Earth’s oceans are being severely damaged by climate change, pollution, overfishing and other destructive, human-caused shock waves.
To restore the oceans, and prevent their health from deteriorating further, decision makers and knowledge creators around the world must act together, and quickly—hence the theme of this year’s UN World Oceans Day: “Revitalization: collective action for the oceans.”
We asked IOF researchers how their research contributes to collective action for ocean health, what they have found are the biggest roadblocks to collaboration between groups, and how we can overcome these obstacles.
Kasey Stirling
Kasey Stirling, a Nlaka’pamux, Mi’kmaq, and Acadienne researcher, is a master’s student in the Centre for Indigenous Fisheries at the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries (IOF).
Along with fellow master’s student, Kate Mussett, Stirling works in partnership with the First Nations Fisheries Legacy Fund, a collective of six Lower Fraser First Nations (Katzie, Kwantlen, Kwikwetlem, Musqueam, Tsleil-Waututh, and Tsawwassen), to co-develop a more culturally relevant framework for watershed health assessment.
“I’m working on a genetic survey of single-celled algae called diatoms,” Stirling said. “These diatoms are very beautiful. They look like underwater snowflakes, but they are also linked to the presence of salmon in stream systems, and the amount of salmon in those systems.”
Understanding how diatoms connect to salmon abundance could improve salmon survival odds in an era when climate change, ocean acidification, pollution, and other environmental hazards are collapsing fisheries.
“Getting an idea of what algae are in a stream system at any given time could tell us a lot about the health of that habitat for salmon, especially for salmon spawning,” she said.
Stirling hopes that this work can be used by other First Nations looking to improve stewardship and investigate environmental conditions on their lands.
“The main goal of this project is to co-create with the First Nations Fisheries Legacy Fund a field guide or framework for how we’re working through this process, specifically in the Lower Fraser context, so that other Nations could learn from this and adapt it to their own needs,” she said
It is all part of enhancing Indigenous collective action for the natural environment, she said.
– Footage by Kateri Jones
Although Indigenous Peoples are increasingly working collectively to solve environmental problems that affect Earth’s oceans, challenges remain when it comes to collaborating with the Canadian government.
“There is a long history of bad relations between Canada’s government and Indigenous Nations in all aspects of Indigenous life,” Stirling said.
Canada’s government has a duty to consult with Indigenous Peoples when making decisions that may have consequences for Indigenous rights, including the construction of industry projects, such as oil and gas pipelines, that impact the natural environment. However, these consultations are typically an empty gesture, and the perspectives, experiences and expertise of Indigenous Peoples have been ignored, Stirling said.
She believes that Indigenous communities must be empowered participants who have control over the stewardship of ancestral territory before any true collective action with Canada’s government can happen.
“We have stewarded our lands for thousands of years. We don’t need to be told what to do; we need to be listened to,” she said.
“Something people can do to work more collaboratively with Indigenous Nations is find out what projects are already going on on the territories that you are living on and working on. See if the Nations are looking for help, and work in the ways they ask for, rather than ways you think they might need.”