Knowledge co-production & centering Indigenous voices in Pacific salmon monitoring & management
Date
2025
Authors
Steel, Jade Ryan
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Abstract
Indigenous Peoples across the west coast of what is now known as North America (the Pacific Northwest region) face persistent and systemic challenges stemming from the legal, regulatory, and environmental context of the fisheries upon which they depend. Despite commitments to reconciliation (e.g. the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples), interactions between colonialism and centralized fisheries management continue to generate governance inequities and have contributed to ongoing declines of many Pacific salmon populations. Current fisheries management regimes frequently overlook or marginalize Indigenous Knowledge Systems that have sustained Pacific salmon populations for millennia. At the same time, critical data gaps in fisheries and population monitoring persist, further constraining conservation efforts and limiting Indigenous Peoples’ ability to rightfully access and steward their fisheries. Given the interconnectedness between coastal Indigenous Peoples and Pacific salmon, these cumulative impacts and governance realities erode Indigenous food sovereignty, undermine food systems, cultural practices and lifeways, and the overall well-being of Indigenous Peoples.
This dissertation responds to these challenges through research action. Specifically, the overarching aim of this PhD dissertation is to center Pacific salmon, Indigenous Peoples, and their Knowledges within fisheries monitoring and management contexts, and to offer recommendations for assessing and transforming colonial policies that continue to shape Pacific salmon fisheries in Canada. Three guiding research questions founded the work. The first research question asked, how can an assessment tool be co-developed with First Nations to reflect Indigenous perspectives on the implementation of Canada’s 1999 Salmon Allocation Policy (SAP), particularly regarding conservation objectives and Canada’s stated commitment to priority access for Indigenous Nations to salmon fisheries in British Columbia? To address this question, we partnered with 51 First Nations across British Columbia to co-develop a Salmon Allocation Policy Assessment Tool. Through this research, findings revealed systemic failures of the Canadian Government and Fisheries and Oceans Canada to uphold both conservation and First Nations’ priority access objectives of the policy since its inception in 1999. The second research question this dissertation asked was, what are some of the motivations, challenges, and outcomes of active Indigenous-led salmon monitoring programs throughout the Pacific Northwest and how does Indigenous-led monitoring support collaborative fisheries management? In collaboration with 31 Nations and Native Tribes from Alaska, Yukon, British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon, and in partnership with the Tamamta Program, we conducted in-depth interviews that revealed Indigenous-led salmon monitoring as both an exercise of sovereignty and a fundamental means of generating independent data. Thirdly, this dissertation asked, How can an Indigenous-led salmon monitoring program strengthen knowledge of local salmon populations while supporting management priorities and community requirements for Food, Social, and Ceremonial fisheries? Working in close partnership with the Haíɫzaqv Nation in the Central Coast of British Columbia, we answered this question by analyzing 2,002 dockside surveys and 472 Genetic Stock Identification data to evaluate local coho salmon fisheries. This research revealed significant conservation risks facing local coho salmon populations, while also identifying opportunities for precautionary, Haíɫzaqv-driven fisheries conservation reform.
Together these findings emphasize that Indigenous-led salmon monitoring and Indigenous Knowledge Systems are essential to stewarding Pacific salmon while sustaining access for Indigenous communities. This dissertation also contributes both practical and theoretical insights in to how knowledge co-production can re-shape fisheries monitoring and management for Pacific salmon, offering innovative recommendations for both localized and broader fisheries policy reform throughout the Pacific Northwest. This research demonstrates that centering Indigenous sovereignty and stewardship through monitoring can advance more just, effective, and collaborative fisheries management. such steps are urgently needed to secure the future of Pacific salmon and support transformation in fisheries monitoring and management for all.
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Keywords
salmon, Indigenous Knowledge, resource management, fisheries