The only Aboriginal group with troops on the ground

Squamish-Lil-Wat Cultural Centre is prepared for the crush of the world at one of the greatest of sporting spectacles, the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. "It was a busy year," says Josh Anderson, Frontline Operations Coordinator for the First Nation cultural facility in the middle of Whistler that opened in June 2008. "The centre is in the best location possible to sustain high-level interest beyond the 2010 Olympics. It has proven to be something people want, all kinds want the First Nation experience. It's more than a product," Anderson says, "It's a presentation of Squamish and Lil'Wat histories and Coast Salish meeting Interior Salish ways of life."
     

The Whistler area has history between two nations and the centre makes this apparent in the modern context. "We have about 20 ambassadors and seven support staff working 9:30 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. seven days a week. During the day the centre is open to the public for tours and exhibit viewings; in the evening the centre hosts evening galas and private functions for a maximum of 700 people at a reception and 130 to a sit-down dinner." The centre has a commercial kitchen, cafe, and gift shop.
     

Anderson says, "The gift shop contains an extensive selection of Coast Salish and Interior Salish artists and others from the Lower Mainland," and artists from the USA's Pacific North West. "Visitors are greeted by an ambassador and treated to a cultural performance followed by a 15 minute film that shows both Nations in their traditional territories and communities." The tour reveals modern and traditional art and history and a discourse about mysticisms inhabiting the valleys of Coast Mountain corridors and lakes. 
     

"The Great Hall contains canoes, and weaving displays, hunting and fishing and traditional gathering practices on display. The 'What We Treasure Gallery' contains archival and interactive displays to teach the languages." The original Chief Joe Capilano Blanket is on display, his original negotiating garment made of mountain goat wool, which Chief Joe Capilano wore to England in 1906 when he met with King Edward VII.
     

"Modern Art is displayed in a contemporary art gallery upstairs," says Anderson, "and the outdoor exhibits feature a Long House, and a historical representation of an Istken," a re-created dwelling for Interior Salish people. The site contains a Salish workshop where guests are invited to work at making crafts like bracelets, medicine bags, and 'paddle' necklaces. The centre provides a nature walk for 100 metres with signage that explains the flora and fauna of the territory.
     

"The two nations spoke different languages and the displays and events in the Great Hall and the surroundings showcase the differences. Squamish used wool in garments, whereas Lil'Wat used cedar." Canoes differed since Squamish made ocean-going vessels whereas Lil'Wat traveled the rivers and lakes. "Despite these obvious differences they were close through trade and shared the territory in Whistler in harmony. They have a common history about a shared village called Sto7ez village that was destroyed by a landslide."
     

There is a lot of talent and energy around Whistler and the centre gives Whistler a complementary First Nations presence. The cafe's menu has been indigenously inspired, says Anderson. "The foods are spiced with our own herbs and in-house smoked salmon and pemmican is available. Visitors want a Canadian Aboriginal experience, which gives them reason to further explore Canadian First Nation culture. We are taking it deep and we are noticing the summer crowds are very good for us." Performance groups come from both nations and event planners deliver a balanced program in all seasons. The employment strategy for the centre involves Capilano University and the Aboriginal Youth Ambassador training program.  
     

First Nation security company T'musta7 Aboriginal Protection Services (owned by Lyle Leo of Mt. Currie First Nation) will be providing security services to the Resort Municipality of Whistler and other businesses, including Crown Corporations, during 2010 Winter Games. Lyle is partnered with United Protection Services Inc. Aboriginal division United First Nations Corp. headed by VP Earl John. Leo’s focus is on the Sea-to-Sky area, “We are looking at 100 pairs of boots on the ground within the next two or three months,” he says.
     

