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Rat River Dolly Varden B Fish Settlement R Creek Area I C Alaska Yukon H Ra M a T a R C D R K Iver Ri E N S Ve Nz Background O R Ie N Y on Ck Ft

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Rat River Dolly Varden B Fish Settlement R Creek Area I C Alaska Yukon H Ra M a T a R C D R K Iver Ri E N S Ve Nz Background O R Ie N Y on Ck Ft Fisheries Pêches and Oceans et Océans DFO Science Central and Arctic Stock Status Report D5-61 (2001) Beaufort Sea Mackenzie er B iv ay R gle hin t S oin k er P Joe C iv R r Yukon e ge iv Firth North a b R r Slope b e Ba v In i uvia w R Inuvik luit o Se l h ttle B s me i nt R F eg io g n i Aklavik Gwich’in Rat River Dolly Varden B Fish Settlement R Creek Area i c Alaska Yukon h Ra M a t a r c d R k iver Ri e N s ve nz Background o r ie n y on Ck Ft. McPherson St P e e Char west of the Mackenzie River were originally r Northwest e l iv Territories thought to represent a distinct form (western Arctic- R R Vittrekwa iv Bering Sea) of Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) er e Riv r (McPhail 1961, McCart 1980). Re-evaluation of M o d u a er Ro Riv taxonomic identity using morphological and genetic n t l r a ai Tr e i iv criteria confirmed that the char found in high n R s ou gradient rivers west of the Mackenzie River are in Carib fact Dolly Varden (Salvelinus malma) (Reist et al. 1997). Arctic char typically occur in river systems to Fig. 1. The lower Mackenzie River and tributaries, the east of the Mackenzie River drainage (e.g., including the Rat River. Hornaday River, Kuujjua River). The Rat River, located 90 km south-west of Inuvik, Summary NT, flows east from headwaters in the Richardson Mountains, and drains into the Husky Channel of the • Anadromous Dolly Varden, known Mackenzie River (Fig. 1). The northern form of Dolly locally as “char”, inhabit the Rat River Varden, described by Reist et al. (1997), inhabit this and its tributaries. system. Spawning and over-wintering areas for the • Rat River Dolly Varden represent one of Dolly Varden are located in spring-fed reaches of Fish Creek, a tributary of the upper Rat River. six known populations of the northern form of Dolly Varden in Canada. The Gwich’in word for Dolly Varden is “Dhik’ii” • The Dolly Varden that inhabit this (GRRB 1997), while the Inuvialuit word is system are genetically distinct and show “qalukpik” (Lowe 1984). The common name "char" a higher degree of genetic diversity than is still used locally and in community-based documents such as the "Rat River Char Fishing populations in neighbouring systems. Plan" (Aklavik RRC et al. 2000) and the community- • Harvesters from two adjacent land claim based "Rat River Char Monitoring" study. groups, the Gwich'in and the Inuvialuit, harvest Dolly Varden from the Rat River This stock was assessed in support of the Rat River stock. Char Fishing Plan (Aklavik RRC et al. 2000), which was prepared with the assistance of the Department • Communities of Aklavik and Fort of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), the Gwich’in McPherson developed and implemented Renewable Resource Board (GRRB), and the their "Rat River Char Fishing Plan" in Fisheries Joint Management Committee (FJMC). 1995. • The Plan currently recommends that the total take of Dolly Varden in the food March 2001 Central and Arctic Rat River Dolly Varden fishery not exceed 2000 fish per year, salmon which usually have black spots or and specifies the number of nets which speckles), and generally, a less-forked tail may be used per household, their size fin. The sea-run form of Dolly Varden are and depth restrictions. silvery with an olive-green to brown colour • Compliance with the Plan has been on the dorsal surface. improving over the past years, with the community harvest during 1999 and In the Canadian Arctic, Dolly Varden occur 2000 being in full compliance with the in several rivers to the west of the recommendations of the Plan. Mackenzie River, including the Yukon • The fishery has been monitored through North Slope during the summer months. a community-based sampling program The Vittrekwa River (upper Peel River since 1989. This program was expanded drainage), Big Fish River, Babbage River, from one site to five sites in 1995 and Firth River and the Rat River all support continues to the present day. separate genetic stocks of this species (Fig. • The average annual harvest between 1). 