What if Nuu-chah-nulth Worldviews Shaped Our Visions of Rockfish Stewardship?

May 2021 - April 2022

  • Fish

    Canary Rockfish (Sebastes pinniger; pictured) | Yelloweye Rockfish (Sebastes ruberrimus) | Quillback Rockfish (Sebastes maliger)

  • People

    Ha’oom Fisheries Society (working in support of Ahousaht, Ehattesaht, Mowachaht/Muchalaht, Hesquiaht, and Tla-o-qui-aht fisheries)

    Nicole Jung, advised by Dr. Andrea Reid

  • Place

    In the Ha’houlthee of five Nuu-chah-nulth Nations (West Coast of Vancouver Island, BC, Canada)

Project Description

The Nuu-chah-nulth Nations have sustained their people through a rockfish fishery for thousands of years, but within just decades colonial legislation and fisheries have put rockfish, people, and the worldviews underlying Nuu-chah-nulth fisheries in positions of crises. In partnership with Ha’oom Fisheries Society (an organization that supports five Nuu-chah-nulth Nations in exercising their commercial fishing rights, while caring for fish populations and habitats), we assessed recent temporal trends in rockfish size and age at spatial scales relevant to the Nuu-chah-nulth Nations and their stewardship planning process. Such assessments can be crucial: If rockfish size and age structures are becoming truncated, this is an early warning signal of reduced recovery potential due to the disappearance of the largest, most fecund fishes. In doing this collaborative work, we analyzed the Pacific Halibut Management Association’s (PHMA) longline survey data, and considered how visions of sustainable and just rockfish stewardship can engage Nuu-chah-nulth worldviews and Indigenous resurgence. 

This project acted to fulfill the B.Sc. Honour’s Thesis requirements of Nicole Jung.

 
 

“Yelloweye Rockfish” by Nicole Jung

More Project Content….

Poster Prepared for the Canadian Conference for Fisheries Research 2022. Credit: Nicole Jung.

(A) Taking and integrating an Indigenous knowledge into a study’s research methods apart of the Peoples, contexts, and worldviews from which it comes is profoundly different than (B) working in equal partnership with Indigenous Nations to co-determine study objectives, engaging with Indigenous worldviews as knowledge is gathered and interpreted, and equipping Indigenous Nations with knowledge that will support Nation-led stewardship initiatives.

Figure submitted as part of the honours thesis manuscript describing this work; Created by Nicole Jung.

One way of coming to know the Ha’houlthee of the Nuu-chah-nulth Peoples. Photo Credit: Andrea Reid.

Project Funding

Photo Credits & Gratitude: We hold our hands up in thanks to Nicole Jung and Andrea Reid.