T'musta7 is a 100% Aboriginal security services contractor operating jointly with United Protection Services of Edmonton, Alberta with business development mentoring of Earl John, VP  and BC Surrey office support and guidance of Ken Robertson, Business Development Manager and Lizette Peters, Human Resource Manager who also delivers licensed security training program which is governed in BC by the Justice Institute (BCJI). BCJI administers a wide variety of public safety programs throughout the province and has an education partnership with Wilp Wilxo’oskwhl Nisga’a Institute (WWNI) in New Aiyansh, Nisga’a Nation.
     

Leo develops business aspects from his office at the New Earth Business Solutions Centre in Mt. Currie. He developed clear operational objectives out of a $75,000 INAC grant to build a multi-year business plan for an Aboriginal security service. “We are closer than ever to operational status since clarifying and renewing business relations. We had to after VANOC rejected our bid for services directly related to the 2010 Olympics,” he explains.
     

Leo remains firm in his resolve. “We were the only Aboriginal group with troops on the ground,” he says, “and to be honest, it was quite disappointing to be rejected by VANOC.” T’Musta7 reassessed in order to create a sustainable long-term opportunity as a sub-contractor. They now have personnel trained and picking up assignments across Canada. “We are particularly interested in pursuing the market in First Nation, Métis, and Inuit operations,” he points out. “We are going to be a national service.”
     

Leo's company was going on two years of experience. He says, “We’re not entering the field to be competitors but to meet the demand for trained Aboriginal security officers.” He says that Aboriginal security services are in high demand at a minimum of 22 airports in Canada and bilingual services are required in many of these contract opportunities. “We are working toward training and licensing 2,000 Aboriginal security guards,” says Leo, “and while we are excited about Olympic-related opportunities—even after VANOC looked right past us—we will be happy to work in the Resort Municipality of Whistler and beyond.”
     

The T’Musta7 recruited security men and women to work at the music festival in Whistler and a 4X4 rally at Pemberton. Leo has actively recruited First Nation personnel and has since been joined by Chief Don Harris of Douglas First Nation, who is, Leo says, “making a lot of headway for Aboriginal community economic development since partnering run of river projects with Cloudworks Energy. They want to take part with organizing opportunities for First Nations with the 2010 Winter Games."
     

Chief Harris delivers business that issues from a Douglas First Nation energy program. Leo says, "Chief Harris is tuned in with the changes in the aboriginal community with his participation in the election of National Chief Shawn Atleo and the opening of the Osoyoos Business Centre.” (Chief Harris was speaking at the IPPBC Conference Nov. 3-4, 2009 in Vancouver.)
     

Leo applied for security services contracts with the BC Hydro Aboriginal Procurement process and in partnership with the Douglas First Nation has plans for licensed security courses to start between 12 to 20 recruits.” Chief Harris says about T’Musta7, “We are recruiting in the Lower Mainland where Douglas First Nation has a lot of members. I am working on the political agreements with INAC to get people trained for employment. Lyle has contracts and we have a 40-hour training program to start between 12 and 20 recruits."

     

First Nations were players in Whistler pre-Olympic developments, according to Ken Melamed, Mayor of the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW), who says they have big plans for the area. Early in the development of the 2010 Olympic program for Vancouver, the opportunity arose to bring First Nations closer to the community and deeper into the cultural organization of the 2010 Olympics. First Nations received 300 acres of land in Whistler, allowing a certain amount of flexibility in economic opportunity. Local First Nations are working with the municipality to conform to official community development plans. “We agreed to recognize each others plans for development,” said Melamed.
     

Proposals include a commercial, a residential, and a recreational development. Melamed says recreational development could include a golf course or similar attraction. The recreation development for the Callahan Valley is a big investment and opportunities within the RMOW are “being treated according to the Community Charter, which demands [First Nations] are treated as any other investor.” The mayor welcomes this opportunity to work with First Nations, whether they take on projects themselves or engage other developers in the process.

Melamed points out that the new Squamish Lil’Wat Cultural Centre in town, "is within the municipality on land that was earmarked for community uses. When First Nations approached us it seemed outside our thinking, but it was such a good idea and within our interests, therefore, we donated the land waived property taxes and a significant economic investment was made there for the benefit of the whole community.” Tax breaks gave start-up business a better chance at success. Melamed says, “They’re up, and they’re rolling, and there is no question that this is a major contribution because already the response from local business members and visiting tourists alike has been very positive.”

