The Mamalilikulla’s game plan to recover salmon populations
May 14, 2024|inBlog, Community Salmon Program, Salmon Steward
In 2021, Chief Winidi (John Powell) led the Mamalilikulla First Nation in declaring an Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area (IPCA). Now, they’re taking steps to restore salmon populations.
This story originally appeared in the Spring 2024 edition of Salmon Steward, the Pacific Salmon Foundation’s quarterly print magazine.
Photos: Taylor Roades
Indigenous-led conservation has existed since time immemorial. But in recent years, a new tool has helped secure the stewardship authority of Indigenous governments across Canada. Several First Nations in B.C. have now declared Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs).
For the Mamalilikulla, establishing an IPCA was an opportunity to spearhead stewardship efforts on their territory, located just north of Vancouver Island.
IPCAs are lands and waters where Indigenous governments commit to leading long-term conservation efforts in accordance with their own priorities, knowledge, and laws. The concept was first introduced in 2018, and could be an important step toward implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) in Canada.
“We recognized the incredible potential for the Mamalilikulla to reconnect their dispersed membership to the traditional territory, and to re-establish their inherent stewardship responsibilities. It was humbling and exhilarating when elected and hereditary leaders publicly declared the IPCA in November 2021,” says John Bones, advisor to Mamalilikulla First Nation.
Their new IPCA is roughly the size of Vancouver and includes both land and marine components around Gwaxdlala (Lull Bay) and Nalaxdlala (Hoeya Sound), northeast of Port McNeill. It’s an area of deep cultural and ecological importance to the Mamalilikulla, who value its unique underwater corals, sea sponges, and estuaries.
Streams in the IPCA have historically supported abundant salmon populations, as evidenced by ancient villages and fish traps. However, a combination of timber harvesting and landslide events has now degraded salmon habitat.
“Salmon runs have dropped significantly in the past 100 years. A few years ago, the salmon returns were so low that our Grizzly bears were starving,” says Mamalilikulla Chief Councillor Winidi (John Powell), pictured below.
“A key objective in our IPCA Declaration is to protect and restore salmon, and our management plan for the IPCA includes strategies and zoning that promote salmon habitat restoration.”
With support from PSF’s Community Salmon Program, the Nation is planning restoration activities alongside partners and Indigenous Guardians. In early 2024, they aim to develop site restoration plans for the IPCA’s eight salmon streams.
Proposed projects include stabilizing paths of recent landslides by planting riparian vegetation, removing large debris to allow fish passage, and improving gravel bed conditions for salmon spawning. Grant funds will support this fieldwork through 2024.
Restoring salmon streams is part of the Mamalilikulla’s commitment to lead conservation efforts under new collaborative governance agreements and management plans with Crown governments. Notably, a Land Act Reserve already prevents land use that contradicts their management objectives.
“We’re close to signing a joint management plan with B.C. that includes support for stream and watershed restoration activities. We’re also close to a formal agreement with B.C. for collaboratively managing the IPCA,” says Chief Winidi.
The Nation has successfully advocated for Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) to close the IPCA to all fisheries, and initiated an eelgrass restoration project in the Lull estuary to support juvenile salmon.
“With funding from organizations like PSF, we’re cautiously optimistic about the future of salmon in the IPCA.”
ABOUT THE COMMUNITY SALMON PROGRAM:
In the 34 years since its inception, PSF’s Community Salmon Program has distributed $27.4 million in grants to more than 3,200 projects across B.C. and the Yukon and engaged thousands of volunteers. Sign up to donate online.
