Limnological conditions in lakes of the Skeena drainage, British Columbia, have been examined to ascertain what factors may be restricting the distribution and/or abundance of the Eastern and Rooky Mountain whitefishes. The Eastern whitefish is known to be in only four Skeena lakes, and the Rocky Mountain whitefish in all Skeena lakes which have been investigated. It is probable that the Eastern whitefish has not entered other Skeena lakes because the lake conditions are not suitable for its establishment. Such conditions are mainly warm waters, shallow depths, and small area; and are sometimes the heavy silting of the water, and the resultant poor food supply. It is not numerous in any of the four lakes, probably because of the relative poor abundance of bottom food organisms, particularly in the absence of such organisms as the amphipod Pontoporeia. Conditions are apparently most favourable for Eastern whitefish in oligotrophia lakes. Rocky Mountain whitefish appear to favour eutrophic lakes, and are most abundant in lakes where a good supply of bottom food is assured by the absence of such potential competitors as the Peamouth chub and Squawfish. There is no evidence of any heavy predation on either of the two whitefish. It is improbable that any physical barrier has limited the distribution of these fish. / Science, Faculty of / Zoology, Department of / Graduate

This study investigates flood characteristics and management strategies in the Lower Skeena River Region. Rivers in the region exhibit two annual flood seasons in which different types of floods occur. Typically, rivers tend to flood during spring freshet in May and June as a result of snowmelt runoff within the Skeena basin. However, intense and sustained rainstorms contribute to another type of flood in the fall months in the Lower Skeena Region. Although the most extensive and largest flood of record occurred as a result of regional snowmelt runoff in the spring of 1936, "the flood inflicting the greatest damage occurred in the fall of 1978 as a result of three days of continuous heavy rain. In contrast with the remainder of the Skeena basin where spring freshet floods are critical, fall floods in the Lower Skeena occur more frequently than spring floods and for the same return period are greater in magnitude. Despite the implementation of flood damage prevention measures in the Lower Skeena Region, flood damage continues to increase and this is largely the result of fall floods. Analysis of the meteorologic and hydrologic features of fall floods indicates important differences in the duration and pattern of flooding throughout the Lower Skeena as compared to spring freshet floods. The interval between the time when the possibility of a flood is known and when it actually occurs is shorter for fall floods, different properties are subject to flooding and the frequency of flooding of most flood prone areas is greater. This indicates the need for a different strategy to manage the flood problem. The current program of flood damage prevention measures in the Lower Skeena is based on the physical characteristics associated with spring freshet flooding. The existing approach in the region is part of a blanket strategy toward managing floods province-wide. The strategy relies almost entirely on nonstructural measures of flood forecasting, floodplain regulation and floodproofing. The design flood, with a 1 in 200 year return period adopted as a basis for the current strategy is derived from the features of the 1936 spring freshet flood. These measures provided no assistance in reducing damages during the fall flood of 1978. A framework for developing a comprehensive flood management strategy to handle fall floods is applied to New Remo, a Lower Skeena flood prone community. The strategy entails the following five steps: I Define the Spatial Distribution of Flood Damages II Design a Flood Forecasting Service III Design an Emergency Plan for Action During Floods IV Assess Remaining Practicable Alternatives for Reducing Flood Damage V Develop a Financing Policy for the Program Potentially feasible adjustments to the flood hazard in New Remo include; (l) flood forecasting, (2) emergency action, (3) floodproofing and (4) permanent evacuation of some homes. However, to develop an optimum combination of alternative adjustments will require site specific information on flood damage risk, which currently is not available for properties in New Remo. The flood management strategy developed for New Remo would be applicable to other communities in the Lower Skeena, prone to fall flooding. However, regional application of the approach requires tailoring the strategy according to the physical, social and economic features within each community affected by fall floods. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

The production functions commonly suggested in the fishery bio-economic literature are reviewed, and modifications are suggested to take into account direct and indirect gear externalities and gear saturation effects in a salmon gillnet fishery. This suggests a daily production function of the Cobb-Douglas variety, tested on Skeena River sockeye salmon data. Using the daily production function, a seasonal model is developed, which reflects the intra-seasonal peaking nature of the run, and the multiple day stock removal effect. The properties of this function are analysed, and to demonstrate the significance of the function, its shape is used to indicate the direction of bias in the Crutchfield and Pontecorvo estimates of dissipated rent in Bristol Bay and Puget Sound. / Arts, Faculty of / Vancouver School of Economics / Graduate

