A first in Canada: Indigenous Guardians given same powers as BC Parks rangers
“It’s something we’ve always been working towards.” Those are the words of Ernie Tallio, Guardian Watchmen Manager for the Nuxalk Nation on BC’s Central Coast. He’s talking about an agreement between the Nuxalk and Kitasoo Xai’xais First Nations and BC Parks to share compliance and enforcement responsibilities within provincial protected areas in the Nations’ territories. […]
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Navigating the waters of Haida Gwaii’s growing ecotourism
Each year, ecotourism brings recreational kayakers from all over the world to the spectacular shores of Haida Gwaii, with many poised to visit Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve, Marine Conservation Area and Haida Heritage Site in the southern half of the archipelago. However, through implementation of the Marine Plan Partnership (MaPP), the Council of the […]
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Community harvesting grants assist First Nations’ access to resources and food security
Numerous industrial activities are creating development pressure on B.C.’s North Coast. These projects, along with human activities and climate change, are having a profound impact on the core values of First Nations in the region. To address this concern, the North Coast Cumulative Effects Program (NCCE Program) offers community harvesting grants to six Nations: Gitga’at […]
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Reconciliation through Indigenous Cultural Tourism
If 2023 was any indication, tourism in BC is bouncing back from the COVID-19 lockdown. Domestic and international visitors are starting to come back to the world-renowned landscapes of our beautiful province, all with their own ideas of what they’ll find, and what they’ll go looking for. For many, connecting with local cultures rates high […]
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Getting Their Geoducks in a Row: MaPP-Inspired Research Helps Central Coast Nations Explore Shellfish Aquaculture Potential
A research partnership is helping Central Coast First Nations get the data they need to evaluate opportunities in the vibrant international seafood market for Panopea generosa — or geoduck, as this species of burrowing clam is more commonly known. A traditional food for coastal Indigenous people, geoduck can live more than 140 years, and a […]
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Collaboration Advances Cumulative Effects Management on North Coast
Marine plan implementation on the North Coast is getting a boost thanks to collaboration between the Marine Plan Partnership (MaPP) and the North Coast Environmental Stewardship Initiative (ESI) —a B.C. government initiative that was created to address First Nations’ environmental concerns around resource development. In 2017, the two groups informally merged into one team to […]
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MaPP researchers narrow down ideal kelp aquaculture conditions
The brown, translucent fronds of sugar kelp that hover below the ocean’s surface throughout coastal B.C. and beyond are gaining interest as an aquaculture product. MaPP partners in North Vancouver Island ran a pilot study to learn more about ideal growing conditions for the brown algae, which can be eaten and used in fertilizers, biofuels, […]
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Five years into MaPP implementation: Expanded guardian watchmen programs are making a significant difference
For many years, guardian watchmen have been stewards for the Heiltsuk, Kitasoo/Xai’xais, Wuikinuxv, and Nuxalk Nations on the Central Coast. And for the past five years, each Nation’s program has been able to accomplish more thanks to MaPP, which funds two positions in each Nation with a specific focus on monitoring key ecosystem-based management […]
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New MaPP Study Offers Meta-View of Climate Impacts
A recently completed MaPP study provides the clearest picture yet on how climate change is poised to affect communities and ecosystems. Titled “Regional Climate Change Assessment: Projected Climate Changes, Impacts and Recommendations for Assessing Vulnerability and Risk across the Canadian North Pacific Coast,” the study was completed in February 2018 by Charlotte Whitney and […]
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Cultural and Archaeological Work in the North Vancouver Island Marine Plan
For two decades, Tlowitsis band member Gina Thomas has been combing the coast and forests of her nation’s vast territory on North Vancouver Island in search of cultural sites that mark her people’s rich heritage. One of her more recent finds triggered feelings of both excitement and frustration. A cliff dwelling was discovered in Tlowitsis […]
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Deep-sea expedition sheds light on need for marine protection
The fjords of B.C.’s Central Coast are home to an astounding abundance of marine life including fragile deep-sea corals and sponges and the rockfish they provide habitat for. While First Nations Elders have long spoken of this profusion of life, traditional Indigenous knowledge is now backed up by scientific data gathered during an expedition aboard […]
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First Nations Students in the North Coast Help Rehabilitate a Lost Creek, Learn to Fish, and Jar Salmon
In the midst of cultural revitalization program for First Nations students near Terrace, B.C., a dry, trash-ridden creek bed was transformed into a stream of fresh mountain run-off. As part of the program funded in part by the Marine Plan Partnership (MaPP), students from ‘Na Aksa Gyilak’yoo School in Kitsumkalum, B.C., cleared garbage from the […]
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Protecting Marine Biodiversity in the Great Bear Sea
The next steps in the creation of a Marine Protected Area Network are underway for the Northern Shelf Bioregion. This is a collaboration between MaPP partners, comprised of 17 member First Nations and the Province of British Columbia, and the federal government. The Marine Protected Area Technical Team (MPATT) – composed of Canada, First Nations […]
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Pushing back against new aquatic invaders: Central Coast Nations take critical first steps
Four First Nations are partnering with the Province of B.C. to implement MaPP on the Central Coast through a coordinated response to three aquatic invaders: European green crab, tunicates, and bryozoa. Originating in northern Europe, green crab is billed by Fisheries and Oceans Canada as “one of the world’s 10 least wanted species.” They’re small […]
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MaPP-supported research tests the waters for shellfish: Scallops, mussels and oysters are on-track to reach market size by 2019
A research project of the Tlowitsis First Nation is helping determine whether the cold, pristine waters around North Vancouver Island will support commercial shellfish aquaculture.
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Haisla Camp Connects Youth with their Culture
Located just half an hour from Kitimat, Weewanie Hot Springs Park is a completely different world than most of us inhabit. Accessible only by water, it is a remote wilderness destination where Xbox and iPads know no purpose. It was also home to 17 Haisla youth for 10 days last summer as they participated in […]
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MaPP selects indicators to track changes in the health of B.C.’s North Pacific Coast
The Marine Plan Partnership for the North Pacific Coast (MaPP) has picked 14 pilot regional indicators that, taken together over the long-term, will provide insights into the health of B.C.’s North Pacific Coast and help guide implementation of coastal management recommendations in MaPP sub-regional plans. Hundreds of potential ecological, economic and human well-being indicators were […]
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Many voices make for better policymaking and results
Integral to the MaPP planning process and the current implementation phase, has been the participation of many different individuals, groups and organizations connected in one way or another to the region’s rich marine environment. Otherwise known as stakeholders, this diverse mix of voices added much-valued input and authenticity to the creation of the North Vancouver […]
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Supporting Emerging Aboriginal Stewards (SEAS) projects in the Central Coast
Raised on a gillnetter in a fisher family, Howard Humchitt spent most of his childhood on the water learning how to harvest Heiltsuk Nation marine resources. “It’s a way of life for us,” he explains. “For many parents who own boats, their kids get their sea legs early. They get a feel for the ocean […]
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At the mouth of the Skeena: A unique estuary
Originating high in the coastal mountains of northwestern British Columbia, the Skeena is the second largest river in the province and one of the world’s longest undammed waterways. It winds 610 kilometres from its headwaters to its rich estuary near Prince Rupert. The mouth of the Skeena is a world onto itself. Unlike most estuaries, […]
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