Submitter: Richard Holmes M.Sc. R.P.Bio

Community: Likely

Date Submitted: November 8, 2023

Summary:

Annual funding should be provided for the Horsefly sockeye spawning channel, which could be an integral part of the enhancement of the Quesnel and Horsefly watersheds. The federal government should also consider providing funds to accommodate a Chair in Freshwater Fisheries Research at the University of Northern British Columbia and the Dr. Max Blouw Quesnel River Research Centre. The Chair could use these institutions’ existing resources and the local watershed’s broad sockeye ecosystem to conduct important research on Fraser River sockeye.

Submission:

The Quesnel/Horsefly River watersheds are an extremely important contributor to the Fraser River sockeye stocks. The DFO manages a sockeye spawning channel in the village of Horsefly yet do not have A based funding for this facility. This facility can be an integral part to the enhancement of sockeye salmon in this watershed and as such, committed funding on an annual basis should be provided.



Additionally, the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) manages a research station, the Dr. Max Blouw Quesnel River Research Centre (QRRC) at the outlet of Quesnel Lake. This former DFO salmon hatchery hosts aquatic and land based researchers from not only UNBC, but from around the world. The federal government should consider providing funds to accommodate a Chair in Freshwater Fisheries Research at the University and the QRRC to compliment the ongoing research undertaken by UNBC’s Chairs in Landscape Ecology and their Canada Research Chairs. There is a very important need for complimentary fisheries research in this highly productive watershed and this proposed Chair could undertake sockeye research in the Quesnel, Horsefly, Cariboo Rivers and in Quesnel Lake. There is an existing facility (QRRC) designed by DFO that could be utilized for this very purpose. The facility costs are currently carried by the UNBC and a Chair in Freshwater Fisheries Research could have the use of a facility and a broad sockeye ecosystem with which to undertake their research of Fraser River sockeye.