Tahltan Lake Sockeye Egg Collection, British Columbia

Tahltan Lake is located on the Tahltan River, a tributary of the Stikine River in northwestern British Columbia. Tahltan Lake is accessible only by air. It is approximately 25 and 100 air km from Telegraph Creek and Dease Lake respectively, and 125 air km from Snettisham, Alaska. Tahltan Lake Sockeye migrate up the Stikine River encountering the lower river Canadian commercial fishery around mid to late June and enter Tahltan Lake from mid July to early September. Historic return information and reporting is available from the Scientific Authority.

Tahltan Lake Sockeye are part of a joint enhancement program on Transboundary rivers involving Canada and the United States in which an egg take is conducted to increase fisheries harvest abundance. The Transboundary Rivers Annex of the Pacific Salmon Treaty outlines the enhancement objectives for the Stikine River.

The Tahltan Lake enhancement project has been completed annually since 1989. The enhancement project includes the collection of Sockeye Salmon brood stock from Tahltan Lake for egg takes and transfer of those eggs to Snettisham Hatchery in Juneau, Alaska for incubation.

Contract Dates

The Contract dates are as follows: August 1, 2015 through to July 31, 2016, with options to renew for 2 additional 1 year periods at the sole discretion of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO).

Option periods if exercised will be August 1, 2016 through to July 31, 2017 and August 1, 2017 through to July 31, 2018.

Objectives of the Requirement

Beginning in summer 2015, the Contractor is to collect eggs and milt from the Tahltan Lake Sockeye stock in B.C., fertilize on site, and transport the water hardened eggs to the Port Snettisham Hatchery in Alaska. The annual egg take target amount is 6 million eggs or a maximum of 30 percent of the Tahltan Lake sockeye spawning escapement, whichever is less. Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) will assess annual salmon run size and determine the egg take target annually.

DFO’s Tahltan Lake camp facilities and egg take equipment are to be used for the contract. A description of the facilities and equipment is found below.

The contractor will be responsible for mobilization of the worksite, planning and implementing the egg takes and transportation to Snettisham Hatchery, providing on site supervision, egg take crew members, camp cook, and any other logistical support required. Specific method requirements are identified in following sections.

The contract is carried out in the Iskut and Tahltan First Nations traditional territory. In previous contract years, local fisheries technicians have been employed as the egg take crew.

DFO employees will be on site, periodically participating in the project, conducting project inspections/audits, or involved in other work at the discretion of the Scientific Authority.