“Everything revolves around the herring”: the Heiltsuk–herring relationship through time

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii) is foundational to many social-ecological systems of the North American coast. The indigenous people of Heiltsuk First Nation on the central coast of British Columbia, Canada have depended on this forage fish for food, social, ceremonial, and economic purposes for millennia. Our research documents social, ecological, and cultural aspects of Heiltsuk First Nation's relationship with Pacific herring and how this relationship has changed over time. We describe and discuss (1) how Heiltsuk social institutions, local and traditional ecological knowledge, and worldview have informed herring management strategies from pre-contact times until present, and (2) how post-contact changes in state-led herring management and other social and institutional developments in British Columbia have affected the role and transmission of Heiltsuk local knowledge and management of herring. By working in close partnership with Heiltsuk decision-makers, and by conducting interviews with Heiltsuk knowledge holders, we ensured that the data gathered would be relevant, applicable, and valuable to the Heiltsuk community. Our research therefore serves as an example of how state fisheries agencies could improve relationships with indigenous communities by engaging in more collaborative data collection, and our results suggest the potential for joint learning and improvement in fisheries management through collaboration during the design of management and harvesting plans. Our research has relevance at the global level because we identify some of the steps that may be taken to help overcome institutionalized inertia and attain more equitable power relationships for sustainable fisheries management.

Spatial variation in exploited metapopulations obscures risk of collapse

“…These collapses had greater impact on spatially constrained groups; namely Indigenous communities for whom herring is a source of cultural and economic vitality (Brown and Brown , Gavreau et al. ). In contrast, mobile fishing fleets and transient predators should be less vulnerable to local depletion events in the short term.…”

“…, , Gavreau et al. ), opportunities to integrate knowledge and objectives into management strategies (and their evaluation) at smaller spatial scales are well placed in managing these fisheries and may be critical to their perpetuity (Okamoto et al. , Salomon et al.…”

“…Polycentric management schemes, however, are not a silver bullet. For systems like Pacific herring where placed-based Indigenous fishing communities often object to purely centralized scales of management for social, ecological, and economic reasons (Brown and Brown 2009, Thornton and Kitka 2015, von der Porten et al 2016, Gavreau et al 2017), opportunities to integrate knowledge and objectives into management strategies (and their evaluation) at smaller spatial scales are well placed in managing these fisheries and may be critical to their perpetuity (Okamoto et al 2020, Salomon et al 2019.…”

Ancient clam gardens, traditional management portfolios, and the resilience of coupled human-ocean systems

“…On the central coast, traditional management among the Heiltsuk indicate that systems of territoriality, ownership, and governance have been in place for generations and included many strategies and practices that supported long-term human interaction and use of specific resources (Hilton 1990, Harkin 1997, Jones 2002, Powell 2012, Housty et al 2014, Gauvreau 2015; HLUP, undated http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol21/iss4/art20/ living document). Rules and regulations, including restricted access to harvesting locations (Powell 2012), limits on the timing and methods of harvesting (Jones 2002), and intentional disuse of areas to allow for recovery (Housty et al 2014) helped to ensure that resources were not overexploited.…”

Diverse knowledge systems reveal social–ecological dynamics that inform species conservation status

“…Such collegial relationships will help shift management and decision-making toward true comanagement (Nadasdy, 1999). In this study, acknowledging Heiltsuk research protocols, retaining proprietary TK rights within the community, and co-conducting interviews were key to project success (also see Gauvreau et al, 2017).…”