Backgrounder - Fish Habitat Suitability Model for Placer Mining

The Yukon Department of Environment will receive $93,000 over two years to boost their fish habitat management system for placer mining. This information is used by federal and territorial decision makers to ensure aquatic health in Yukon watersheds can be maintained and enhanced while placer mining takes place.

With this funding, Environment Yukon and its partners will build on earlier habitat work by establishing baseline information using several made-in-Yukon approaches and processes. For the Liard drainage area, a new model is being developed to better understand the distribution and movement of fish. Work is also being done in the Mayo watershed to find out more about lake systems where the tributaries to lakes are being placer mined.

Information from this project will assist in supporting a sustainable placer mining industry in the Yukon as well as healthy commercial, subsistence and recreational river and lake fisheries.

This also builds on the Yukon Placer Fish Habitat Agreement signed in 2005.