Posted on May 03 2015
Exploratory Steelhead in British Columbia Part 3 & 4
Foraging, Over Harvest and Activism
It’s tough to go anywhere with Yvon and not stop to grub up some wild
food along the way. And since I’m pretty much in the same category, when
you put the two of us together, we tend to find the time–even in the
middle of a steelhead trip. The crab pots paid off with countless huge
Dungeness, right in front of camp, and Yvon, as usual, ate all the crab
innards with a spoon while Will and I stuck to the succulent leg and
body meat. Then there were limpets dotting the rocks along the beach,
which I thought of as tiny abalone. We also found tremendous
steamer-clam beds, and even a lack of implements and containers couldn’t
slow us down. That’s the human backhoe mining for bivalves with a
mini-raft oar above, and hauling our catch in someone’s discarded wading
boot below. Who needs shovels and buckets?
As we were gearing up in the early-morning dark for another day of
fishing, the crackly voice on the radio told us we should start making
other plans. Especially if we wanted to make our flight home any time in
the next three or four days. With a 17-foot aluminum skiff the only
available transportation, and 30+ miles of open saltwater between us and
home, it was suddenly a race to pack up and get out of Dodge before the
front hit. So much for fishing.
The good news is that we beat the storm back to town, and managed to
dig a nice boot-full of steamer clams along the way. More importantly,
our hasty departure allowed us to spend some extra time with our hosts,
the people of the Heiltsuk First Nation, as they scrambled to protest a
surprise commercial herring harvest opened by Canadian Department of
Fisheries and Oceans.
According to William Housty, Heiltsuk Coastwatch Director and
cultural leader, scientific studies (by both independent researchers and
DFO’s own biologists) show that herring stocks along the Central Coast
are too depleted to allow a commercial fishery. The Heiltsuk and DFO had
an agreement that the government would consult with Heiltsuk leaders
before opening the fishery and give at least 24 hours notice before any
opener.
Instead, knowing the Heiltsuk would protest, DFO opened the fishery
without consultation or any warning whatsoever. Rumor had it that DFO
didn’t even announce the opener by radio, but instead contacted the
fishing fleet directly so the Heiltsuk protesters wouldn’t have time to
organize.
An entire hotel building was rented, we were told, to a “private
party,” which we soon discovered was a large number of black-clad RCMP
officers sent in to “keep the peace.” But to me, it looked ominously
like they were there to protect the commercial fishermen.
And yet, word went out throughout the Heiltsuk Nation, and protests
materialized in a matter of hours. People dropped what they were doing
and jumped onboard. Heiltsuk boats raced to the fishing grounds to
protest in person, while other members occupied the DFO office nearby.
While the protest was too late to stop the seine fishery, ultimately,
the corporate fishing fleet and DFO gave in, sending the gillnet boats
home empty.
The fact that DFO would ignore both Heiltsuk sovereignty and the best
available science to hold this fishery on a depleted stock is just
further proof that when the Harper government talks about “First Nations
rights,” “listening to science” or “sustainability,” it’s a complete
joke. And not a very funny one, at that.
For me, this was a steelhead trip that ended up being about much
more. From the tremendous wealth of wild food, natural resources and
culture protected by the Heiltsuk Nation, to their inspiring
confrontations with those who seek to destroy it, I learned much. And I
returned home more convinced than ever of the importance and value in
protecting what we love.
original content Dylan Tomine