Tuya Smolt Sampling

For 20 years Tuya Lake has been an important part of the Stikine River sockeye enhancement program having demonstrated a very high productive capacity in terms of rearing potential. However, it has not been monitored with the same consistency and effort as the other Transboundary enhancement sites. If sockeye planting into Tuya Lake is to continue then at least a basic level of consistent monitoring should also be conducted. Without such, a change in the trend of rearing capacity or potential for Tuya Lake would likely to go unnoticed.

The goal of this project is to capture a minimum of 200 out-migrating Tuya Lake sockeye smolts for subsequent biological sampling. Such would include the collection of length, weight, age and otolith data. Upon sample analysis and comparison to previous data, this would provide indicator information regarding Tuya sockeye smolt condition, lake productivity and thermal marked / unmarked ratios.