LANDSCAPE OVERVIEW

Along the Pacific coast of Canada, commercial harvest, climate-induced declines, the recovery of marine predators, and centralized fisheries governance regimes are constraining coastal Indigenous communities’ access to fisheries for food and livelihoods. Pinpointing recovery strategies that sustain resilient fisheries and the equitable distribution of catches demand that the causes of fish declines and the barriers to access be diagnosed and relevant solutions be co-produced with Indigenous resource users and Indigenous management agencies.

CHALLENGES FACING CANADA'S PACIFIC COASTAL FISHERIES

Research Challenges:

• Weaving diverse data streams; from ecological, archaeological and social science data, to traditional knowledge, and using diverse analytical methods; from state-of-the art modeling, decision analysis and scenario planning
  
• Working across spatial scales and incorporating uncertainty; scaling-up local case studies and empirical data to make regionally relevant models and predictions ​​

Management Challenges:

• Linking disparate fisheries and marine spatial planning initiatives currently underway with federal, provincial and Indigenous governing agencies and developing authentic adaptive co-management institutions and processes
• Matching the scale of management with the nested scales of the ecological and social process affecting key fisheries, carbon sequestration, coastal erosion, and fish habitat all of which support Indigenous community health and well-being
• Navigating trade-offs among diverse fisheries and coastal ecosystem processes given the disparate objectives and power asymmetries among actors

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES​

1. Measure how First Nations fisheries catches have changed through time and space, and document Indigenous fisheries values and livelihood objectives
   
2. Model alternative fishing and hunting management scenarios and assess how they will affect culturally and economically important fisheries (ex: kelp, urchin, sea cucumber, geoduck, rockfish), marine predators (ex: sea otters) and other ecosystem components and processes (ex: abalone, kelp, carbon sequestration, fish habitat, coastal erosion) that people rely on for food, livelihoods, health and cultural well-being
   
3. Inform current and future fisheries and marine management decisions to improve Indigenous access to fisheries, meet community values and livelihood objectives, recovery depleted fisheries, and maintain resilient future fisheries and associated marine resources

EXPECTED OUTCOMES

1. Improve Indigenous access to marine fisheries
   
2. Meet community values and livelihood objectives
   
3. Maintain resilient future fisheries and associated marine resources
   
4. Establish authentic adaptive co-management institutions and processes

---

​FOR RESEARCH QUESTIONS, PLEASE CONTACT:​

Anne K. Salomon, Simon Fraser University
anne_salomon@sfu.ca  -  778-782-8739  -  www.cmeclab.com  -  www.coastalvoices.net   -  Twitter:@AnneKSalomon

---

LANDSCAPE 6 TEAM LEAD

Meet the full team