Significant financial support has been invested in Lakelse sockeye restoration initiatives over the past decade. Lakelse sockeye were enhanced with marked fry releases from 2006 through 2013. Returning adult sockeye will continue to be assessed through a mark-recapture program to evaluate the success of the hatchery program and to estimate the total return to Williams Creek. A small portion of adult sockeye pairs will be transported into the Upper Williams Spawning Channel to seed that habitat with sockeye eggs. Some continued monitoring of habitat projects in the Lakelse watershed are also part of this proposal, including assessment of incubation success and flow monitoring at the upper channel and monitoring Scully Creek adult returns.
Several habitat restoration projects were undertaken to improve spawning conditions for sockeye in the Lakelse Watershed from 2006 to 2014. This assessment program will continue to monitor the effectiveness of those projects, identify maintenance issues and document lessons learned.
From 2006 to 2013, ~300K adipose clipped sockeye fry were released annually into Williams Creek in the Lakelse watershed to increase fry recruitment to the lake. This project ensures the continued assessment of that program. This is achieved through a mark-recapture study to estimate hatchery returns as well as estimate the overall escapement to Williams Creek, the primary sockeye spawning tributary in Lakelse.