The mayor notes that 50 % of the construction of Whistler Olympic Village Park was done by First Nation contractors like Creekside Resources, and employees. He says, “Capacity-building and jobs went into the Squamish Nation, which was given new community resources, and that is a very cool thing.” He added, “We are very happy with that, and I must say the quality of work was exceptional.”

Churchill port open July to November on Hudson's Bay

Churchill Visitors Bureau

 

The Port of Churchill is situated on the western shore of Hudson's Bay, in Northern Manitoba. It is open four months of the year from July until November, says Bill Drew, Executive Director of the Churchill Gateway Development Corporation, who noted that the 2009 shipping season is shaping up to be a good one. Making the tonnage grow at the port has always been a challenge, however, the port is constantly working to attract interest from world shipping circles. The distances between continents are shorter at the top of the world but the opportunity to sail these shorter distances between Northern Europe and Russia and Canada is restricted by Arctic ice.

"Churchill Gateway Development Corporation (CGDC) was established in June 2003 for the purpose of marketing the Port of Churchill through diversifying the traffic base and building two-way traffic," says the website. Drew says, "OmniTrax Inc. headquartered in Denver, CO operates the port facilities and the railroad from Churchill to The Pas." Drew is pleased to note that 75 percent of the people who work for the Port of Churchill and Hudson's Bay Railway Company are local and Aboriginal.

There are a wide array of jobs available at the port as well as in the town of Churchill (www.portofchurchill.ca) and on the rail line that transfers cargo along a southeastern span 800 kilometres, from the centre of the western coast of Hudson's Bay to The Pas, Manitoba. From there cargo moves to points in Canada, USA, and Mexico. The port was developed in 1928 after a long mercantile and industrial age history that began in 1686 as a Hudson's Bay Company fort when a semi-permanent post was established a few kilometres from the mouth of the Churchill River.

By 1717 HBC men in York Factory and present day Churchill were actively trading furs sought from Rupert's Land and there was a whaling industry working to serve the British Empire with lamp oil and medicinal unguents. HBC eventually constructed a formidable fort called Prince of Wales Fort to defend their interests against French warships and this stands today as a national historic site in Churchill.  Today vessels come to Churchill from July to November via Hudson Strait passing Iceland and Greenland and Baffin Island to pick up grain as well as bring fertilizer from Russia. One recent operation in cargo saw fertilizer coming from Estonia.

On average, the port exports 500,000 tonnes of grain per year. People who live and work in this distant Arctic home come from the town or other communities in Nunavut and Manitoba's vast north. Drew says, "People really enjoy living here,'" which doesn't surprise Drew because most of the people are locals from Dene, Cree and Inuit heritage, "It's a bit of a melting pot of northern cultures." The mayor of the town Mike Spence is Aboriginal and Mike sits on the Board of Directors of the Port Of Churchill Gateway Corporation.

Drew says the Aboriginal component has been integral to the development of the Port of Churchill, "The port is unionized with members of the grain handlers union, PSAC, and ILWU locals. We have a Canadian Customs office and the employees rotate on a monthly basis when the port is operational."  The sailing season of today, says Drew, may change in years to come with the onset of later seasons and early break-ups of ice on the Hudson's Bay. That change is yet to come, and nor is it a desirable occurrence, he says. The town has another distinction, "the situation with polar bears," is pretty straight forward, "there's a lot of Them."

Lateral Violence in Indigenous Life in Canada

 

David Segerts is a man who lives for positive change in Canadian society. Sitting one day with Segerts in his tastefully decorated apartment I felt surrounded by an orderly nature given to his lifestyle and was treated to his impeccable manners. I was also given a taste of his lifetime of memories before he talked about the really important issues he works on.

