At the 2025 Indigenous Seafood Supply Conference, hosted by the Native Fishing Association at the Crest in Prince Rupert on January 16-17, several critical topics were covered, including rights-based seafood harvesting and creating new business opportunities in the Indigenous fishing community.
Along with many other presentations, Yalh Kulh Jaadaas Laina Bell from the Haida Nation shared a panel with Jackie Tait (Nisga’a) and Ron Barlett (Kitsukalum), to discuss the innovative Indigenous-led seafood projects, including Community Based Fishery (CBF) startups, in their respective Nations.
Sharing her perspective on the Haida CBF salmon troll pilot project, Laina said there have been some challenges getting the fishery up and running, but the Haida are looking to extend the CBF this year, with the ultimate goal to make it a lifetime fishery for the Nation.
In 2024, the Haida Nation launched their CBF salmon troll pilot for Area F troll, the fishing waters that surround Haida Gwaii, with seven salmon licences purchased on the open market. With those licences, the Nation was able to develop a management plan for salmon troll with built-in flexibilities.
“We were also able to split those licences and put them onto smaller boats—what we call the mosquito fleet,” says Laina, adding that of the nine Haida fishers who were registered, five made it out on the water for the season.
One of the challenges the CBF fishers had to contend with were the size of the boats. With many under 25 feet and some small open skiffs, the Haida fishers were at a competitive disadvantage in Area F, because the smaller boats simply cannot get out there safely and can’t carry enough fuel or ice to compete with the bigger boats.
One area where the Haida CBF fishers go above and beyond, is ensuring their consumers know exactly where the fish they buy was caught. The commercial standard for this is to provide 5-percent tissue samples for genetic stock assessment, whereas the Haida CBF fishery provided 20 percent for coho, chinook and even the food fish. They continue to be a leading example across the coast.
Another major success for the Haida CBF is the ongoing training, employment and youth engagement. In 2024, Ecotrust trained 12 Haida citizens to be dockside monitors for the six-week fishery, while 30 people were trained in Small Vessel Operator Proficiency (SVOP), 60-ton or Fish Master. In total, just under 50 people were employed in the CBF salmon troll pilot.
“The Haida want their community to be healthy and eat well, so they have reached out to local retail stores, schools and hospitals to provide locally caught fish to them,” says Laina. The ultimate goal is that the fisheries policies and reforms implemented through these new CBFs will continue to support fisheries revitalization and sustainability on Haida Gwaii and throughout all eight CNF shareholder Nations.
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