NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: Sahtu Settlement Area

Tags: contaminants, mercury, fish health, hydrocarbon

Objective(s): To determine the concentrations of PAHs in small-bodied fish in the Norman Wells/Imperial area near nature oil seeps and industrial activities with comparisons to be made with upstream (Tulita area) and downstream (Fort Good Hope) areas and to assess fish health including through the development of new molecular screening tools.

Project Description: This licence has been issued for the scientific research application No.5333. This study will determine the concentrations of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in small-bodied fish in the Norman Wells/Imperial area near nature oil seeps and industrial activities with comparisons to be made with upstream (Tulita area) and downstream (Fort Good Hope) areas. The research team will also assess fish health including through the development of new molecular screening tools. The team will work to develop the framework of a small and large bodied fish monitoring program as is being conducted in the Alberta oil sands area and provide training to Guardians/Monitors to conduct this fish sampling. In 2022-2023 the team expect to be able to conduct field studies of small and large-bodied fish. The team will collect fish during the planned summer fish trip with other fish caught in the fall and winter by community members. The summer field trip will include training of community members in the handling of live-caught large-bodied fish during the autumn/winter harvest and the immediate preservation of tissues for sensitive chemical analyses. Large-bodied fish: The team are aiming for the collection of up to 10 burbot, 10 lake whitefish, 10 northern pike and 10 longnose or white suckers from each area (Fort Good Hope, Norman Wells and Tulita) by community fishers for the summer field trip where training will be provided to community members in fish processing techniques and up to 20 of each species as part of the fall/winter domestic fishery. Should other species such as walleye or inconnu be captured incidentally in the nets, the team will accept them for analyses, but these are not being targeted; Small-bodied (sentinel) fish: The research team will use beach seines to collect fish from a number of locations between Fort Good Hope and Tulita. This is a substantial distance extending over more than 275 km and of varied habitat. The team investigated small-bodied fish at 11-14 locations. The team propose to do the same with approximately 2 sites in the Fort Good Hope area, 2 in the Tulita area and 7-10 in the Norman Wells area where the habitat is more complex with natural and artificial drill islands in the Mackenzie River and natural oil seeps numerous along the river banks. Locations to be sampled will in part be dependent on community input and time available. The team are seeking a balance between locating a species common to the 275 km study area, most likely trout perch but possibly Lake Chub, and in obtaining sufficient biomass for PAH and other chemical determinations. The target is 3 or 4 replicates of forage fish with a target biomass of 40-80 gm (20-40 fish) of the dominant forage fish at a given site. Therefore the team expect to be conducting several beach seine drags at a site and will process fish until the biomass target is obtained. The team also caught arctic lamprey, cisco and some slimy sculpins. The research team have been holding frequent conversations with community members throughout the study including the arrangements for large-bodied fish collections last year. During the August field trip, the team will discuss the rationale for the study and the results to date. The team frequently take part in general Zoom meeting organized by the Sahtu Renewable Resources Board. As results are generated, plain language reports will be prepared. The team expect to present the findings at workshops and conferences and eventually in scientific papers. One and possibly two graduate students are being recruited to the project. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from August 9, 2022 to December 31, 2022