GMRC elver project report

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Elver ProjectCommunity Report

Resource Council

Gespegewaq Migmaq


2/20i Gespe'gewaq Mi'gmaq Resource Council

Acknowledgements

The Gespegewaq Migmaq Resource Council

would like to thank the Aboriginal Funds for

Species at Risk funding program for their con-

tributions.

We would also like to thank Eel River Bar, Listuguj,

and Pabineau First Nations for their ongoing support.

For those who joined us in our workshop information

sessions, you provided us with insight about the im-

portance of eels in our communities. This conrmed

our belief that we must continue to share our stories,

and to continue supporting those who are sharing their

skills and knowledge with our youth.

Our youth are lled with ambitions and talents and are

so eager to hear our language. Their desire to learn our

traditional ways encourages us to seek their participa-

tion in all that we do. Thank you to all the youth who

demonstrated curiosity and enthusiasm while listeningto our presentations and helping us conduct our eld

work. You are our future decision makers, and because

of that, we feel privileged to have worked with you over

the summer.

To our elders, we thank you for insights, understand-

ings, stories, and values. We are continually guided by

your wisdom.

From all of us at GMRC,

Welaliog.


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Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ...................................................................................................iiGespe'gewaq Mi'gmaq Resource Council .......................................................1

Introduction ...............................................................................................................1

What Do Ga't Look Like? ........................................................................................3

Mi'gmaq Relationship With Ga't .........................................................................6

Fishing ..............................................................................................................6Ga't As Food ...................................................................................................6

Ga't As Medicine ...........................................................................................7

Ga't for Tools and Accessories .................................................................7

Ga't During Ceremony ...............................................................................7

Ga't Behavior and Adaptation .............................................................................8

Presence of Elvers in the Restigouche, Eel River,

And Nepisiguit Estuaries.......................................................................................9

Table .................................................................................................................9

Project Successes......................................................................................................12

Learning from other Mi'gmaq Communities.....................................12

Building Community Capacity ................................................................14

Community Engagement and Communication ...............................14

Community Workshops ....................................................................... 14

Youth ....................................................................................................... 14

Photonovel...............................................................................................15

Future Work ................................................................................................................15


4/201 Gespe'gewaq Mi'gmaq Resource Council

GMRC

In the fall of 2006, the First Nation communities of

Eel River Bar, Listuguj, and Pabineau came together

to form the Gespegewaq Migmaq Resource Council

Inc. (GMRC). GMRCs purpose is to support sustain-

able resource management and help with the recovery,

maintenance and development of the resources on be-

half of its member communities.

This began a journey that brought the communities

together to improve social and economic conditions

and awareness and communication in the areas of

aquatic and natural resource management.

As Migmaq, our connection to Mother Earth remains

essential to our very existence. It is because of this

special relationship that the Gespegewaq Migmaq

Resource Council exists and continues to pursue trad-

itional resource management processes.

Introduction

For thousands of years, the Gespegewagi Migmaq

have lived in tune with the land. Today, we continue to

share relations with many aspects of the environment.

These relations can be seen through our diet, our tools,

our clothing, and our ceremonies. One particular rela-

tion of interest is with eel, a once abundant traditionalfood. Over the years, many traditional foods have re-

mained prominent in our diet; however, we have been

made aware that there has been a decline in the num-

ber of community members who sh eel, or as known

in Migmaq, gat. The reasons for this are varied, but

when speaking with community members, their main

reasons for the decline was attributed to environmental


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concerns, to changes in diet, and to the shing tradition

not being passed down. We believe that by bringing

back our relationship with gat, not only will we enhance

our well-being, but we can also help enhance the gat

population.

It is this history, relationship, and health concern for the

eel that the GMRC took the lead to develop the project

Estimating Relative Abundance of Juvenile American

Eel (Elvers) in Gespegewagi. By estimating the num-

ber of juvenile eels traveling to the region and exam-ining the Migmaq relationship with eel, we can draw

knowledge from various resource users and research-

ers which will help to reinvigorate a Migmaq way of

living in a modern society while helping to rebuild a

valuable resource for ourselves.