Segerts was born in 1960,  at the time Uranium City, Saskatchewan, was a city of 5,000 souls, and he grew up to see the mining property turn into a ghost town. Uranium City was shutdown in 1982 but by that time he was ready to move on.

"I am a Dene/Cree but I generally say I am Dene because I look almost exactly like my Dene father." He shows a photograph that proves he is the spitting image of his dad. "I dropped out of school when I was in grade 8 and went back for adult upgrading by the age of 25 at Alberta Vocational Centre in Calgary. AVC was a good learning experience although the facility lacked a First Nation student organization so I helped put one together. We held dances, fundraisers, and hosted a room that the school donated, which became a gathering place for all nations and a useful foot in the door for First Nation students."

A short time later Segerts began to study something very important in First Nation life in Canada, the tactics of oppression known as lateral violence that are especially prevalent in systemic racism. It is this lateral violence that explains the extraordinary incarceration rates and recidivism in crime for the First Nation people of Canada. As high as 50 percent of the prisoners in Canada either male or female are First Nation or Aboriginal people. For these kinds of disparities to exist in a segment of society that is less than 5 percent of the total population, the problems have to run very deep indeed.

"Lateral violence goes on in every First Nation organization and starts with arguments like, 'My family is better than theirs,'" he says. "It is important within the system of racism to get us fighting amongst each other. We are actually born into it, however, because the system is designed that way. Public awareness is the only way to address it," says Segerts.

"The methods of lateral violence include, backstabbing, gossip, infighting, shaming, humiliating, damaging comments, belittling, and sometimes violent behaviour." Other terms for what is happening to First Nations in Canada include auto-genocide and horizontal violence, he said. These terms are applied mostly to the members of oppressed groups in society, and he explained, "I didn't really understand lateral violence until I was about 30 years of age. I rarely discussed it until I did the research first. Lateral violence is designed to prevent efforts to heal the effects of oppression."

Lateral violence teaches people to disrespect and deny the rights of an oppressed group, to destroy values and beliefs. Practitioners will engage in infighting, faulting finding, and scapegoating, raising the stakes of competition via jealousy and envy. The attacks are made upon those who already possess low self esteem and further attacks lower a person's self worth.

Ultimately the goal is to make the victim take blame for the continuous putdowns, "This is the nature of oppression," says Segerts. "It is a denial of their self and humanity. They think they have become objects unworthy of respect. They fail from the inability to recognize themselves as human beings. They become convinced that the oppressor owns them, and often the oppressor does own them through financial dependencies upon welfare and personal dependencies upon drugs or alcohol."

He says, “When my son was 11 years old I brought him to Calgary to live with me, and after a few short weeks he told me, ‘Dad, I didn’t realize that Indians didn’t drink. I didn’t realize the Indian men work.’” It was another stunning learning experience about lateral violence for Segerts the father who has never spent time stuck in welfare programs but knows on reserves and in some urban communities it can become a long-running generational trap.

“People who feel dependent suffer a lack of personal power. When they lose power they will see their cultural identity eliminated and be unable to stop it,” he says. Many times the First Nations in Canada have been known to hide their own beliefs or adopt the beliefs of an oppressing society. “They were dislocated from the land and suffered breakdown of family structure during the Residential School years. Indigenous people were removed from families at age four in some cases, only to be afflicted with physical, mental, sexual, and social abuses.”

His own mother had a safety pin jammed through her tongue by nuns at one such school, then was made to sit facing a corner in a classroom for speaking her Cree language. “There were many children killed by torture,” he asserts, “and other families were disrupted by one child being raised in a Catholic school and another being raised in a United Church run school. In fact the Residential School system was a highly specialized form of lateral violence.”

The lateral violence design for First Nations people results in a distrust of First Nation leaders by their own people. “It results in a distrust of those who might emerge to help," he says. "Rising stars are severely restricted or punished. Leaders who make any difference are fired and persecuted. Incompetent leaders are recruited and promoted by the oppressors. Dividing and conquering is the main process used by the oppressors.”

