The Salish Sea Initiative (SSI) stewardship and monitoring program seeks to establish a concrete baseline of the habitats and biodiversity throughout the marine environment within the Ditidaht First Nation (DFN) territory. Monitoring of these habitats will provide a baseline of natural resources found within the DFN territory and help the nation make informed and sustainable decisions to protect their peoples and traditional territory for generations to come.
Monitoring efforts have been centered around Nitinaht Lake, a 23 km long bottleneck fjord that connects to the Pacific Ocean through the Nitinaht Narrows. Extensive estuarine, kelp and eel grass habitats persist within Nitinaht Lake.
The first year of monitoring within the DFN territory was centered around Nitinaht Lake which is the gateway to the open coast that the village fishermen and fisheries officers commute through daily to fish off the West coast of Vancouver Island. The lake itself is only slightly tidal due to the influence of the Nitinaht Narrows, however flooding is a regular occurrence during fall and winter months as high rainfall can raise the lake level many meters above normal. Water quality, tide and weather stations will all be installed on the lake to gain a better understanding of the influence that these tidal areas.
The flora and fauna found in Nitinaht Lake is extensive with a diversity of marine and brackish species. To gain an understanding of its biodiversity an inventory of habitat types present throughout the lake was conducted and control sites have been established around the lake to begin long term monitoring of each habitat type and build a baseline for their current condition.
