snpintktn (Penticton), Syilx Okanagan Territory: Okanagan Nation Alliance Fisheries biologists will be out sampling juvenile salmonids in the Okanagan River off-channel habitats between now and the end of this June. You’ll likely spot biologists in oxbows, side channels, floodplains, and other off-channel habitat along the main river between Okanagan and Osoyoos Lakes. Biologists will be setting live capture-release fish traps, deployed during dawn to dusk, left over night, and retrieved the following day.
Off-channel habitats are aquatic areas connected to mainstream rivers for all or part of the year. These habitats are critical to the long-term survival of salmon populations. Okanagan River channelization and floodplain development have destroyed, fragmented, or significantly degraded these off-channel areas, greatly contributing to the decline of resident and ocean-going fish species. This work ultimately supports the Syilx Okanagan Nation’s efforts to restore the Okanagan River system, best summarized by the late Chief Albert Saddleman, to put back the river, bring back the fish, and put back the people.
This project is funded by the federal Indigenous Habitat Participation Program, with the support of Penticton Indian Band and Osoyoos Indian Band. The ONA is thankful for the ongoing support of Okanagan residents.
For More Information Contact:
Elinor McGrath, ONA Fisheries Biologist
Email: emcgrath@syilx.org
Phone: (250) 707-0095 ext. 102