Assessment of Arctic Char in Darnley Bay, Northwest Territories

DEFINITION OF THE REQUIREMENT Title Assessment of Arctic Char in Darnley Bay, Northwest Territories. Background This harvest-based program involves enumerating and measuring Arctic char taken in the annual harvest in the Hornaday River each August since 1990 and is one of the longest char monitoring studies in place in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region. Indicators of stock status such as catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE), age, length, weight, sex and maturity are used to evaluate the impact of the fishery on the stock, and to provide information on status and life history of the char stock. In recent years, harvesting effort has increased along the eastern coast of Darnley Bay at Lasard Creek. Captures in west Darnley Bay at a location called Tippi can consist of a type that is locally identified as “Blue char” which is typically larger than char normally harvested by the community. It is scientifically unclear to what extent “Blue char” is a type of Arctic char. Further work is required to study ‘Blue char’ harvested at Tippi. The information collected through these harvest monitoring programs will provide important support for formulation, delivery and compliance of the Hornaday Char Fishing Plan. Objectives Obtain catch and biological information to assess the population status of Arctic char from the east channel of the Hornaday River. Obtain catch information and biological information of Arctic char harvested from Lasard Creek. Obtain catch and biological information to characterize Arctic char/”Blue char” captured at Tippi. CRITERIA FOR ASSESSMENT OF THE STATEMENT OF CAPABILITIES (MINIMUM ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS) Any interested supplier must demonstrate by way of a statement of capabilities that it meets the following requirements: The Supplier must have: 1. Familiarity with Arctic char fisheries in the Darnley Bay area. 2. Extensive experience (>10 years) working with harvesters in the Darnley Bay area. 3. Extensive experience (>10 years) with boat travel in Darnley Bay (within 50 km of Paulatuk, NT). 4. Extensive experience (>10 years) in collecting fisheries data (e.g., catch rates and biological sampling). Refer to the Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN) document for full details.