are limiting the abundance of Arctic grayling and their spatial distribution.
The goal of this project is to investigate the spatial ecology of sub-adult and adult Arctic grayling and their interactions with bull trout in the Parsnip River mainstem and tributaries, a core area of Arctic grayling populations in the Williston Reservoir Watershed.
The information gathered in this study will fill in data gaps that were identified as moderate and high immediacy for the Parsnip core area (data gaps 5.1.3a-i in Table 6 of Stamford et al. 2017) and will also be relevant to other core areas in the Williston Reservoir Watershed (2.3.1b-c and 2.3.5 in Table 1 of Stamford et al. 2017). Therefore, the outcomes of this study will primarily address the Priority Actions 1b-3 and 1b-4 of the Streams Action Plan (FWCP 2014). However, given that the study will collect data on bull trout, it will also contribute information to address Priority Actions 1c-3 and 1c-4 of the Streams Action Plan (FWCP 2014).
This report refers to project activities in Year 1 of 4. The methods used to address the study objectives include: acoustic telemetry, capture-recapture, temperature data logging, stable isotope analysis and spatial modeling. Arctic grayling and bull trout were captured by angling. Captured fish were tagged (acoustic transmitters, and/or PIT [Passive Integrated Transponder] and anchor tags), sampled for dorsal fin tissue (stable isotope analysis), and released. Fish tagged with acoustic transmitters have been continuously monitored by an array of acoustic receivers deployed throughout the Parsnip River watershed and in the Pack River. A small subset of the captured fish was sacrificed for muscle tissue sampling to determine the relationship between muscle and fin tissue isotope signatures. Other fish caught by angling and trapping (beach seine) were also sacrificed for stable isotope analysis. Data loggers were deployed to monitor air and water temperature throughout the Parsnip watershed.
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Report Type
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Fish and Aquatic Habitat Information |
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Subject
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Fish Species - Arctic Grayling - Thymallus arcticus |
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Fish Species - Bull Trout - Salvelinus confluentus |
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Region - Peace |
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Fish and Fish Habitat - Conservation Biology |
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Fish and Fish Habitat - Research |
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Fish and Fish Habitat - Stock Assessment |
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Fish and Fish Habitat - Telemetry |
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