There was a time that Checleset Bay, British Columbia, was full of sea otters until they disappeared entirely by 1929. Although the First Nations controlled most of the land, American and Canadian biologists launched a successful sea otter rescue plan.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, European fur traders hunted sea otters all across the north Pacific Rim for their pelts, causing numerous territorial disputes as the animal populations quickly declined. In the 1700s, there was an estimate of about 150,000 to 300,00 sea otters, which decreased to about 2,000 by the early 1900s.
Today, restoring the animal populations in the British Columbian bay increased the small population of less than 100 to over 7,000 sea otters. However, the increase of sea otter populations had a few consequences affecting the First Nations community.
Food Security
As a predator of crabs, abalone, clams, and other shellfish, they became a competition of the primary food source of the First Nations. Lack of food supplies also affected otter populations, risking the survival of pups as they would spread out and expand their habitat in search of food.
First Nation communities shared that the bay used to be the best clam beach. Working alongside biologists, the Kyuquot/Cheklesahht Nation tracked the decline of clams, sea urchins, abalone, and sea cucumbers.
This is especially difficult for the Kyuquot, who live in remote communities that are at least five hours away from the nearest grocery store. Sea otters have threatened the locals' food security.
Before the fur trade and reintroduction of otters in the area, the sea otters lived in a stable balance with the First Nations and mutual sources of food. Solutions to try and restore that balance would mean relying on the shared learning of indigenous communities, who pass on their way of life from one generation to the next.
READ: Indigenous People Are Teaching Researchers About the Environment
Balance in the Ecosystem
One way the First Nations used to keep a balance in the ecosystem was by hunting sea otters, which has been limited under the 1972 US Marine Mammal Protection Act for the Sugpiaq tribe. In Canada, the Species at Risk Act allows the First Nations to hunt otters legally, yet causes tensions between Canada's Federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans, who try to preserve the sea otter populations.
To work towards the coexistence of the animals and the First Nations, solutions would have to be 'the kind of outside the box' ones between indigenous communities and scientists, shared Kii'iljuus Barb Wilson from the Haida Nation. Collaborative research by socio-ecological systems researcher Anne Salomon and marine ecologist Jenn Burt aim to work with indigenous knowledge to find a recovery plan that focuses on social-ecological resilience and boldly addresses issues of equity, justice, and inclusivity.
Instead of separating the focus on just sea otters or the rights of the First Nations, shared experts, a better approach would be to work on restoring how the Pacific coast ecosystems were formerly balanced for thousands of years.
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