Segerts needs to write a book with a biographical story line if he hasn't already. He was trained as a technical engineer at BCIT and NAIT, then, while living in Vancouver, he entered the film industry, first as an actor, then as a producer and director. When we last spoke he was running a youth-at-risk employment initiative that operates across Canada for First Nations. Remember the name David Segerts because the book would be an important read. If you know David Segerts personally, put the suggestion to him again. 

Video of photo collage, Hanson Island, Yukusem Canoe Carving Project by Beau Dick

Culture Camp on Yukusem

 

Safety a first concern, along with performance in Aluminum Chambered Boats

Have you ever been in a boat on the ocean racing across the water on the tops of waves and suddenly you see a log in front? Wouldn't it be nice at that moment to say, "I'm unsinkable," when you're reaching for a life-jacket? (These are optional attire in recreational watercraft in Canadian waters; however, there must be one lifejacket per passenger in the boat.)

Creating that unsinkable feeling is the basic philosophy of boat-building at Aluminum Chambered Boats (ACB) Inc., Bellingham, WA., where they simply say, “THERE’S INCREDIBLE BEAUTY IN PURE SAFETY.”

“She may not be the prettiest girl at the dance, but boy can she dance.” says Larry Wieber, Founder/CEO of ACB. Larry is perhaps underestimating the beauty of the boats he designs and builds, but he is ‘in the know’ about how to make recreational boaters benefit from ACB safety innovations.

Bear in mind ACB is something of an American institution and today the company incorporates the same advanced hull technology in their line of recreational and fishing boats as they use in their military vessels.

They build boats in the Pacific North West that meet stringent construction and safety requirements, “ACBs are the first and only aluminum boats tank tested by the US Coast Guard and approved without using foam flotation,” said Larry. “The unique chambered flotation system cannot be compromised,” even if the hull and several chambers are punctured!

“Hit a rock or log and tear the hull and you will stay afloat and stay alive,” he said. These are high performance watercraft riding on a patented aluminum chambered hull, “a design with a modified V hull and contiguous airtight aluminum chambers.”

The system provides critical survivability flotation, Larry said, plus, “incredible stability and reduced fuel burn with unmatched manoeuvrability.” Add to that a soft air-cushioned ride in the most difficult conditions.

Remember that the US Navy runs a lot ACBs and so does the US Coast Guard. USCG puts crews on US coasts in a 24-foot center console CB-L vessel that handles multiple missions. It is deployed from a cutter in such operations as search and rescue (SAR), maritime law enforcement (MLE), ports and waterways, and coastal security.

The design of the CB-L will carry a three-man crew and up to nine passengers and the vessel is equipped with shock-mitigated seating for the crew. The vessel is designed for security services and powered with a Cummins QSD 2.8 230 HP Bravo 1 with Mercury outdrive. “The CB-L’s top speed is,” an incredible, “39.5 knots.”

US government and citizens alike operate ACBs in all weather conditions including winter in Alaska. So where did this ability to provide marine safety and security of passengers come from? Larry explained, “ACB has built a team of numerous seasoned military and marine industry professionals with collective skill sets that provide the basis of the ACB construction and logistics team.”

ACB built their reputation for delivering quality on time and on budget by serving customers in all branches of the US military and expanding their market from that. Over the past few years the company has taken the patented rugged, state-of-the-art high performance aluminum boats to government, recreational, and commercial customers on a global basis. VISIT www.acbboats.com

A new array for gathering hydro power

The EnCurrent Turbine patented by New Energy Corp. of Calgary, Alberta, is making the rounds in North American waters and the system is proving to be a great adaptation in all kinds of high-flow water systems like Calgary city water outflows, steep Alaskan rivers, high-flow tidal currents on the Inside Passage of Vancouver Island, and icy winter waters of Manitoban rivers.

