Two companies located 3,000 kilometres apart came together Wednesday to give Yukon River chinook a helping hand by preserving a decade of research and enhancing food security.

Danny Cresswell and Nelson Lepine, chair of the board and CEO respectively of the Carcross-Tagish Energy Corp. (CTEC), signed an agreement Wednesday with Tim Rundle, general manager of Creative Salmon Company Ltd., in Victoria. It was inked at the North West Fish Culture Conference.

The agreement sets out the responsibility for 11 years of collections of Yukon River Wild Chinook Salmon cryopreserved milt (sperm).

“The Carcross-Tagish First Nation (CTFN) has an unbreakable cultural connection to the Yukon River chinook salmon, and preserving Yukon chinook salmon habitat is a key part of a food security plan for our First Nation,” said Cresswell.

“Chinook salmon flourished in the headwaters of the Yukon River, throughout the Tagish River system between Marsh Lake and Tagish Lake and elsewhere in the Southern Lakes system, and are still found in these water systems today, including at the bridge in Carcross, Yukon.”

The Yukon River is 3,190 kilometres (1,980 miles) long and empties into the Bering Sea.

Creative Salmon said it’s happy to be honouring a decades-old commitment of returning valuable Yukon chinook genetics (milt) back to the Yukon.

Creative originally collected and stored this milt with the thought to add another stock to its already successful salmon aquaculture operation, but in 2017 decided to focus its efforts on our stock originating on Vancouver Island.

“I was privileged to be involved in the early stages of Creative’s Yukon program,” said Rundle.

“The Yukon chinook stock would have been a great addition to our company’s operation, but seeing the transfer of this milt back to the Yukon is very satisfying.”

“The importance of preserving the milt and the associated research cannot be underestimated,” said Lepine.

“The Fraser River Salmon are facing dire issues with regards to survival. Cryopreserved sperm was able to assist this past fall with the use of 20-year-old frozen sperm,” Lepine added.

CTEC is working closely with Maureen Ritter, the general manager of Canada Cryogenetics Services, who assisted with the Fraser River recovery project.

“It is our intention as the economic arm of Carcross-Tagish First Nation to do our part in preserving this important resource for future generations of Yukoners and Canadians,” Lepine said.

The CTFN is a self-governing First Nation that settled its land claim in 2006.

Its traditional territory borders Alaska and northern B.C. and encompasses 3,626 sq km.

“I am thrilled to be collaborating with the CTEC and Creative Salmon on this project to ensure the unique genetics of the Yukon River chinook salmon and look forward to developing a plan with CTEC to restore and enhance the stocks along the Yukon River,” said Ritter.