Regions: Sahtu Settlement Area
Tags: contaminants, mercury, fish sampling, burbot, organic contaminants
| Principal Investigator: | Stern, Gary (7) |
| Licence Number: | 16925 |
| Organization: | University of Manitoba |
| Licensed Year(s): |
2022
2021
|
| Issued: | Dec 21, 2021 |
| Project Team: | Paloma Carvalho, Liisa Jantunen, Tom Harner, Chris Pereira |
Objective(s): To determine 2020, 2021 and 2022 burbot contaminant concentrations.
Project Description: This licence has been issued for the scientific research application No.5111. The short-term goals are to determine if 2020, 2021 and 2022 burbot contaminant concentrations: a) remain below Health Canada guidelines (i.e. <0.5 ppm mercury per gram fish). The research team will provide annual data to NWT Heath and Social Services for evaluation; b) are associated with dietary indicators, i.e. stable isotope ratio data to determine the influence of diet (via stable isotope ratios) on contaminant concentrations in current fish; and c) look for linkages between historical environmental/meteorological ecosystem parameters and burbot contaminant data (for the entire Fort Good Hope burbot data set). The long-term goals for this project are: a) continue to build (increase statistical power) the Fort Good Hope (FGH) burbot data set thereby increasing our ability to detect contaminant changes over time; b) to work with the Fort Good Hope Renewable Resource Committee (FGH RRC) to identify additional priorities for research and/or monitoring, and to establish a robust communication strategy. The research team will ask that the FGH RRC put an announcement out to collect burbot (whole fish). Individual fishermen will be invited to collect burbot. Frozen fish will be shipped to the University of Manitoba for processing (e.g. measuring length and weight, tissue sub-sampling, sexing, aging). Analyses of mercury will be completed. Organic contaminants such as polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides(OCPs) are analyzed every other year. Brominated and fluorinated compounds will be analyzed in the labs. Stable isotope ratios of nitrogen and carbon will be analyzed at the University of Manitoba. Dr. Paloma Carvalho traveled to Fort Good Hope to report upon project results and consult with the Council their priorities within the scope of the project (e.g. research objectives, outreach, training in subsequent years of the project). A Team member from the Department of Health & Social Services (Government of the Northwest Territories) joined the community visit to provide answers and recommendation regarding the consume of burbot based on the data collected so far. We expect to have another in-person visit in the near future (when it is safe to do so) to update results and engage with community members. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022.