“We put a 5KWh system in the Ruby River in Alaska. Initially they called for 2.5 KWh but our system was able to pull out that much more electricity from the river current,” said Clayton Bear, one of the principals of New Energy Corporation.

“In Manitoba we tested year-round. At present we are looking at two things: further expansion in Alaska and access to the Rural Electrification Program in B.C.,” said Bear, “which is mostly First Nations accessing the program.”

Elsewhere in the country Clayton attended a conference this spring in Moncton looking into the potential for energy in the Maritimes. “The conference was looking at big projects in the Bay of Fundy. Many companies are looking because there is so much power in that water. The tide rises 10 m per second. It’s an incredible amount of energy.”

The conference showed that Bay of Fundy presents many unresolved technical challenges. The generators as yet cannot withstand the beating of that much water. “They are talking about smaller projects in the immediate future using estuaries with high tidal flows off the bay.”

Meanwhile Bear and business partner Robert Moll have EnCurrent Turbines arrayed in five, ten and 25 KWh systems in Canoe Pass, Manitoba, and Alaska on the Yukon River. The next phase for New Energy is to take their tidal project in Canoe Pass (near Quadra Island on the B.C. coast) to the 250 KWh scale with an array of EnCurrent Turbines. The ultimate goal is to extract five to MWh out of the tidal flow around Quadra Island.

At OREG (Ocean Resource Energy Group) Chris Campbell noted the province is organizing a series of regional meetings with First Nations in 2009 and meanwhile the federal government has put some money into an ocean wave energy project with SyncWave in Ahousaht, a semi-remote First Nation community found outside Tofino in the Nuu chah nulth Nation.

VIU grad a biologist in a beautiful land

Vancouver Island University (VIU) has an education program in fisheries and aquaculture that is a magnet to First Nation youth of the Pacific Coast. Sabrina Halvorsen graduated a four-year degree program to become an Associate Biologist for Nuu Chau Nulth Uu-a-thluk Fisheries in Port Alberni, B.C..

“I am a member of the Uchucklesaht Tribe,” said Sabrina of a community of the Nuu Chah Nulth Nation on the west side of Vancouver Island. She received her childhood education at schools in Uchucklesaht, Bamfield, and Port Alberni; Sabrina entered VIU after working in cultivating oysters outside Barkley Sound.

“When I originally started in the Uchucklesaht oyster farm a science opportunity was presented,” and she seized it and went to work on the VIU degree. Today she does biological science for the NTC, “I’ve been doing a variety of different things this spring. We are doing stream restoration work, crab studies, sea otter studies, and general scientific observations.”

She lives in this remarkably beautiful land, “I like the work and days working in the field are my favourite days.” The office work is immersed in policy papers and proposal writing. The NTC has the greater Nuu chah nulth Nation in mind, which is basically from the height of land all the way down the west side of Vancouver Island.

Historically Nuu chah nulth people had closer relations with their northern neighbours the Kwakwaka’wakw more than with the giant Coast Salish nation opposite those heights.

Sabrina works with regional biologists Jim Lane, Katie Beach, and Roger Dunlop in the NTC lands and fisheries offices. “We have sea lice surveys upcoming, continuation of the sea otter counts, and we are conducting crab surveys. I will also be participating in the Burman and Koauk projects which will be determining Chinook salmon escapement to these rivers”.

She works with the Bamfield Marine Science Centre (U of Vic) to deliver aquatic orientation sessions to youth. “We show them the activities of a biologist and how to sample species such as salmon by removing scales and otoliths for age and origin. We teach them the importance of protecting our natural resources

and what we can do to maintain the natural environment. We also try to engage and encourage the students who are interested in working towards science-based career goals.”

The Uchucklesaht oyster and mussel farm that introduced her to the career is no longer operating. “The oyster farm was so remote a location that it’s hard to find personnel who can do it. I hope my band will start that up again someday.”

VIUFA was established in 1979, said Don Furnell, professor in the department, “offering a two-year Diploma in Fisheries and Aquaculture Technology,” and in time, “the program expanded to include a one-year post degree diploma for students that already had a B.Sc. in biological or environmental sciences.” 

