.+ Environment Canada Environnement Canada Fisheries Service des peches and Marine Service et des sciences de la mer The Kitimat River: Its Use and Its Importance to Residents of the Kitimat District by William F. Sinclair Technical ReQort Series No. PAC/T -75-20 NOB/ECON 9-75 Northern Operat ions Branch Pacific Region THE KITIMAT RIVER: ITS USE AND ITS IMPORTANCE TO RESIDENTS OF THE KITIMAT DISTRICT by William F. Sinclair July, 1975 , t- FOREWORD The growth of northern communities and the influx of new industrial development are making the maintenance of water quality. in our northern rivers an increasingly serious problem. Even though much has been done in recent years to alleviate some of the effects of pollution - especially through the use of filtering systems and other water treatment processes - the overall outlook is disturbing. Under the present system, our northern waterways will be subjected to an ever increasing number of conflicting uses. Industrial effluent and domestic sewage loads will increase far beyond the assimilative capac­ ity of our northern water courses. At the same time, the demand for quality water oriented recreational activity will grow with increases in population. In consequence, society is faced with the challenge of how it is to allocate water resources in a manner which will contribute to the well-being of northern residents. It is suggested in this presentation that the Kitimat River is one of the northern waterways which will be subjected to increasing use conflict problems. Information from a number of different sources is used to show that the Kitimat River makes an important contribution to the social well-being of residents of the Kitimat municipality; it contributes to the stability of the local population and contributes to the welfare of local industry. The reader should be cautioned not to interpret this report or the information presented in this report as supporting the view that the Kitimat River should be used solely for recreational purposes or for fish production. Like most modern com­ munities, Kitimat uses its river for many different purposes. Each is important to the resident population. It is only necessary that cap­ tains of industry and local civic leaders be prepared to make trade-offs f-- (ii ) which are in the best interests of the resident population. This will not be accomplished unless all pertinent information is available. It was intended that this report make a contribution in this direction. I wish to acknowledge the large amount of help I received in preparing this report. The Municipal! ty of Ki timat provided directly, and cooperated to provide indirectly, a considerable amount of the data contained herein. In particular, I would like to thank Art Currie and Craig Campbell from the district office for their Itind cooperation and their well-founded criticisms. I am indebted also to Stew MacKenzie, Regional Manager, Alcan Smelter Services, Kitimat, who critically reviewed certain passages contained in this report. John Pousette of the Kitimat-Stikine Regional District provided me with advice, assistance and general cooperation throughout our field investigations. Special thanks are due to Ed Christiansen, District Super­ visor, Kitimat, and to Dave Schutz, Senior Biologist, both of the Fisheries and Marine Service who provided me with information on the Kitimat River's fish populati'ons. Great assistance was rendered to me by those who gathered and assimulated the data contained in this report. Brian Lewis was respon­ sible for most of the field work, while Rob Morley carried out the cal­ culations necessary for the preparation of the tables. I am especially indebted to those who provided me with a con­ structive critical review of this paper. Those making a contribution in this direction include Rick Kussat of the Environmental Protection Service, Sandy Argue and Bill Masse of the Fisheries and Marine Service. (:1.11) As always, I am indebted to Sharon Evans of the Economics and Sociology unit, Northern Operations Branch for her patience, diligence and loyalty to her work. She is responsible for typing, editing and the general appearance of this presentation. I am indebted also to Kon Johansen who prepared the maps contained herein. William F. Sinclair Chief of Economics and Sociology Northern Operations Branch July, 1975 ,- (iv) TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 1 1 Background 3 2 The District of Kitimat 7 3 Use of the Kitimat River 25 4 The Importance of Outdoor Recreational Opportunities 44 to Residents of the Kitimat Area and to Local Industry 5 Summary and Conclusions 57 Appendix I 59 Bibliography 64 (v) LIST OF TABLES Table 1 Kitimat Population According to Ethnic 11 Origin - 1971 Table 2 Age Distribution for Selected Locations in 12 British Columbia - 1971 Table 3 Distribution of Individual Annual Income for 13 Persons Over 15 Years of Age in Kitimat, Prince Rupert and Terrace - 1971 Table 4 Distribution of Individual Annual Income for 15 Persons Living in Kitimat, British Columbia Communities 