Past, present and future of fishery management on one of the world's last remaining pristine great lakes: Great Bear Lake, Northwest Territories, Canada

November 9, 2012 - A. M. Muir ΓÇó D. M. Leonard ΓÇó C. C. Krueger

Journal or Book Title: Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries

Keywords: Sahtudene; Aboriginal; Recreational fishery; Sport fishery; Subsistence fishery; Catch-and-release; Co-management; Lake trout

Volume/Issue: 23

Page Number(s): 293-315

Year Published: 2012

Great Bear Lake, Northwest Territories, Canada supports important sport and aboriginal-subsistence fisheries and is among the last remaining pristine great lakes of the world. The lake’s unique ecology is characterized by a harsh subarctic climate, low productivity and species diversity, and high intraspecific diversity of lake trout. These aspects in combination with geographical remoteness present special challenges to the management of two exceptionally different fisheries. The history of its management has not been well documented or reviewed; therefore, our objectives in this paper were to summarize the history and status of Great Bear Lake’s fisheries and their management, and to identify gaps in knowledge, future challenges, and actions required to meet those challenges. Prior to 1970, management goals for the lake had not been established formally, and harvest numbers and biological characteristics of fish were unknown. To reduce data gaps, creel surveys, gillnet assessments, fish tagging, and subsistence monitoring were implemented. During the 1980s, Canada established the management goal of conserving a high quality sport fishery, while protecting aboriginal access to the subsistence fishery. On the basis of assessment data, lodge harvest quotas, lodge guest capacity limits, individual angler harvest limits, and angler licensing were among the management actions taken to achieve that goal. Since 2005, decision making has been guided by the ‘‘water heart,’’ a management plan for Great Bear Lake. Management has since evolved into a complex co-management system among aboriginal, territorial, and federal governments. Changes in regulations, sport trophy and tourism industries, subsistence resource use, and social and cultural norms and practices contributed to changes in the Great Bear Lake fishery and its management. In the future, anthropogenic and climate change are the two main challenges facing co-management of the lake’s resources. We recommend the adoption of an ecosystem </span

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Tag List
  • aboriginal,
  • catch-and-release,
  • center for systems integration and sustainability,
  • co-management,
  • lake trout,
  • recreational fishery,
  • sahtudene,
  • sport fishery,
  • subsistence fishery
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