Pighead prickleback COSEWIC assessment and status report: chapter 10
Existing Protection or Other Status Designations
There are no specific regulations protecting pighead pricklebacks, although Canadian and territorial statutes regulate habitat and environmental standards in which this fish lives. Originally designated as “vulnerable” by Houston (1988), the species was designated to be of “special concern” by COSEWIC in April 1989 due to its limited distribution and low numbers. This raises the need to consider the species in assessments of habitat and environmental standards. Being an estuarine/marine species, federal Fisheries acts alleviate threats such as potential environmental contamination within enclosed harbours such as Tuktoyaktuk. There is no direct concern for pighead pricklebacks expressed by the Northwest Territories government (2002). However, a new NWT-Wildlife Management Board may find information that raises concern in Aboriginal Traditional Knowledge (Bell 2001, pers. comm.).