What do gat look like?

Gat are long, narrow, and can grow to almost 5 feetlong. Older gat are usually dark brown or greenish,

with yellowish-white bellies. If youve ever encountered

an eel, you would have noticed that they are also cov-

ered with a thick mucous coating that they use to help

protect themselves.

Gat are unique because although

their life begins in salt water, they

spend most of their lives in fresh

water, and return to the sea to

breed to start the cycleall over again.


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Their life cycle consists of 7 stages:

1. Eggs

2. Leptocephalus

3. Glass eel

4. Elver

5. Yellow eel

6. Silver eel

7. Spawning

They emerge from their egg in theSargasso Sea as leptocephalus and

begin to drift in the ocean currents

resembling very thin-like transparent

ribbons. It can take about a year be-

fore these tiny eel larvae reach the

coast of Migmagi where they transi-

tion from glass eels into what we have

been busy monitoring in the summer,

elvers.

The elvers that we encountered entering the fresh-water in Eel River Bar and Pabineau were all about

10 cms long. Most of these elvers would be making

their way upstream into rivers and smaller streams but

some also stay in bays and mouths of rivers where the

water is brackish (part salt/part fresh). It will be at least

three years before they mature into adulthood, living

up to 20 years in fresh water before they return to the

Sargasso Sea.


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Migmaq Relationshipwith gat

There is no question that gat was an extremely import-

ant being for our people, taking care of us both spiritu-

ally and physically. It continues to amaze me how re-

sourceful our ancestors were. One would hardly think

just by looking at an eel that it contributed so much

to our lives. But its true, our ancestors, parents, andgrandparents all knew very well the value of our rela-

tionship with gat.

Fishing

What we learned from our elders was that gat was

shed and enjoyed all year round. Fishermen used a

few different tools but the most common, as described

to us by an elder, was the use of spears. There were

two different types of spears, he explained, a winter

one and a summer one. You could tell which one was

which by the number of spikes that it had. During the

summer, when you could see the eel swimming free-

ly in the water, he would use a spear that had 2 to 3

spikes that would be used for more accurate spearing.

During the winter, he would use a spear with multiple

spikes that were placed more closely together. This, he

said, was because in the winter, gat are hiding within

the mud and he would need multiple spikes to make

sure he could capture and haul the eel out of the mud

and back up through the ice.

Gat as food

The elder pleasantly recalls his mom preparing the eel

in chunks and having it baked as well as boiled in a

stew. It was a meal that brought the family together

after a day of playing outdoors he said.



Gat as medicine

We also learned that gat was an important source of

medicine. Ever sprain your ankle or have to bandage

your wrist? Well, it was once a common practice to bind

sprains and other injuries. Eel skin was also used re-

duce swelling. The eel skin would be wrapped around

a joint, like a knee, and as it shrank it would help heal

the injury. We also recently learned at a conference

that oil that is left from cooking eel was once used as

eardrops to help with earaches.

Gat for tools and accessories

In addition to food and medicine, eel and eel skin was

used for many other purposes. For example, a piece

of eel skin was often used to tie hair, and because of

its durability and tightening ability, it was often used to

bind sleds, moccasins, clothing, etc.

Gat during ceremony

Gat was also a part of ceremony to give thanks, as

described below:

When darkness has settled, food is put out into

the night preferably on an old stump or near a

tree and offered to the spirits. In days gone by,

eel skins and sh heads were offered. An elder

would lead the family to a stump, give thanksfor surviving thus far and ask for additional as-

sistance until spring (Marshall 1997).

source: Paqtnkek Fish and Wildlife Commission, 2002



Gat behaviour andadaptation

Gat is a very mysterious sh. To this day, we are

amazed at its capabilities and astonishing antics. In

the water, as they move upstream, they often have to

navigate around obstacles; climbing over rocks, dams,

and even waterfalls. In Eel River Bar, we were told that

the elvers could sometimes be seen climbing up thesh passage of the dam. And in Pabineau, we were

told that eels could be seen swimming up the Pabineau

Falls.

