MaPP Snapshot stories and photos capture some of the people, local and traditional culture, economic opportunities and rich marine life and habitat on B.C.’s North Pacific Coast. Subscribe to the MaPP newsletter to get the latest MaPP Snapshots.
MaPP co-leads in the North Vancouver Island (NVI) Marine Plan area are carefully reviewing a trio of newly completed reports that suggest critical roles for First Nations in economic development and conservation activities. “These studies show that we’re serious about implementing this plan, and that there are economic opportunities for everyone here—even in stewardship,” says […]
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A little wine with dinner won’t hurt you. But what if you added a glass of scotch before every meal and a bag of chips between meals every day? What might the cumulative effects be on your heart, your liver, your state of mind? Read More.
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Rina Gemeinhardt’s work towers over her. The eight-foot stack of boxes in the Kitsumkalum First Nation referrals office contains paperwork for just one stage of one project. It’s only one of some 20 marine- or land-use applications that are referred each month to the Kitsumkalum by the Province of British Columbia and proponents. Read More.
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In June, members of the Smith River Rancheria Tribe of Tolowa Dee-ni’ from California/Oregon visited North Vancouver Island to learn about the Nanwakolas approach to marine planning with its MaPP partners. Read More.
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“We’re definitely not bored.” That’s an understatement from Lynn Lee and her partner, Leandre Vigneault. The two marine biologists, operate a biological consulting company on Haida Gwaii. They spend up to 100 days a year on the Victoria Rose, an ex-West Coast troller. Read More.
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It’s hard to plan for something you hope will never happen, and yet being prepared for a crisis increases the chances of managing an emergency efficiently and equitably. Today on the coast there is significant marine traffic, and with that traffic come risks. Yet at the same time, this traffic helps generate economic activity and […]
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A rock wall in the waters off the Northern tip of Vancouver Island is world famous – at least to a select group of people in dry suits. Scuba divers come from all over the world to dive the wall at Browning Pass and other remarkable sites near Port Hardy. Browning wall is a sheer […]
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We know a lot about forests and the important role they play in our environment and our economy. But what do we know about underwater forests – the nutrient-rich kelp forests found along the North Pacific Coast? Applied marine ecologist Anne Salomon, who studies kelp forests, calls them one of the most productive ecosystems on […]
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Chief Sm’ooygit Niist’oyx, or “Grandfather Handshake”, is a hereditary chief of the Gitwilgyoots tribe, one of the nine allied tribes of the Coast Tsimshian who live near the lower Skeena River on B.C.’s north coast. His given name is Clarence Nelson. He is a traditional and commercial fisherman, a member of many community committees and […]
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When Debbie Beemer and Ray Stephens sold their small, successful seafood processing and smoking business to the Haida Enterprise Corporation (HaiCo) in July 2012, they found a buyer that would protect and build on the fine reputation they had established over ten years of operation in Masset on Haida Gwaii. HaiCo chief executive officer Kevin […]
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What does your doctor do if you show up in his or her office complaining of a pain on the left side of your chest? Take your blood pressure? Check out your cholesterol? In fact, today’s health practitioners are starting to do a lot more than that. They might ask you about your eating habits […]
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Marine planning in the MaPP initiative draws from different sources of information, including Western science, local knowledge and traditional knowledge. A robust source of information on the North Pacific coast – where First Nations communities have lived for thousands of years – is traditional knowledge. This has involved documenting First Nations understanding about marine habitats, […]
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Canadian waters, Chilean technology, and First Nations and Chinese investment are all contributing to the success of the Coastal Shellfish Corporation in Prince Rupert. With a modern shellfish hatchery built in Prince Rupert and a shellfish farm in Metlakatla traditional territory, Coastal Shellfish hatches, grows and harvests scallops with minimal environmental impact. Originally planned as […]
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How do First Nations, the forest industry and the provincial government work together to manage logging in the Central Coast? And, just as importantly, how do they protect the environment while they’re doing it? In response, Warren Warttig quotes a university professor: “Forestry isn’t rocket science – it’s much harder than that,” he notes. Warttig […]
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While eating more fish might seem like a simple, healthy dietary decision, in fact, it also offers consumers the chance to make a big difference to coastal communities in British Columbia. That’s the passionate belief of Jamie Alley, a former director with the B.C. Ministry of Environment, now retired and consulting to government, First Nations […]
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Doug Neasloss was a kayak touring guide in the remote village of Klemtu, found on Swindle Island in B.C.’s Inside Passage (between Vancouver Island and southeast Alaska). Neasloss had just closed up shop for the 2003 season, when he got an unexpected visitor. “Then, this one lady showed up at my doorstep,” he recalls. “I […]
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Working together to better manage Haida Gwaii’s natural resources A young Haida man is currently a training recruit at the Western Conservation Law Enforcement Academy in Hinton, Alberta. He will be the first ever Haida to act as a natural resource compliance and enforcement officer on Haida Gwaii. Buster Bell, 35, was the best candidate, […]
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Back when Rick Snowdon was a full-time adventure guide he led an unforgettable trip with, among others, an Italian student who was soon to embark on his Ph.D. in nuclear physics. “It was our last night,” Snowdon recalls. “We were waiting for the darkness so we could see the bioluminescence, and the student turned to […]
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If biologist Janie Wray could persuade whale-watchers of any one principle, it would be this: “Understand that while you’re having a whale experience, the whale is also having a human experience.” The co-director of the Cetacealab, a whale research facility on Gil Island, on the North Coast of B.C., is all too familiar with the […]
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