How Indigenous Knowledge Could Save Fishing

An alternative approach to bridge Indigenous knowledge and Western science for conservation (commentary)

Conservation is our collective responsibility as humans, requiring broad participation from all members of society, rooted in a diverse range of knowledge systems and experiences. Yet modern approaches to conservation, science and land-use planning are influenced by our history of colonialism and power imbalances that continue to affect Indigenous communities across Canada. Despite attempts in the last decade to build bridges between biological …

How Indigenous Knowledge Could Save Fishing

It is March of 2015, and I am on the central coast of British Columbia, Canada, accompanied by two members of the Kitasoo Xai’xais Nation: 71-year-old Charlie Mason, who is a Hereditary Chief also known as Neasmuutk Haimas, and his 10-year-old grandson, Dean Duncan. It’s 39 degrees Fahrenheit and raining hard. Exposed to the frigid downpour, we cruise along in Mason’s aluminum punt, our wake slapping against a rocky shoreline from which forested…