Gwa Archives
Salmon Population Assessments
The Skeena Watershed is the second largest watershed in British Columbia (54,432 km2).
The Skeena Watershed supports five salmon species that are comprised of sockeye (Oncorhynchus nerka), pink (O.gorbuscha), chum (O. keta), Chinook (O. tshawytscha), and coho (O. kitsch). Trout and char presence includes steelhead/rainbow (O. mykiss) trout and cutthroat trout, Dolly Varden, bull trout, and lake trout. There are about 26 non-salmon/trout fish species in the Skeena (Gottesfeld et al. 2007).
Each year the GWA continues the collection of escapement data for coho and sockeye within the Gitksan traditional territories. Incidental numbers are reported for chum and Chinook. Main index sites in our surveys are on the following watersheds:
Kispiox River Watershed including the Swan/Stephens System
Slamgeesh Watershed
MacDonnell Lake Watershed (Upper Zymoetz)
Damdochax Watershed (Nass)
Survey methods used include: stream walk, adult counting weir and low level aerial surveys.