Apoqnmatulti’k partnership receives $1.5 million to continue initiative for five years

$1.5 million newly awarded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) will enable the continuation of a successful partnership—Apoqnmatulti’k [Mi'kmaw for 'we help each other'] — a collaboration between the Unama’ki Institute of Natural Resources (UINR), the Confederacy of Mainland Mi’kmaq/Mi’kmaw Conservation Group (CMM/MCG), the Marine Institute of Natural and Academic Science (MINAS), the Ocean Tracking Network (OTN), Dalhousie University, Acadia University, and Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO). 

Eel tagging resumes in the Bras d'Or Lake

The Mi’kmaq have a long tradition of fishing katew (eel) in the Bras d’Or Lake. Their fishing practices follow the principle of Netukulimk, which is the interconnectedness between Mi'kmaq and the natural world and guides their way of life. Great care is taken to only harvest what is needed and ensure nothing is wasted. When an eel is harvested for food, their skin is used for making ties, bindings, the soles of boots, cooking oil and medicinal purposes. The parts of the eel that cannot be used are given back to Mother Earth by offering it to birds or burying it.

IMG_20200916_115101.jpg

This fall, our team is back in the Bras d’Or Lake tagging eel with the help of Mi'kmaw harvesters. Eel are caught by placing Fyke nets in the water column and brought to the laboratory where they are safely tagged with an acoustic transmitter before being released at the location they were captured. Mi'kmaw values guide every aspect of our research practices and only the minimum number of eels required for the study are caught. Data collected from the tagged eel will be shared with communities, managers, and decision-makers to support the stewardship of this culturally valued species.

floy tag eel.jpg

If you find an eel that has been tagged, please release it back into the water so it can continue collecting valuable data. If this is not possible, please let us know where and when the eel was captured and the tag identification number.

For further information contact Skyler:
902-371-6888 or skyler@uinr.ca