In 1997 the department added a B.Sc. in Fisheries and Aquaculture, “Since opening the department has graduated approximately six hundred students,” said Don, “many of whom were of First Nations descent and sponsored by their various bands.”

Facilities have grown to include two cold water tank farms for rainbow trout and Fraser River white sturgeon. The department has a public involvement hatchery at Chase River in Secwepmec territory.

“VIU has a sea water recirculation system where laboratory specimens are kept and bred,” said Don, “an aquaponics room that grows vegetables in conjunction with warm water fish, and a tropical fish room that breeds and grows aquarium fish for the pet trade.”

VIUFA places equal emphasis on fisheries management and aquaculture R and D. Students take courses in salmonid life histories and management, an advanced course in fisheries management with an emphasis on fisheries politics and global warming, a lake survey field and laboratory based course, a course in hydrology and another in limnology, a course on the biology of fish, and another in invertebrate zoology

Even though many of facilities on campus are related to aquaculture there is a strong fisheries component to all the programs. “Because of the dual emphasis on both fisheries and aquaculture graduates find employment in a wide variety of careers in government, in private aquaculture operations,” he said, “and growing a diversity of organisms such as salmon, oysters, clams, sablefish, sturgeon and marine plants and micro algae.”

NBCC the nexus of aquaculture in New Brunswick

Rod Carney is one of the Aquaculture Technician instructors at NBCC-St. Andrews College in New Brunswick, an education institution that lies at the centre of a thriving aquaculture industry in the province. First Nations in eastern Canada have been accessing NBCC-St. Andrews for years to gain technical training in growing fish.

“Over the years we’ve run several programs specifically requested by First Nations, and within the program last year we graduated two more Aboriginal students out of Quebec,” said Rod. The Aquaculture Technician course runs over a ten-month school term from September to June each year with a combination of school work and hands-on training that offers a tech-oriented learning curve.

“St. Andrews in Charlotte County in the south-west is the centre of aquaculture in the province,” he said, describing the island-dotted south-west coast Charlotte County, New Brunswick. “Ninety five percent of the $300 million a year aquaculture industry is located in the south-west coast,” he notes. Other areas of the province have lobster beds and shellfish developments but the Atlantic salmon grow in the waters off Charlotte County.

Rod said the first commercial salt water fish farm was set-up in 1978 and the industry went through the same growing pains that have been reported elsewhere as the industry evolved into a highly regulated and industrialized economy thriving on both coasts. “We’re growing about half the amount of Atlantic salmon that is produced on the west coast,” where the fin-fish aquaculture industry is about $600 million annually, largely for export, making it B.C.’s largest agricultural export.

Rod was a graduate of aquaculture technical training at New Brunswick Community College at St. Andrews in 1979 where he’s now the teacher (one of two instructors) for Aquaculture Technicians-in-training at NBCC-St. Andrews. NBCC campuses are found in Fredericton Centre, Miramichi, Moncton, Saint John, Woodstock, and the NBCC College of Craft and Design.

“Our campus has the aquaculture focus as a practical outcome with industry and hatcheries operating in the vicinity. Our campus has several programs but the training for aquaculture has been set here and much of the training relates to on-land rearing and ocean-based net-pen aquaculture, specifically the growing of Atlantic salmon.”

Because industry is looking at other developments in fish research and development occurs in different species. “We are experimenting with halibut, cod, and shortnose sturgeon,” a fish native to the eastern seaboard and the riverine systems flowing into the east coast.

One company in the province, Supreme Sturgeon and Caviar, works in Charlotte County with 45,000 sturgeon producing three tonnes of caviar per year. The shortnose sturgeon female can live up to 60 years and grow to about 4.5 metres under ideal growing conditions, and sturgeon will live in tidal waters.

