Haida Marine Planning: First Nations as a Partner in Marine Conservation

Abstract

ABSTRACT. The Haida Nation is involved in an integrated marine planning initiative in northern British Columbia, Canada. The Haida continue to occupy traditional territory in and around Haida Gwaii, or the Queen Charlotte Islands, and are engaged in a larger planning process for the Pacific North Coast Integrated Management Area (PNCIMA). This initiative is in the early planning stage, focused on capacity building and creating enabling conditions for co-governance. Court decisions, government policies, and a modern treaty process are driving short-and long-term efforts to resolve issues of Aboriginal ownership and resource access, both on land and in the ocean. As a result, the PNCIMA process is being led by two levels of government, First Nations and federal, reflecting changing perceptions of Aboriginal title and rights in British Columbia. The Haida have been resource owners and managers on Haida Gwaii for millennia, and continue to apply traditional knowledge and experience to marine-use planning and fisheries management. The Haida approach is place based and guided by fundamental Haida ethics and values such as respect, balance, and reciprocity. We describe these values and discuss the emerging role of First Nations in integrated oceans management in the context of the six themes: lessons from land-use planning; the PNCIMA governance structure; the relationship of values to planning outcomes; developing an ecosystembased management framework; applications of traditional knowledge, based on a study of Haida marine traditional knowledge currently in progress; and linking marine planning at various scales. On Haida Gwaii, collaborative marine planning is expected to result in improved protection of Haida Gwaii waters for future generations, greater Haida participation in management decisions, and increasing emphasis on sustainability of both local fisheries and communities.

Integrating Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Fisheries Management in the Torres Strait, Australia: the Catalytic Role of Turtles and Dugong as Cultural Keystone Species

“…In this context the application of TEK through the comanagement of cultural keystone species may be indicative of reasserted ownership and control, as also observed among First Nation groups in North America (e.g. Armitage 2005a, Jones 2007, Poepoe et al 2007, Jones et al 2010. By comparison, although also colonized by Europeans, many developing Melanesian nations gained independence in the late 20th century, and marine tenure and customary practices have remained largely intact (Johannes 2002).…”

“…The application of TEK in the management of cultural keystone species can be closely tied to the expression and revival of traditional indigenous culture and marine resourceuse rights. Examples include the Haida people and Pacific herring in British Columbia (Jones 2007, Jones et al 2010, the Ho'olehua Homestead and whitesaddle goatfish in Hawai'i (Poepoe et al 2007), and Nunavat communities and narwhal in Arctic Canada (Armitage 2005a(Armitage , 2007.…”

Values-led management: the guidance of place-based values in environmental relationships of the past, present, and future

“…The shift to EBM recognizes that holistic consideration is needed of all components of ecosystems, including people, an important evolution from management focused on individual species, with different and sometimes opposing policies and practices being applied to different elements of ecosystems, e.g., separate management of predators and prey (Darimont et al 2010, Adams et al 2017. However, whereas EBM might recognize the interconnections between people and the environment, its implementation is rarely founded on place-based values (though see Jones et al 2010, Kahui and Richards 2014, and Marine Planning Partnership Initiative 2015 for discussion on intersection of values-led management and EBM). By not addressing underlying values and worldviews, implementation of EBM might not have the deep leverage to bring about fundamental changes to overall environmental interactions (Meadows 1999, Abson et al 2017.…”

“…It then describes Haida ethics and values, stating that "[these] underlie the approach to marine planning on Haida Gwaii and are considered to be the foundation of the Marine Plan" (p. 11). The values described (see Jones et al 2010) are (1) Yahguudang or Yakguudang, respect for all living things; (2) 'Laa guu ga kanhlln, responsibility to manage and care for the land and sea; (3) Gina 'waadluxan gud ad kwaagiida, interconnectedness: everything depends on everything else: interrelatedness between all aspects of the environment; (4) Giid tll'juus, balance: the world is as sharp as the edge of a knife, and balance is needed in all interactions with the environment; (5) Gina k'aadang.nga gii uu tl' k'anguudang, seeking wise counsel: incorporating traditional knowledge with new ideas and information in decision making; and 6) Isda ad diigii isda, giving and receiving: the notion of reciprocity among people, other species, and places. The plan then describes specific goals, e.g., conservation of marine ecosystems, sustainable ocean uses and activities, strategies to achieve each goal, and recommended policies for implementing those strategies, e.g., areas where specific activities are permitted or prohibited.…”

“…The implementation of values-led approaches in places without existing place-based peoples and practices, and over a much shorter period than observed in the examples provided herein, is a novel route. Work is needed to identify how existing place-supportive values might apply in new situations, to identify which additional values might prove useful for enabling place-based relationships, and to assess the circumstances in which this broad approach might be most effective, representing opportunities for adaptive learning (Jones et al 2010). Moreover, further investigation into how place-based values might interact with or be incorporated into existing (or additional) laws in a given location might enable better systems of protection and management.…”