Our elders have been observing gat for the majority of

their lives and have learned that they are most active at

night, making this the best time to go eel shing. Dur-

ing the day, they said they can be found laying buried in

mud or gravel. They also hide under logs or boulders,

below undercut banks, or in dense vegetation.

We are often asked what eels eat. This is a rather dif-

cult question to answer as eel are not picky eaters.

Their diet includes a variety of small sh, shrimps,

craysh, aquatic insect larvae, snails, mussels, aquatic

worms, frogs, toads, and salamanders. Gat will also

eat decaying matter that fall into the water.

Gat are also adaptable in and out of the water. There

have been incidences in the lab where eels were seen

jumping straight up out of a bucket and even escapingfrom a tightly wound bag. The fact that they have the

ability to absorb oxygen through their skins to breathe

allows them to survive out of water for several hours.


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Presence of elvers in the Restigouche, Eel

River, and Nepisiguit estuaries

Understanding our relationship with gat, its lifecycle,

and its habitat needs will ultimately lay the groundwork

for future work directed at protecting and enhancing

gat and all it provides for us.

This is the rst year that an opportunity to investigate

elvers (juvenile eel) was available for our communities.

As such, the results we nd will be used as a startingpoint, with the expectation to conduct future monitoring

work in the coming years.

We began making elver traps in May and June, and

checked our rst trap on July 6th, 2009. We were

very excited when we saw our rst elver in Eel River

Bar! From that day on, we caught a total of 42 elvers

throughout the summer. It was quite the experience

checking traps, anticipating how many elvers we would

catch that day.

We chose the best sites possible, combining recom-

mendations from our elders and shers as well as sci-

entic information found from other research papers.

Because there was such a variety of habitat prefer-

ence, we tried a few different habitats; some in slow

moving waters, some in fast moving waters, some in

salty and others in fresh waters.

\

Elvers pH (avg.) D.O. (avg.)Salinity(ppt)

Temp.(avg.)

Eel River Bar 29 8.36 8.11 mg/L 0.45 20.0 C

Pabineau 13 7.79 9.85 mg/L 0.0 19.8 C

Listuguj 0 8.6 11.15 mg/L 0.1 11.9 C

Presence of elvers in the Restigouche, Eel River, and Pabineau water systems.


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Twenty-nine (29) were found in the Eel River Bar area

and 13 were found in Pabineau. No elvers were found

at Listuguj. We also noticed that the elvers found in

Pabineau were much larger and stronger compared to

the elvers found in Eel River Bar.

It is difcult to conclude the reasons why elvers were

present in some rivers and not others. Some conditions

we will look at in the future is whether water temper-

ature, available oxygen, and pH of the water play a role

in habitat preference. We look forward to observing thebiological and physical conditions that inuence elver

survival and distribution in our fresh water systems.

A 2004 study by Peter W. Sorensen, conducted at

the University of Rhode Islands Graduate School of

Oceanography, looked at substances that attracted

elvers in freshwater systems. The researchers tested

the elvers responses to different plants, animals, and

inanimate objects such as rock collected from a Rhode

Island (U.S.A.) brook with a fairly large elver run.

Many items were attractive, and several were repul-

sive, suggesting that elvers are receptive to a variety

of odors. The odor of decaying leaves was highly at-

tractive as were odors of the surfaces of aquatic plants,

submerged stones, and other migrating sh. Because

leaves only became attractive when combined with

stream water, microorganisms responsible for decom-

position are thought to be a valuable attractant in the

freshwater ecosystem. It was suggested that their odor

could serve as a possible index of environmental suit-

ability for migrating eels.

