The Yukon River Panel has issued its Call for Proposals for projects seeking grants from the Panel’s Restoration and Enhancement (R&E) Fund in 2019. Details of the Call; the Near-Term Priorities for 2019; Application Forms and supporting materials and guidance may be found here:
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Yukon River Panel Press Release for April 2018
Yukon River Panel Press Release for April 2018. The Yukon River Panel held their 2018 Pre-Season Meeting in Anchorage, Alaska between April 16th and 18th, 2018. Highlights of the meeting may be found in the Press Release. Meeting minutes are under development and will be made available in due course.
The Yukon River Panel 2018 Pre-Season Meeting
The Yukon River Panel will be holding their 2018 Pre-Season Meeting between April 14th and 18th at the Sheraton Hotel, East 6th Avenue in Anchorage, Alaska. Meetings are open to the public on Tuesday April 17th and Wednesday April 18th. Meeting details and the Agenda are available on the Meetings page.
Salmon’s Journey. One River, One Life.
To mark 15 years of international cooperation, a special presentation was made to the Panel by the Yukon Salmon Sub-Committee members of the Panel’s Canadian section. Canadian Panel member Harvey Jessup, presented the Panel with a specially commissioned art work designed, carved and painted by renowned Northern Tutchone and Tlingit artist Eugene Alfred of the Selkirk First Nation from Pelly Crossing, Yukon.
Yukon River Press Release for December 2017
Yukon River Panel Press Release for December 2017. The Yukon River Panel celebrated 15 years of international cooperation when they held their 2017 Post-Season Meeting in Whitehorse, Yukon between December 11th and 13th, 2017. Highlights of the meeting may be found in the Press Release. Meeting minutes are under development and will be made available in due course.
Celebration 15 Years of International Cooperation: The Yukon River Panel 2017 Post-Season Meeting
The Yukon River Panel will be holding their 2017 Post-Season Meeting between Dec 9th and 13th at the Kwanlin Dun Cultural Centre in Whitehorse, Yukon. Meetings are open to the public on Wednesday Dec 12th and Thursday Dec 13th. For those that cannot attend in person, a live webcast is available for the first time. The webcast link is available on the Meetings page.
Restoration and Enhancement Fund 2018: Call for Public Comments
Members of the public are invited to provide their comments on project proposals received by the Yukon River Panel for projects starting in 2018. Project proposal backgrounders for your review and the public review form for your feedback can be found here:
Selkirk Nation Salmon Citizen Outreach and Communications Plan
Selkirk First Nation (SFN) citizens are actively fishing for Yukon River Chinook and are very traditional people. Engagement with the middle Yukon River and the Northern Tutchone First Nations is important and essential to get a full picture of the Canadian side of the Yukon River fishery. SFN leadership would like to work with agencies, other First Nations, and other stakeholders to support conservation and positively contribute to rebuilding Canadian-origin Yukon River and Pelly River stocks. Citizen outreach and communications is where it starts to ensure that the people along the river understand, are actively involved, and part of the solution. There are also advantages in supporting SFN in that they are connected to other actively fishing Northern Tutchone First Nations. The May Gathering is a pivotal annual meeting where the Northern Tutchone Governments discuss fish and wildlife. By SFN presenting strategic and well informed communications materials at the May Gathering serves to inform all middle river Yukon communities.
There is an increased interest by agencies, media and other stakeholders in the approach that SFN is taking to manage their Chinook and Fall Chum fisheries. It takes an incredible amount of effort and resources to keep citizens informed and often the external audiences and their interests are secondary. This SFN Salmon Citizen Outreach and Communications initiative will also create materials for external organizations to understand the SFN approach to salmon management, assessment and restoration.
As discussed youth will also be a target audience with some dedicated outreach and communications. This may take place with a presentation/workshop at Eliza Van Bibber school or dedicated materials. This is mainly a K-12 group. Many young people (teenagers and adults) are involved, helping at family fish camp but do not know the context around management.
Salmon in the Schools
The Salmon in the Schools (SIS) program was piloted in 2017-18, delivered and refined in 2018-19, was
further enhanced for 2019-2020 and programming was reinforced through 2020-2021 and 2021/2022. We propose to sustain and maintain the programming and content in 2022-2023. Rivers to Ridges (R2R) will continue to enhance the classroom, public relations, partnership development, media relations and communications components of the program.
In this next stage of the program, we aim to work with the relevant stories and modules we made in the past, and work with and support Yukon educators and local salmon stewards to provide training with educators so they can learn to facilitate the curriculum we have developed.
While DFO currently supports these technical elements (tanks, egg takes, maintenance, etc.) of the
Stream to Sea program, R2R will offer relevant story-based support to educators and learners by
offering resources, classroom visits across the Yukon, relevant educational support that is outdoor,
land-based, and culturally connected.
The impetus for this project is driven by the concern that the Yukon public is losing their connection to Yukon salmon. In the absence of being able to fish for Canadian-origin Yukon River and Porcupine salmon (recreational and commercial) and drastic conservation (subsistence) amongst First Nations and rural Alaska and Yukon, there are limited opportunities to harvest and make a connection. In the absence of this connection there is a concern that they will no longer value and protect this resource.
Selkirk Nation Fall Chum Utilization Project
Selkirk First Nation (SFN) has had success in the development and implementation of their community based management plan regarding Pelly River Chinook salmon. In 2015 and 2016 SFN actively managed their fishery through establishing recommended allocations per fishing camp, making recommendations around net sizes and the live release of all females. SFN is a very traditional community that has an active and thriving fish camp culture. A recent study from a Minto Mine socio-economic report identified that SFN citizens heavily utilize the seasons by harvesting game throughout the year and approximately 80% still eat mainly country foods.
While SFN continues to fish for Pelly River Chinook salmon they have severely restricted harvest and are looking for other sources of traditional foods to supplement their diets and way of life. SFN harvests freshwater fish such as Grayling, Pike and Whitefish as a substitute for Chinook. Another species that can provide an opportunity for harvest and substitution is Fall Chum.
Fall Chum salmon are often still firm and edible for humans where they pass along the Yukon River near Minto Landing. SFN people have traditionally harvested Fall Chum salmon, however, not to the same extent and for the same purposes as Chinook salmon. Traditionally used for dog food, there are few people within SFN that actively harvest Fall Chum for human consumption. With the severe restrictions on Chinook salmon and the desire to conserve these stocks, SFN would like to explore a Fall Chum harvest and research ways that Chum salmon can become an important source of SFN traditional food.