A new study has found that coastal Indigenous 颅communities have managed their relationship with shellfish and sea otters for millennia.
Written by Erin Slade, Iain McKechnie and Anne K. Salomon, the research challenges widely held 颅assumptions about historical sea otter populations and is calling Canada鈥檚 Species at Risk Act (SARA) into 颅question.
Longstanding claims by Indigenous communities argue that the protection of sea otters under SARA not only interferes with traditional harvesting practices, but also creates an imbalance within ecosystems that have been managed for thousands of years.
Through archeological and ethnographic evidence, the report determined that hunting and management practices of Indigenous communities regulated sea otter populations near human settlements, reducing the 颅pinnipeds鈥� negative impacts on shared shellfish resources.
鈥淚t kind of shifts the way that a lot of people think about ecosystems,鈥� said Slade.
While humans are commonly associated with negative ecosystem impacts, the recent graduate of Simon Fraser University鈥檚 School of Resource and Environmental Management said that hasn鈥檛 always been the case.
鈥淚t continues to be that humans can have positive interactions with ecosystems and really are a part of them,鈥� she said.
The sea otter fur trade began in the 1700s when the first pelts were traded to Captain James Cook from the village of Yuquot in Nootka Sound.
Sought after for their dense fur, which sold for vast profits in China and Europe, the species was widely hunted and extirpated.
Their worldwide population dropped from 300,000 in the 18th and 19th centuries to fewer than 2,000 by the early 1900s, and the last verified sea otter on B.C.鈥檚 coast was shot near Kyuquot in 1929, according to the 颅Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
In response, DFO translocated 89 sea otters from Amchitka and Prince William Sound, Alaska, to 颅Checleset Bay on the west coast of 91原创 Island between 1969 and 1972.
They were designated as a species of special concern in 2009, following an assessment by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada in 2007, the DFO said.
鈥淭hey are listed under the Species at Risk Act because they may become threatened or endangered,鈥� DFO said. 鈥淭heir susceptibility to oil and the proximity to major oil tanker routes make them particularly vulnerable to oil spills.鈥�
Despite that, the species has since repopulated to a total of 8,110 sea otters, according to a range-wide survey of the B.C. coast in 2017.
鈥淚t has since repopulated a portion of its historic range in British Columbia, but is not yet clearly secure,鈥� DFO said, adding population numbers remain small and require careful monitoring.
Prior to the fur trade, Slade said, sea otters flourished alongside mussel beds, abalone, sea urchins and clam populations for thousands of years.
鈥淏ut what we鈥檙e seeing right now with the 颅reintroduction of sea otters and the species at risk 颅management of sea otters is that [they] are decimating shellfish 颅populations.鈥�
Dianne Ignace has been living in the Hesquiaht 颅Harbour since 1975 and blames the reintroduction of sea otters for the decline of shellfish and sea urchins in the region.
鈥淭hey cleaned out the harbour of a lot of resources,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here are no more clams. The clams are all gone.鈥�
Sea otters eat about 20 per cent of their body weight each day and without the ability to manage populations, Tseshaht First Nation elected chief Ken Watts said that shellfish abundance is affected.
鈥淸The study] solidifies what we鈥檝e always known,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e need to be a part of [ecosystem] management because we鈥檝e been managing our territories since time immemorial.鈥�
Huu-ay-aht First Nation Hereditary Chief 颅Hup-in-Yook (Tom Mexis Happynook) helped advise the research and said the removal of First Nations from ecosystem management has 鈥渕ade everything go out of balance.鈥�
鈥淭hese policies removed us from our responsibility within our territories as caretakers of our food sources,鈥� he said.
Too often, Slade said, policy-making occurs at a level that is separate from those who are most affected by it.
鈥淭he management of sea otters can occur in a way that doesn鈥檛 mean that sea otter populations are going to be at risk,鈥� she said. 鈥淲hat I see as being positive about this kind of interaction and management is that it is driven by the people who also rely on those resources and is informed by their interactions.鈥�
When making decisions about sea otter 颅management, DFO said its priority is to ensure that the 鈥渂est 颅available information鈥� is reflected, including science and 颅Indigenous knowledge.
鈥淢anagement plans for species of special concern, such as sea otters, are prepared in co-operation with the jurisdictions responsible for the management of the 颅species, including directly affected wildlife 颅management boards and Indigenous groups,鈥� said DFO.
Iain McKechnie, an archeologist and assistant 颅professor of anthropology at the University of 颅Victoria who has been working in the Broken Group Islands since 2001, said the opportunity to learn more about how ancient communities dealt with marine resource 颅management is being lost. 鈥淏ecause there鈥檚 not a lot of work that鈥檚 happening on that topic, there鈥檚 a lot of assumptions that modern science makes about 颅Indigenous impacts and Indigenous histories.鈥�
While McKechnie said the 鈥渢ide is turning鈥� in terms of Indigenous sovereignty, he hopes the study will encourage conversations around access to 颅livelihoods and the 鈥渁bility for nations to make decisions for 颅themselves with respect to marine resources.鈥�
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of opportunity for people to start being more participatory in choosing to draw on history and how we can continue to co-exist with our ocean spaces and tenure systems like the Ha鈥檞iih hereditary rights to harvest,鈥� he said.