“The Atlantic salmon farms in our waters produce for the markets in the North Eastern U.S. and eastern Canada,” said Rod. Meanwhile the program for students at NBCC-St. Andrew will be part of the province to building partnerships with universities in New Brunswick, transferring certificate course credits to university and vice versa. “Our goal is to see the Aquaculture Technician program count as one year toward a four year degree.” Contact Rod at nbcc@gnb.ca or visit www.nbcc.nb.ca

World class research and training in shellfish

 The Vancouver Island University established the Centre for Shellfish Research to go deep into shellfish, including laboratory and field based research into the science of shellfish genomics, explained the centre’s main administrator, Koren Bear.

“Helen Furney Smith is the science officer leading the research into health assessments on shellfish to help industry, and to assess wild stocks,” in both the environmental and commercial context. “The research is using mussels as indicator species, and Helen’s research in genomics looks into the gene expressions of mussels, what stresses them and causes mortalities,” and the research involves species from aquaculture and wild both.

Bear said, “Mussels are a worldwide indicator species of pollution levels, and in many places in the world even if they are growing oysters they will grow mussels in the surroundings because of the gill structure,” of these animals that act as a buttress against pollutants.

Mussels are one part of a multi-tropic trend in aquaculture, as noted recently at the Aquaculture Canada show in Nanaimo. CSFR is also conducting studies into the commercial viability of cockles on the west coast. “This research looks into the commercial aspects and a steering committee is in charge of the program.

Cockles are being examined in brood stock, cockle hatchery conditions (diet, temperature, and densities), and through field investigations. “They are grown in aquaculture elsewhere in the world but they are not done here.”

The commercial aspects examine mortalities (what kills the crop) and field investigations examine sizes of fields of feed. “They feed on micro-algae by filter-feeding, and investigators are looking at long-line cultures versus beach culture,” said Bear.

CSFR-VIU is moving to Deep Bay, next to Fanny Bay to establish field stations working from a new $8 million facility. “We broke ground and it’s due to open July 2010. The Centre for Shellfish Research will be run by Brian Kingzett, as manager when we are becoming a world class research and training facility.”

In her role at CSFR Bear administers programs that, “we continue to offer on contract basis. These existing courses are offered on contract basis, however, all shellfish courses will become open enrolment courses for the general public beginning in March 2010.”

As the department prepares for moving to the Deep Bay Field Station, they are restructuring the educational scope to include Traditional Ecological Knowledge. “We are speaking to First Nation researchers, and Elders possessing traditional knowledge, and medicine expertise that exists in communities,” said Bear.

She said they will enhance the decision-making process in the study of wild animal species. “I am hoping to meet some of these folks at the Shellfish Summer Camp coming Jul 2 to 6, 2009 at Camp Morecroft, Nanoose Bay.”

CSFR is hosting a First Nation Youth Leadership Shellfish Program called FLOW, “Future Leaders on the Water for ages 13 to 18. They are invited to experience an orientation to the scientific Marine Environment, and look closely at shellfish biology.

The program at Nanoose Bay runs at a discounted rate of $250 per person, and youth are accommodated and fed. Activities include kayaking, swimming, a visit and tour through VIU Campus, including the BIO lab, and a look at life on campus.

They will see the sturgeon growing at Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture, and shellfish under cultivation in CSR labs. Elders will discuss the cultural significance of shellfish middens at Deep Bay.” CSFR entered partnerships to develop a camp model that stresses hands-on activity. Bear said VIU’s Don Tillapaugh calls the camp, “using shellfish to develop essential skills and leadership.”

CSFR is doing more outreach in the coast with Overview Courses on Shellfish Aquaculture. “We go to the community and discuss different species for potential aquaculture development. We are presenting one day overview of scallops at the north end of Vancouver Island in June.”

She said the workshops go into challenges on governance, tenure, capacity issues, and offer an outreach by CSFR in one-day awareness building forums, in First Nations regional centres found in Port Hardy, Campbell River, Port Alberni, Nanaimo Cowichan, and Victoria.