Regions: Qikiqtaaluk Region
Tags: contaminants, mercury, water quality, metal contamination
| Principal Investigator: | Evans, Marlene S. (52) |
| Licence Number: | 17363 |
| Organization: | Environment and Climate Change Canada |
| Licensed Year(s): |
2023
2021
2020
|
| Issued: | Oct 18, 2023 |
| Project Team: | Ed Reeves |
Objective(s): To gain a better understanding of whether or not contaminant levels are changing in fish (lake trout and cisco) in Great Bear Lake.
Project Description: This licence has been issued for the scientific research application No. 5696. This main objective of this research project is to gain a better understanding of whether or not contaminant levels are changing in fish (lake trout and cisco) in Great Bear Lake. The research team is particularly interested in observing mercury presence. This study complements ongoing fish population studies being conducted by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans on Great Bear Lake and contributes to Deline's research and monitoring plan objectives. Twenty (20) whole lake trout and twenty (20) whole cisco of a range of sizes are required to be sampled from Great Bear Lake. The fish will be frozen immediately after capture and shipped to Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) Saskatoon. The fish will then be forwarded to ECCC-Burlington for processing. Fish length, weight, age, and gender are determined. A subsample of fish taken from the lakes is removed and shipped to the PI for mercury testing and other potential analysis. Remaining carcasses are homogenized and chemical analyses (PBDEs, metals, including mercury) and carbon and nitrogen isotopes performed on the whole body. Correction factors have been developed for mercury measurements in the whole body, which is different from the subsample. Arrangements will be made by the local Renewable Resource Council (RRC) to have community members collect the fish for the research team. The team expects that community members will provide the fish from their normal subsistence catch. Coolers will be shipped to the RRC for return shipment of the frozen fish. As fish are analyzed, updated posters of findings are made available to Deline. Marlene recently wrote a research paper about lake trout in Great Bear Lake, which was published in the NWT Environmental Research Bulletin along with information shared with Deline. Marlene is in the process of summarizing data on mercury in fish for Sahtu lakes, including Great Bear Lake, and expects to visit communities this fiscal year to go over study results. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from: September 15 - December 31, 2023
