Kitwanga River Salmon Smolt Assessments - Annual Reports

In 1999, Gitanyow Fisheries Authority (GFA) initiated a Kitwanga sockeye-rebuilding program to conserve, protect and recover the stock. One of the highest rebuilding priorities for the Kitwanga Sockeye Salmon Recovery Plan (KSRP), which was initiated in 2006, was to continue monitoring the yearly health and abundance of Kitwanga sockeye salmon smolts emigrating from Gitanyow Lake. From 2000 to 2007, GFA experimented with different weir and trap designs in an effort to accurately enumerate Kitwanga sockeye smolts on a yearly basis. For the most part, these trap designs were deemed unusable on the Kitwanga River because they were often rendered inoperable during high water when many of the smolts migrated out of Gitanyow Lake. In 2007 and 2008, the GFA were successful in acquiring funding to construct a permanent smolt fence on the Kitwanga River below Gitanyow Lake. The fence was named the Kitwanga River Smolt Enumeration Facility (KsF) and was used annually to enumerate sockeye salmon smolts, coho salmon smolts and other resident trout and char species.