Quatsino people looking beyond Stavanger to the future

 

The First Nations of the Pacific Coast have a growing say in the economic jurisdiction of their lands and waters. The big players in the fish farm industry like Marine Harvest Canada and Grieg Seafoods have learned to include the First Nation leaders in their plans. People like Marine Harvest Canada's Ian Roberts, communications manager, spends much of his time fostering the First Nations relationships that lead to jobs and harmony in economic development of aquaculture. It's all about communications on Canada's Pacific Coast.   Tom Nelson was one of the people invited (among 10 other First Nations members) from Canada's Coastal Nations to attend Aqua Vision 2008 in Stavanger, Norway. MHC and Greig Seafood included them on a five-day junket to attend sessions at AquaVision 2008 and tour Norway's aquaculture infrastructure. They visited a halibut farm, a cod hatchery, salmon research centre, and a fisheries and aquaculture school.   Tom Nelson is the Chief of the Quatsino First Nation at the top of Vancouver Island. He is looking to the future in aquaculture and working with, "partnered up," in fact, with Marine Harvest Canada on Canada's Pacific Coast. The traditional watershed of the Quatsino people is the amazing Quatsino Sound on the north east side near the top of Vancouver Island. The Quatsino Sound runs hundreds of kilometres into the island land mass. "I have no problem with fish farming in the way we see it happening today," said Chief Nelson.   Quatsino is investing in shell fish aquaculture, "We have oysters on floats; and we are looking at starting into mussels. I am going to have to learn as we go and we are consulting with a mussel grower on Quadra Island. They have seeds for us. A group of us is going down in the first week of January," explained Tom. "We are going to grow mussels on floats." Oysters are grown in bags whereas mussels are grown on ropes that hang from floats. Apparently the commercial grade farmed product grows bigger (depending on the amount of food available) than mussels seeded in the ocean floor.   Chief Nelson said the Quatsino will seed the B.C. golden mussel supplied by Ken Knoll who grows them at the north end of Quadra Island. The area around Quadra has other aquaculture activities underway in shellfish and farmed fish. The golden mussels are commercially popular and served in restaurants as appetizers and side-dishes. They have always been a popular dish in Europe and Asia. (In fact the Chinese are the world's largest producers of mussels by farming over 400,000 metric tonnes a year.) In the traditional waters of the Quatsino, "We are going to start with anywhere from 20 to 40 floats. We are going to start out small. We have four floats with oysters growing.   "I and my council want to get involved in a lot of things before the treaty is settled," said Chief Nelson. As far as the B.C. Treaty Commission proceedings, "There's no daylight at the end of the tunnel of the process. We are at stage four," of a six stage process to reach treaty. The Quatsino feel the need to act positively on developments in their territory. It is a matter of jurisdiction, and they need to be seen as well as heard.   Years ago the Quatsino people were moved up to high ground away from their beloved Quatsino Sound. "I don't know why they consented to it," said Chief Nelson. "Perhaps they were worried about the potential for a tsunami." Even so the Quatsino community of 420 members longed for the connection to their waters, and now they have a dock in Coal Harbour that provides the connection.   Being seen in the area, and having infrastructure to work from, means the Quatsino Sound will receive the care and attention of traditional stewards. "Everybody that comes in our territory has to speak to us first. It's part of an integrated management program that puts all opportunities before Quatsino people." Chief Nelson said, "It has been working quite well. Development projects are shared with us and with proceeds we can build infrastructure."   A prime example, said Chief Nelson, is the Raging River hydro project that BC Hydro joined to the grid in May 2002. This project is a couple dozen km east of Port Alice. The 2 MW generates 13 GWh a year, and Quatsino First Nation is happy with their share in the project. They are also engaged in a windpower project for Cape Scott, a very windy spot at the tip of North Vancouver Island. "We are trying to work on that one, but it's going slow because the partners keep changing." The proposed project is to be built on Quatsino land.   It is land that Chief Nelson is familiar with in a profoundly generational way. He received the teachings of the people who had inherited stewardship of their magnificent heritage. "I grew up with my grandparents and I learned many things about the old ways, like how to spear fish and harvest abalone. We once enjoyed a beautiful diet. Our waters have lots of clams, mussels, and crabs. We still have salmon in abundance."   Quatsino First Nation is part of the Winalagalis Treaty Group, four First Nations, includng Da'naxda'xw Awaetlatla Nation, Gwa'Sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Nation, Quatsino First Nation and Tlatlasikwala Nation. The traditional territory spans the north end of Vancouver Island to  the head of Knight Inlet on the mainland, a vast, beautiful, pristine wilderness.