The Resumption of the Babine Lake Watershed Sockeye Smolt Population Estimation Project

The Babine Lake Watershed is the principal sockeye salmon (Oncorhyncus nerka) rearing area for Skeena River sockeye salmon, producing up to 90% of the sockeye returns to the Skeena River over the last few decades. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans has estimated the number of out-migrating Babine Lake Watershed sockeye smolts between 1959 and 2002 at a trap located at the outlet of Nilkitkwa Lake. Since 2002 the lack of information on the Babine Lake Watershed sockeye smolt population abundance has been a problem for Skeena sockeye management. In the spring of 2013, the Lake Babine Nation, in collaboration with the Skeena Fisheries Commission, successfully resumed the Babine Lake Watershed Sockeye Smolt Enumeration Project using the exact same facility, and mark-recapture protocol employed by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in the past.