1990-1999 is equivalent to 13.0% of the 1998 stock size estimate, and 17.7% of Many Dolly Varden stocks exhibit both an the 1996 estimate. anadromous (sea-run) and a residual, non- • There has been no decline in the size of migratory (solely freshwater) form (McCart the Rat River Dolly Varden stock, as 1980). The former is the most commonly estimated over the last decade. observed. They reside in their headwater • During the monitoring program from streams for approximately three years, 1989-2000, CPUE (catch-per-unit- before making their first migration to the effort), length- and age-frequency Beaufort Sea to feed in summer. They distributions, sex and maturity ratios of return in the fall to the freshwater riverine Rat River Dolly Varden have remained environment for over-wintering. At this relatively unchanged. stage they are approximately 120 mm in • The stock appears to be stable and in no length, and are called smolts. immediate danger under the current harvest strategy. The outlook for the They continue to make summer and fall stock is favourable, given careful annual migrations to and from the sea for the monitoring of harvest, periodic remainder of their lives. Spawning in the independent experimental estimation of Rat River drainage occurs in the Fish Creek the size and composition of the stock, tributary from mid-August through to early and continued compliance with the October. community-based fishing Plan. The residual form is comprised almost exclusively of males, which reside in the Species Biology headwater streams for their entire lives. Dolly Varden are closely related to the Although the residual form is common in Arctic char, lake trout (Salvelinus the neighbouring Dolly Varden systems, namaycush) and brook trout (Salvelinus they have yet to be observed in the Rat fontinalis). Externally, Dolly Varden can be River or it’s tributaries (J. Reist, S. distinguished from anadromous Arctic char Sandstrom, pers. comm.). They mature at a because they have a more fusiform body smaller size and younger age than their sea- shape, pupil-sized light spots on the body run counterparts, and “sneak” into the redds with blue halos (as opposed to trout and to spawn with the anadromous pairs. 2 Central and Arctic Rat River Dolly Varden Sea-run males and females from North confined to the valleys and lower slopes, and Slope populations begin to mature at age 4 the rest of the basin area is covered by and 450 mm and 355 mm respectively, tundra vegetation. The bedrock is mainly although most mature at an age of 5-6 years, sandstone, with some limestone in the after having spent two or three summers northern sections. A headwater tributary, feeding at sea. Fish Creek, has many deep pools and is fed by one or more perennial groundwater Upon reaching maturity, they appear to springs. Water temperatures at the spring spawn every second year, although there is discharge sites are in the 4-5 °C range. evidence that a proportion (e.g., 25% in 1998) of them are capable of spawning in The limiting factor for Dolly Varden in the consecutive years (L. Harwood, unpubl. Western Arctic is thought to be the data). This is likely variable from year to availability of accessible spawning and year depending on individual condition, over-wintering habitat. The high gradient prevailing environmental conditions and the rivers in this area freeze completely to the age of the fish (Dutil 1986), and is similar to bottom over much of their length. The the situtation found with Arctic char. Few exception to this is where groundwater Rat River Dolly Varden live past eight years springs discharge, producing sections of the of age, and most do not spawn every year. stream that do not freeze to the bottom in Similar to Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), a winter. This in turn provides over-wintering proportion of the Dolly Varden live to and spawning habitat (known locally as spawn a second time and a small number “fish holes”) for the Dolly Varden. may live long enough to spawn more than Downstream of the discharge area, a large twice. field of layered ice (aufeis) forms as the water becomes cooler, dissipates and finally The Dolly Varden is an opportunistic freezes. During the summer months, most predator in nearshore lagoon and coastal or all of the ice field melts, revealing marine waters, feeding mainly on small shallow flows through a braided, gravel fishes and benthic organisms. Community plain which is used by the current year non- fishermen from Aklavik and Fort spawners in fall before ascending to the McPherson found that aquatic insect over-wintering site (Sandstrom et al. 2001). remains were the most common food items in the stomachs of fish caught returning Spawning and over-wintering sites are from sea (J. Carmichael, pers. comm.). relatively well known and recent studies During the upstream migration, and during have documented that the physical the spawning and over-wintering period, characteristics of similar “fish holes” change sea-run Dolly Varden feed very little (S. over time as sodium, water and silt levels Sandstrom, pers. comm.). fluctuate (Clark et al. 2001). Description of Habitat Specific rearing areas for juvenile Dolly The Rat River straddles the Yukon- Varden are unknown but, based on Northwest Territories border, and flows knowledge from other similar systems, are from headwaters in the Richardson most likely located in the spring-fed Mountains along a 130 km (80 miles) channels and within the braided area of Fish course, entering the Husky Channel of the Creek.
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