NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Tags: contaminants, fish, metals, burbot, lake trout, northern pike, organic contaminants

Objective(s): To investigate whether contaminant levels are changing in fish in the Northwest Territories with a focus on Great Slave Lake.

Project Description: The purpose of the study is to continue investigating whether contaminant levels are changing in fish in the Northwest Territories with a focus on Great Slave Lake which the research team has been studying since the early 1990s. The plan is to collect lake trout from Great Slave Lake (Hay River area and Lutsel K’e area). The research team also plans to collect burbot from the Lutsel K’e and Fort Resolution areas of Great Slave Lake, and northern pike from the Fort Resolution area of Great Slave Lake. Twenty burbot and 20 northern pike will be collected from the West Basin of Great Slave Lake (near Slave River) by community members from Fort Resolution during their normal subsistence fishing activities (gill net or angling). Twenty lake trout will be collected from the West Basin of Great Slave Lake by the Hay River commercial fishery (gill net). Twenty lake trout and 20 burbot will be collected from the East Arm of Great Slave Lake by community members from Lutsel K’e during their normal subsistence fishing activities (gill net or angling). Community members (chosen by the local Renewable Resource Council) will be hired to collect fish for this study. Communities will be kept informed of the progress of the study. The principal investigator may visit the communities to discuss the study and present results from previous years through reports and possible community visits. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from July 18, 2012 to December 31, 2012.