Co-Management Working Groups
Fish, wildlife, and their habitats are central to life in the Yukon.
They support culture, food security, recreation, livelihoods, and healthy ecosystems. Managing them sustainably for future generations requires more than a single organization, government, or knowledge source.
That is the purpose of co-management.
In the Yukon, co-management brings together Yukon First Nations governments, Renewable Resources Councils, the Yukon Fish and Wildlife Management Board, the Government of Yukon, technical experts, local knowledge holders, harvesters, the general public, and other stakeholders to support informed decisions about fish, wildlife, and habitat.
The Board participates in various Co-Management Working Groups to help ensure that the system works in practice.
Current Co-Management Working Groups
The Board participates in and supports various Co-Management Working Groups that address important fish, wildlife, and habitat issues across the Yukon.
Each working group is different. Some focus on a specific species or population. Others focus on broader management challenges, policy issues, or long-term planning.
On this page, you can learn more about various Co-Management Working Groups, including their purpose, membership, key issues, current activities, and opportunities for public involvement.
What is co-management?
Co-management is a shared approach to managing fish, wildlife, habitat, and other renewable resources.
It recognizes that good decisions are stronger when they are informed by different perspectives, including:
- Yukon First Nations knowledge, rights, traditional values, and responsibilities;
- local and community knowledge;
- scientific and technical information;
- public participation and input;
- conservation priorities and needs;
- harvest and land-use interests; and
- the long-term health of fish, wildlife, habitat, and people.
Co-management does not mean that every partner or participant has the same role, mandate, or authority. Different governments, boards, councils, and organizations have different responsibilities. But, it does mean that those responsibilities are carried out through cooperation, information-sharing, public involvement, and respect for the roles set out in Yukon’s modern treaties.
Where does co-management come from?
Yukon’s fish and wildlife co-management system comes from the Umbrella Final Agreement and the individual Yukon First Nations Final Agreements.
These agreements are modern treaties between Yukon First Nations, the Government of Canada, and the Government of Yukon. They establish rights, responsibilities, and processes for managing lands, waters, fish, wildlife, and other resources in the Yukon.
Chapter 16 of the Umbrella Final Agreement focuses on fish and wildlife. It sets out important objectives, including:
- conserving fish and wildlife populations and their habitats;
- supporting the renewable resources economy;
- preserving and enhancing the culture, identity, and values of Yukon First Nations people;
- ensuring Yukon First Nations people participate equally with other Yukon residents in fish and wildlife management;
- integrating local and Indigenous knowledge with scientific information;
- supporting community-level renewable resource management; and
- dealing fairly with all Yukon residents who use fish and wildlife resources.
This system was designed so that no single government carries out or controls fish and wildlife management in the Yukon. Instead, it includes boards, councils, First Nations, communities, and the public.
The Board and Renewable Resources Councils
The role of the Board
The Yukon Fish and Wildlife Management Board is established under Chapter 16 of the Umbrella Final Agreement as the primary instrument of fish and wildlife management in the Yukon.
The Board acts in the public interest and makes recommendations to the Minister, Yukon First Nations, and Renewable Resources Councils on all matters related to fish and wildlife management, legislation, research, policies, and programs.
The Board’s role is territory-wide in scope. This means it often focuses on issues that affect fish, wildlife, and habitat across the Yukon, or issues that have broader policy, conservation, or public-interest implications.
The role of Renewable Resources Councils
Renewable Resources Councils, or RRCs, are established through each individual Yukon First Nation Final Agreement. They are the primary instruments for local renewable resource management in each Traditional Territory with a signed Final Agreement.
RRCs bring forward local and Traditional Knowledge, community priorities, and regional perspectives. They play a crucial role in making recommendations, supporting public involvement, and advising on fish, wildlife, habitat, forestry, and other renewable resource matters within their Traditional Territories.
The Board and RRCs have complementary roles. RRCs provide essential local and regional insight and make recommendations about issues specific to their Traditional Territory. The Board considers that information in broader issues and management decisions and makes recommendations within that territory-wide lens.
Why Co-Management Working Groups are important
Many fish and wildlife issues are complex. They often may involve multiple species, several Traditional Territories, different user groups, changing environmental conditions, limited data, and diverse public interests and needs.
Co-Management Working Groups create a space for partners to work through these issues together.
These working groups may help to:
- bring together the right partners early in the process;
- identify shared concerns and priorities;
- gather and review local, traditional, and scientific knowledge;
- support public engagement;
- explore management options, approaches, and strategies;
- improve communication between organizations;
- develop recommendations, frameworks, or guidance documents; and
- help ensure that decisions are better informed and more transparent.
Co-Management Working Groups do not replace the legal roles of governments, First Nations, RRCs, or the Board. They also do not replace formal consultation or public engagement where those processes are required. Instead, they support management efforts by helping partners collaborate earlier, more consistently and effectively.
How Co-Management Working Groups support better decisions
The Board’s working groups are designed to help move complex issues from discussion toward practical action.
They can help answer questions such as:
- What conservation concern are we trying to address?
- What information is already available?
- What local or Traditional Knowledge should be considered?
- What information gaps remain?
- Who needs to be involved?
- What management tools are available?
- What are the likely impacts of different management responses?
- How can the public be meaningfully involved?
- What recommendations or next steps should be considered?
This approach helps ensure that fish and wildlife management is not only based on data, but also on relationships, community knowledge, lived experience, and shared stewardship.
Public involvement
Public involvement is an important part of Yukon’s co-management system.
Yukoners care deeply about fish, wildlife, and habitat. Harvesters, trappers, anglers, Elders, youth, land users, industry, conservation groups, and community members all have knowledge and perspectives that can help improve and inform management decisions.
Depending on the issue, Co-Management Working Groups may support public involvement through community meetings, communication products, workshops, presentations and open houses, written submissions and surveys, or direct conversations with affected communities and organizations.
The Board encourages Yukoners to take part in these opportunities. Public input greatly helps the Board and its co-management partners better understand what people are seeing on the land, what concerns they have, and what solutions they believe should be considered.
Working together for fish, wildlife, and habitat
Co-management is built on the understanding that fish, wildlife, habitat, and people are all connected.
It is also built on the understanding that better decisions come from working together.
Through its Co-Management Working Groups, the Board aims to support respectful dialogue, stronger relationships, better information-sharing, and practical recommendations that help conserve fish, wildlife, and habitat for current and future generations.