10,000 to 29,999 and All of British Columbia 15 Years of Age and Over - 1971 Table 5 Level of Education and Formal Training for 16 Kitimat, Prince Rupert and Other British Columbia Residents Not Attending School Full­ Time - 1971 Table 6 Kitimat Labour Force According to Industrial 17 Division - 1971 Table 7 Percentage of Kitimat, Prince Rupert, Terrace, 19 British Columbia and Canada Labour Force According to Industrial Division - 1971 Table 8 Total Average Number and Percentage of Times 20 That Workers Have Changed Jobs During Resi­ dence in Kitimat - 1974 Table 9 Male and Female Labour Force Participation 21 Rate in Kitimat, Prince Rupert, Terrace, British Columbia and Canada - 1971 Table 10 Number and Percentage of Households According 23 to Actual Length of Residence and Expected Length of Residence in Kitimat - 1974 Table 11 Number and Percentage of Resident Population 27 Who Sport Fish in Kitimat, Prince Rupert and Terrace (vi) Table 12 Estimated Escapement of Kitimat River Fish 28 by Species 1963 - 1973 Table 13 Number and Percentage of Sport Fishing and 29 Non-Sport Fishing Recreationists According to Permanent Place of Residence - 1974 Table 14 Annual Sport Fishing Effort on the Kitimat 32 River According to Place of Permanent Resi­ dence - 1974 Table 15 Favourite Fishing Location of Fishermen Sur­ 33 veyed on the Kitimat River According to Per­ manent Place of Residence - 1974 Table 16 Number of Days Fished, Total Angler Days, 35 Daily Costs and Total Expenditures Associated With First Favourite Fishing Location of Kitimat Residents - 1974 Table 17 Number of Days Fished, Total Angler Days, 36 Daily Costs and Total Expenditures Associated With Second Favourite Fishing Location of Kitimat Residents - 1974 Table 18 Number of Days Fished Per Year by Kitimat 38 Resident Sport Fishermen Surveyed on the Kitimat River - 1974 Table 19 Number and Percentage of Resident Recreation­ 39 ists U8ing the Kitimat River and the General Resident Population of Kitimat According to Age Category - 1974 Table 20 Percentage of Kitimat, Yellowhead and British 41 Columbia Residents Surveyed on the Kitimat River According to Age and Sex - 1974 Table 21 Percentage of Canadian Non-British'Columbian 42 and Non-Canadian Recreationists Surveyed on the Kitimat River According to Age and Sex - 1974 Table 22 Main Advantage of Living in Kitimat According 45 to Age Category as Reported by Resident Rec­ reationists Surveyed on the Kitimat River - 1974 (vU) Table 23 Heason for Moving to Kitimat According to Age 47 Category as Reported by Resident Recreation­ ists Surveyed on the Kitimat River - 1974 Table 24 Disadvantages of Living in Kitimat According 48 to Age Category as Reported by Resident Rec­ reationists Surveyed on the Kitimat River - 1974 Table 25 Amenities Reported Least Available in Kitimat 49 According to Age Category by Resident Recrea­ tionists Surveyed on the Kitimat River - 1974 Table 26 Amenities Reported Least Available in Kitimat 50 According to Length of Residence Category by Resident Recreationists Surveyed on the Kitimat River - 1974 Table 27 Number and Percent of Kitimat Households 52 Using Selected Recreational Facilities and Amenities According to Actual Length of Resi­ dence in Kitimat - 1974 Table 28 Number and Percent of Kitimat Households 53 Using Selected Recreational Facilities and Amenities According to Expected Length of Residence in KLtimat - 1974 Table 29 Average Number of Times Per Week That SUr­ 54 veyed Households Use Selected Recreational Facilities and Amenities According to How Long They Expect to Live in Kitimat - 1974 Table 1: 1 Location of Interview by Place of Residence 60 of Recreationists Surveyed on the Kitimat River - 1974 (viii ) LIST OF MAPS Map 1 Kitimat River System 4 Map 2 Kitimat Townsite 9 Map 1:1 Kitimat River Interview Locations (1974) 61 Introduction The purpose of this paper is to help provide an understanding of the recreational importance of the Kitimat River and the fish avail­ able in the river to people living in the District of Kitimat and its surrounding areas. Since there exists no analytical framework which is generally accepted as adequate for this task, the analysis will be carried out in an admittedly cursory fashion. Assessments of our natural resources suffer from a continual barrage of preconception and emotional opinion. Nonetheless, clues on how a given population feels about particular resource endowments often are revealed in their behav­ ioural patterns, attitudes and opinions. For this reason, a consider­ able amount of information is presented on the activities, attitudes and opinions of the Kitimat area population. Furthermore, this infor­ mation is assessed in conjunction with other information on employment, income and the industrial makeup of the community with a view to assessing how the recreational and aesthetic opportunities generated by the Kitimat River and its fish stocks affect isolated segments of the local population. Source of Data The information presented in this report is taken from a num­ ber of different sources.