Arctic marine coasts are data deficient and facing increasing stressors brought on by climate change. For the Ulukhaktok (NT) Fish Telemetry Project (2018-2022), we used a holistic community-based approach founded on Inuit Knowledge to enhance our understanding of fish movements and individual specialization in the western Canadian Arctic. Research questions and methodology were refined through community and working group meetings to address recent unusual observations on the marine coast. Fish were tracked over several years along 300km of marine coastline and in inland lakes using acoustic telemetry. Potential drivers of variation were measured using passive oceanographic loggers, sonar and video habitat surveys, stable isotope analysis of blood to estimate trophic shifts, and geometric morphometric analysis to estimate distinct morphologies. We focussed on two widely abundant species with contrasting life histories, anadromous Arctic char (Ikalukpik / Salvelinus alpinus) that occur seasonally on Arctic marine coasts and Greenland cod (Uugaq / Gadus ogac) that are present year-round. Through the co-development process, insights gained have more direct implications for sustainable subsistence harvest, adaptive management, and areas of interest for marine protection.

The Natural Resources & Environmental Studies Institute (NRESi) at UNBC hosts a weekly lecture series at the Prince George campus. Anyone from the university or wider community with interest in the topic area is welcome to attend. Presentations are also made available to remote participants through Zoom Webinar. Go to http://www.unbc.ca/nres-institute/colloquium-webcasts to view the presentation remotely.

Past NRESi colloquium presentations and special lectures can be viewed on our video archive, available here.