Steveston Field Trip Reflection
This trip was an anchor point that tied in the concepts explored in the course and grounded me to the reality of these issues. Two aspects that stood out to me were the changes in how we fished and the anecdotal & documented impact we see as a result.
The Life of Fishermen
As someone who grew up in inland regions, the opportunity to see large-scale fishing gear up close really put the numbers to reality. Walking into the net loft of the Britannia Shipyard Historical Site, I stood in awe of the net hanging from the ceiling many meters above. It dragged beneath our feet, but this was only a snippet of a real net, which would have required hooks fastened on the back of the building to haul in. I was also shook by the sheer size of the trawling boat up close. In contrary to Fraser’s trolling boat, which we could climb onto easily, the trawling boat was several stories high, and featured 2 large “doors” used to fasten the trawling net. The story of salmon, however, affirmed my understanding that artisanal fisheries do not equal less impact. Though the small skiff boats in the 19th century could only fit in husband and wife, the cumulative impact of these boats still led to the depletion of stocks.
Another point that struck me was the stark increase in maintenance costs required to run a long-line trolling boat nowadays. We had a conversation with David, a ex-fisherman that has now retired for 15 years. As he recounted his fishing career, I learned that he had no family legacy in fishing, entered the fishing industry fresh as a deckhand, and was able to work his way up to operating his own boat. Even though fishermen had to be “jack-of-all-trades” for their boat to cut renovation costs, the grueling work at least offered a sustainable living. Meanwhile, as Fraser elaborated in the False Creek trip, the financial barrier to enter the industry is now unreasonably high, deterring young people from the industry. David added that licenses are only part of the picture: an average trolling boat needs ~$200,000 to land for annual hull zinc coating and repainting to deter corrosion and barnacle lodging, not to mention the costs for docking space, gear mending, and fuel. He commented that he used to hire 2 student deckhands, but “people won’t make any money if they do that now”.
As a result of this exposure, I feel more connected to these issues personally, but I couldn’t help wonder how I could bring that similar level of engagement to other people. Before coming to the field trip, many peers didn’t know these historical sites existed. How should we increase local awareness on the significance of these historical sites? How can we let others hear the voice of fishermen, when most people rarely have the privilege of (nor the intention to) listen?
The Depletion of Fish Populations
Steveston was once the World’s capital of salmon. Back then, people said stocks were so abundant that “people could walk on salmon” in the Fraser River. Seemingly endless supplies of sockeye salmon was hauled in by collector boats to the 15 canneries jampacked along the short 4 km stretch of Steveston coast. Hundreds of Chinese, Japanese, and Indigenous workers along the production lines to can the filets for global export. Unprocessed catch at the end of the day were dumped back in the river to rot. As I have a background in biology, this was immediately alarming to me: this is a huge energy waste as salmon are carnivores that occupy high trophic levels.
We directly saw the results of this exploitative practice in the can label exhibit within the cannery site. Though I’ve always been a fan of retro-style art, the messages painted in the labels were quite ugly: as the sockeye population is being depleted, canneries tried to advertise the more abundant pink salmon as “fancy” and “quality warranted” to numb consumers to accept this low-quality substitute. Unfortunately, the sockeye salmon population is still decreasing. As 2022 is the forecasted year for spawning sockeye to return to the Fraser River, I will keep a closer eye on news about this event and whether management policies are accounting for these changes.
The herring fishery replicates a similar tragedy. Herring is only caught for their roe, and it is the only fishery that allows adult fish to be used for fish oil and fishmeal production. Now, all but one herring fishery is still open due to stock depletion. Eric Wickham told us that in the last fishing season, the DFO halved the allowable quota for herring from 14,000 tons (20% of their estimated stock size of 70 thousand tons) to 7,000 tons, yet only 4,000 tons were caught by the end of the season. Sustainable herring roe harvesting exists: the spawn-on-kelp method catches herring to lay their eggs on intentionally laid out kelp sheets, and the herring are re-released to the environment to minimize the impact. It was sad to hear that even these industries will likely be shut down due to the critical depletion of herring populations.
The trip left me pondering why we had gone so far in killing our chances for sustainable fishing. After our talk with the three fishermen, it strikes me that fishermen are well informed of the current stock status, and many want to get it right. It would have seemed obvious to place the blame on the cannery owners. Yet, it stood out to me how both tour guides in the historical sites put heavy emphasis on how the assembly of the cannery reflected the care and thoughtful creativity of the owners: these positive descriptions seem to argue that they don’t deserve to be viewed as devils either. This reminds me of the motto my grandpa keeps on his desk, “无知就是罪孽 (Ignorance is sin)”. We should inform ourselves from these past failures to reduce bycatch and find innovative uses of waste material in the future.