In the marine water system, we learned that some

researchers believe that a possible weakening of the

Gulf Stream interfered with larval transport, causing

declines in elver abundance in the entire Gulf of St.

Lawrence region.


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We would like to look into this further and to bring the

results back to the community to get your thoughts,

theories, and understandings of what makes certain

rivers and streams more attractive for migrating elvers.

Your knowledge is essential in helping to bring back

our traditions, and to continue a sustainable relation-

ship with the lands resources.

Project SuccessesThere are many factors that contributed to the success

of the project. GMRC is proud to recognize that our

activities, resources and support were based on the

strengths, skills and abilities of our people and as well

as from other Migmaq organizations. All those involved

took effective action and played leading roles in the de-

velopment of this work.

Learning from other Migmaq organizations

GMRCs Environmental Manager and Research Asso-

ciate traveled to the Unamaki Institute of Natural Re-

sources in Eskasoni, Nova Scotia to receive training on

how to monitor elvers.

The training allowed the team to get hands-on experi-

ence and to learn about what to expect in the eld.

They learned quite a bit about how to build traps, how

and where to place them, how to handle elvers, and

what habitat conditions were most favourable.

We hope to continue this great relationship so that we

can continue to exchange valuable information about

gat and other resources.


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Building Community Capacity

We also had the privilege of working with 3 Listuguj

youth who worked directly with the project and who

acted as responsible stewards of the environment.

They included Daniel Mitchel, Samson Barnaby, and

Misty Barnaby. Their volunteer and support made the

project that much stronger.

Community Engagement and Communication

Our direction is continually guided by the desires of you;

our community members. By learning what you know,

and listening to your desires, our products and service

will continually improve to meet your needs. We take

pride in listening, learning, and responding.

Community workshops

The community workshops and information sessions

allowed us to inform you about the elver research pro-

ject and to hear your stories about gat.

The presentations provided technical information on

gat including: characteristics, terminology, where they

are found, how far they travel, and life history. Then

came an opportunity to learn why GMRC was studying

elvers, including the goals and objectives of the pro-

ject, what kind of data collection we conducted, as well

as what kind of information the community wished to

share.

Youth

GMRC had the opportunity to spend time with students

from LMDCs ECO program. The students went into

the eld and had the opportunity to visit one of the elver

project sites at Eel River Bar, and get a hands-on ex-

perience. They were shown how to collect data such

as; pH, temperature, dissolved oxygen, and depth.



The students also measured and observed the elvers.

On November 4, and December 2, 2009, students also

came from the Alaqsitew Gitpu School to learn more

about GMRC. We showed the students a short intro-

duction video on GMRC and then did a short presenta-

tion on what research projects GMRC is doing, includ-

ing the elver monitoring project.

Photonovel

During the early stages of the project Janine Metallic,a PhD candidate in Educational Studies at McGill, was

asked to share some of her knowledge on research

methods relating to Indigenous ways of knowing. One

of the ideas she presented to the staff was the use of a

photonovel as a unique way of telling stories and shar-

ing information. Photonovels are like comic books, but

pictures of real people in real settings are used along

with caption bubbles and text.

While the AGS students were here, they received a

sneak peak of the elver photonovel, and have beensharing it with their families, giving it positive reviews,

and getting their seal of approval.

Future work

Our future work consists of continuing to build an in-

ventory of migrating elvers, and expanding our under-

standing of gat by looking into its dietary habits, its

relationship with other species, and its relationship with

the Migmaq way of life.

This comprehensive approach will help build the foun-

dation for sustainable resource management process-

es for gat that is also relevant to our values and per-

spectives as Migmaq.



Such an approach recognizes that all ecosystems are

interdependent, and that changes to one ecosystem

can impact another.

We look forward to more work involving our traditional

foods and traditional ways of learning.


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www.migmaqresource.org

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94B Riverside East, Listuguj, QC G0C 2R0 T: 418.788.3017 F:418.788.3192

Documents

GMRC elver project report