The feasibility of using freshwater and first marine year scale patterns to identify component stocks of steelhead trout (Salmo gairdneri) in the Skeena River was investigated. Scale samples and sex and size data were attained from adult steelhead originating from five Skeena River tributaries (Zymoetz, Kispiox, Morice-Bulkley, Babine, Sustut) over a series of different years. Adult scale samples were also collected from the 1984 incidental steelhead catch in the Area 4 commercial salmon fishery for potential stock classification purposes. Significant differences in scale pattern growth, age composition, and sizes at age were found between the five Skeena River steelhead stocks. Linear discriminant function analysis indicated that the five stocks could be classified to correct river of origin with between 45% and 62% average classification accuracy (range Zymoetz 29%-60%, Kispiox 35%-60%, Morice-Bulkley 44%-76%, Babine 54%-64%, Sustut 56%-72%) depending upon the classification model used. Juvenile morphometric analysis for three of the stocks (Kispiox, Morice-Bulkley, Zymoetz) indicated the presence of significant between stock differences in standardized body form. These results support the notion that Skeena River steelhead exist as quantifiably discrete stocks. Classifying the 1984 mixed stock commercial fishery catches to probable stock of origin indicated that distinct peaks of stock abundance and run-timing occur through the fishery. In general, Morice-Bulkley and Sustut River steelhead were predicted to be most abundant with run-timings during the earlier portions of the fishery. Kispiox, Babine, and Zymoetz River steelhead were predicted to be less abundant with later run-timings through the fishery. Potential commercial fishery impacts to steelhead are briefly discussed. These observations suggest that the technique of scale patterns is a feasible method for stock separation in Skeena River steelhead. Further study is required to clarify yearly variance in the technique and to better establish stock specific differences. / Science, Faculty of / Zoology, Department of / Graduate

Critical examination of gendered and racialized encounters between people and landscapes highlights the varied ways in which individuals respond to complex and multifaceted discourses. By analyzing an archive of letters and photographs generated by a single individual (David Inglis McDowell) I reveal the relationship between experience and discourse in the Skeena region of northwestern British Columbia at the turn of the twentieth century. I examine McDowell's representations of people of various origins and class backgrounds and his portrayal of both the natural and created environments through which he travelled and how these shaped the way he saw himself and others. This work contributes to the growing scholarship which views everyday lives as key sources of knowledge concerning broader social processes. I uncover the process of mythmaking and reveal that the story told by Skeena region settlers was one of conquering the wilderness and promoting progress-a frontier myth that still endures.

Thesis (M.A.)--Carleton University, 1992. / Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Bedrock islands add variation to the estuarine system that results in deviations from typical unconfined estuarine sediment transport patterns. Limited literature exists regarding the dynamics of seabed morphology, delta formation, sediment divergence patterns, and sedimentary facies classifications of non-fjordic bedrock confined systems. Such knowledge is critical to address coastal management concerns adequately. This research presents insights from the Skeena Estuary, a macrotidal estuary in northwestern Canada with a high fluvial sediment input (21.2-25.5 Mtyr-1). Descriptions on sub-environments, stratification, and sediment accumulation within the Skeena Estuary utilize HydroTrend model outputs of riverine sediment and discharge, Natural Resources Canada radiocarbon-dated sediment cores and grain size samples, and acoustic Doppler current profiler and conductivity-temperature-depth measurements from three field campaigns. Research findings delineate a fragmented delta structure with elongated mudflats and select areas of slope instability. Variations from well-mixed water circulation to lateral stratification, govern the slack tide flow transition and sediment transport pathways within seaward and landward passages of the estuary. Fostering a comprehensive understanding of bedrock confined estuary and delta systems has implications for the assessment of coastal management strategies, the productivity of ecological habitats, and the impacts of climate change within coastal areas. / Graduate