DENINU KUE FIRST NATION

Resource Management Department – Aquatics Division

GRASS ROOTS PARTNERSHIPS

Deninu Kue First Nation (DKFN) partners:

Akaitcho Territory Government (ATG)

Akaitcho Aquatics Monitoring Program (AAMP)

Akaitcho ASETS,

Fort Resolution Metis Council (FRMC)

Hamlet of Fort Resolution

Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) Water Resources Division

Dr. Xinhua Zhu, Department of Fisheries and Oceans

Dr. Marlene Evans, Environment and Climate Change Canada

Dr. Hayley Hung, Environment and Climate Change Canada

Dr. Brenda Parlee, University of Alberta

Monitoring programs community concerns:

Is the fish healthy to eat?

Is the water safe to drink?

Is the fisheries sustainable for generations?

LITTLE BUFFALO RIVER ANGLER SURVEYOR: FISH

DKFN LBRS Monitor:

Hands out and collects Sport fishermen surveys: May

to September

Survey records are scanned into a pdf files and

entered into excel spreadsheets.

Information includes where the fishermen live,

what species they caught and how many

Fish monitoring

Collects dorsal (back) fin from pickerel for aging

Data (fish weight and length) entered into Excel

spreadsheets

Dorsal (back) fin were sent to DFO in Hay River

LITTLE BUFFALO RIVER: WATER

DKFN LBRS Monitor:

Little Buffalo River weekly water quality monitoring

With a YSI, basic features such as temperature and

conductivity

Water samples for additional analyses

Ramona Fordy has been doing this work for DKFN since it

began in 2004

She is reliable with great traditional knowledge of the land

and water

Ramona is the 2nd generation monitor to assist in water

and fish monitoring.

RESOLUTION BAY AND SLAVE RIVER

DKFN LBRS has participated season routine trips

with Government of the NWT Water Resources

Division’s community based water monitoring

program

Samples are taken from three separate locations

identified by local community members, Big

Eddy on the Slave River, the Mouth of the Slave

River and Resolution Bay

DKFN AQUATICS COORDINATOR TRAINEE (DKFN ACT)

The ACT is responsible for a variety of tasks that are water related.

DKFN has trained Elizabeth Giroux, Nicole Mckay and Kathleen Fordy 3rd

Generation Monitor, all grade 12 students from Fort Resolution to:

conduct basic water sampling

entering of data and error check

analyze and graph

Acknowledgements:

Rosy Bjornson, DKFN Resource Management Coordinator, has been a

driving force behind the training for all aspects of logistical planning and

coordinating, proposal writing, networking, reporting and basic office

duties

DKFN has utilized ASETS and Aboriginal Fisheries Strategy (AFS) funding

for this position.

DKFN ACT AND THE WATER TREATMENT

PLANT In order to address

questions about the

drinking water supply from

Resolution Bay, the

Aquatics Coordinator

Trainee has been

conducting studies of the

untreated water that comes

into the plant.

WATER TREATMENT PLANT STUDIES

The Aquatic Coordinator Trainee:

copies the water treatment plant’s intake raw data and enters it

into the DKFN data base

This allows for investigations of changing conditions in

Resolution Bay for generations to come

collects water samples for chlorophyll analyses weekly.

Samples are analyzed in Dr. Marlene Evans’s Lab in

Saskatoon

In summer, the water has more turbidity and takes longer to

process through the filter.

Conducted a special study of water released from the treatment

plant into Resolution Bay

Dr. Marlene Evans, Environment and Climate Change Canada, has

been a critical instructor for this position at the First Nation.

DKFN ACT: RESOLUTION BAY

DKFN Chief and Council have selected two locations: the back bay

area of the Great Slave Lake and the mouth of Little Buffalo River,

where routine collections of water samples are taken for monitoring

trends of nutrients and total metals. The trip records and incident

reports are archived;

At the Little Buffalo River, we also collect data of water quality,

weather, trip and incident reporting.

All the raw data are scanned and then entered onto an excel

spreadsheets in the DKFN Database.

DKFN ACT AIR MONITORING FOR MERCURY AND OTHER CHEMICALS

DKFN ACT is also responsible for collecting

passive air samples at the location of Mission

Island

This is done every three months for the puff disk

sampler (looks like a flying saucer) and once a

year for the XAD-resin sampler)

Samples are sent to Toronto

A poster of the initial results has been sent to the

community (see upper right)

This work is done in collaboration with Dr. Hayley

Hung, Environment and Climate Change Canada

and Northern Contaminants Program.

INTEGRATED ECOMONITORING AND ASSESSMENT

OF CUMULATIVE IMPACTS ON GREAT SLAVE LAKE

FISHERIES ECOSYSTEMS, 2014-2017

DKFN Aquatics Division also works with Dr. Xinhua Zhu, Department of

Fisheries and Oceans on the multiple-year research projects, 2012-2017

provided coordination of logistical support; recruiting skilled workers to

assist in daily operations, e.g., net setting and pulling, fish sampling, camp

maintenance and boat transportation;

AFS and ARROM Funding is utilized for DKFN’s participation

These studies will help better manage the commercial and domestic fisheries.

ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE CANADA

AND NORTHERN CONTAMINANTS PROGRAM

DKFN has supported Dr. Marlene Evans’ research project

titled “Spatial and long-term trends in persistent organic

contaminants and metals in lake trout and burbot from the

Northwest Territories”

Each year, DKFN hires a member Gabe Lafferty (1st

generation monitor) to go out on the lake and set a net,

collect burbot and pike and submit those fish to Marlene’s

lab in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan for processing.

Note that Gabe has been collecting fish for this project for

over 20 years.

GENETIC ASSESSMENT OF INCONNU IN GREAT

SLAVE LAKE

Inconnu are a highly valued fish by community

members and sports fishermen

In collaboration with Drs. Yamin Janjua and Ross

Tallman, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, DKFN has

participated in,

Traditional knowledge surveys specific for

inconnu;

Assisted in field sample collection of Inconnu

on the Taltson River

TRACKING CHANGES

In collaboration with Dr.

Brenda Parlee, University of

Alberta and Akaitcho

Aquatics Monitoring

Program,

To identify key indicators

with Elders and Youth

To track the changes in

the environment

GAPS

DKFN has identified gaps such as;

Communication between industry, government,

scientists, researchers and traditional knowledge holders

needs to be better supported by all partners;

Youth need to be more involved with workshops that

include the elders.

ACHIEVEMENTS

Integration of Traditional Knowledge

DKFN had identified areas of concern;

Trained youth and land users have

been working with scientists and

researchers to conduct various types

of sampling and monitoring field

surveys;

We have created a baseline of

dataset for the traditional area of

DKFN;

We have built up a network system

with various partners.

QUESTIONS?

On behalf of the Chief and Council of Deninu Kue First

Nation, I would be pleased to share DKFN’s efforts and

achievements with you and address questions

MARSI CHO!