YUKON FISHERIES 247 



HABITAT MANAGEMENT 



Protecting the habitat of fish in Yukon is an even 

 greater challenge for the Department than managing the 

 fisheries. With substantial and growing pressures of 

 industrial development in the territory, and with many 

 governmental agencies as well as private interests 

 involved, habitat management has become a major 

 preoccupation. 



Pressures on the Habitat 



The fish habitat within the territory is threatened by a 

 wide range of activities, but the most conspicuous are 

 minmg, hydroelectric projects and access development. A 

 variety of other threats, including domestic sewage, are 

 significant in some places. 



Placer gold mining has grown rapidly in recent years 

 and has expanded well beyond the traditional gold- 

 producing areas. This industry often causes major distur- 

 bances to streambeds and, by increasing sedimentation, 

 destroys the streams' capacity to support fish. 



Hardrock mining in Yukon is presently limited to a 

 few operating mines, but several major new projects are 

 being considered. This industry's main threat to fish habi- 

 tat is water pollution from mine effluents. 



New hydroelectric projects are being planned or inves- 

 tigated in several areas of Yukon. Their expected impacts 

 on fish vary considerably, and it is generally agreed that 

 mitigation efforts can be only partially successful. Thus 

 hydroelectric power development inevitably implies some 

 sacrifice in potential fish production. 



Almost all industrial developments in the territory 

 involve building new year-round access roads into areas 

 that could previously be reached overland only in winter. 

 Quite apart from physical damage to fish habitat that 

 may be caused by road construction, improved summer 

 roads invite increased fishing pressure, which can result 

 in newly accessible stocks being overexploited and 

 depleted. 



All these activities have an adverse impact on fish in 

 certain areas, and altogether they comprise an assault on 

 fish habitat that puts heavy demands on the agencies 

 charged with protecting it. 



The Regulatory Framework 



The federal agencies that are formally involved in 

 Yukon fish habitat management are the Department of 

 Fisheries and Oceans, the Department of Indian and 

 Northern Affairs, the Department of the Environment 

 and the Yukon Territory Water Board. Their division of 

 responsibilities and the regulatory framework within 

 which they operate and interact is complicated, so I 



sketch these briefly below. The Yukon Territorial Gov- 

 ernment has no formal responsibility for habitat, but it 

 exercises some influence in policy development by the 

 federal agencies. 



Department of Indian and Nortlwm Affairs Most 

 natural resources in Yukon are owned by the federal 

 Crown. The Department of Indian and Northern Affairs 

 allocates access to land, timber and minerals through a 

 variety of federal statutes." Water rights and pollution 

 control are administered by the Yukon Territory Water 

 Board (described below). The policies of the Department 

 of Indian and Northern Afiairs in allocating and manag- 

 ing the Yukon resources and approving road access on 

 public land can have important implications for fish habi- 

 tat in the territory in the same way that British Colum- 

 bia's resource policies affect habitat to the south 

 (described in Chapter 3). 



Yuiion Territory Water Board Under the Northern 

 Inland Water Act,'- the Yukon Territory Water Board 

 issues licences and permits to use water in Yukon for a 

 variety of purposes and to discharge waste into water. Of 

 these, hydroelectric power generation, placer mining and 

 mine milling are the most serious threats to fish habitat. 



The board has nine members, three from federal gov- 

 ernment agencies (including the Environmental Protec- 

 tion Service of the Department of the Environment), 

 •hree appointed by the Yukon Territorial Government 

 and three appointed by the Minister of Indian and 

 Northern Affairs. Significantly, the Department of Fish- 

 eries and Oceans is not represented on the board, so it 

 must rely on referral arrangements as its avenue to pro- 

 tect fish habitat from licensed activities. Through these 

 referrals, the Department assesses proposed develop- 

 ments and suggests measures to mitigate habitat damage 

 but does not participate directly in decisions regarding 

 water use. 



Department of Fisheries and Oceans The Department 

 of Fisheries and Oceans administers the Fisheries Act in 

 Yukon, and therefore has authority for protecting fish 

 habitat. In Chapter 3 I described the habitat protection 

 features of the Act and general problems relating to its 

 application: these apply to Yukon as well as British 

 Columbia. In Yukon, additional complications arise from 

 the relations between the Fisheries Act and the Northern 

 Inland Waters Act. 



The holder of a water licence issued by the Yukon 

 Territorial Water Board under the Northern Inland 

 Waters Act may be liable for prosecution under the Fish- 

 eries Act for harming fish habitat even though he com- 

 plies with the licence. This is parallel to problems in Brit- 

 ish Columbia associated with provincial resource rights, 

 described in Chapter 3, but here the potential conflict is 

 not between conflicting resource use authorizations 



