Oliver Bell Brings a Wealth of Experience to the Haida Salmon Troll

Oliver with his halibut catch.

When the Haida Nation launched a new salmon troll Community Based Fishery (CBF) in 2024, it was an important step in efforts to revitalize fishing livelihoods in Haida Gwaii, and a precursor for future CBFs that will launch across shareholder First Nations.

The salmon troll CBF may be a new fishery, but it draws upon the seasoned experience of Haida fishers just like Oliver Bell, who has fished these waters for decades.

Born and raised in Old Massett, Oliver has lived in Haida Gwaii all but two years of his life, and he’s been fishing since he was four years old. He learned all he knows about fishing (and more) from his uncle, Wesley Bell, who passed away in 2014, at 89 years old. “He taught me to respect the weather and the sea,” says Oliver, adding that it seems “just like yesterday” that he was still learning from him. “Everything he taught me will stay with me forever,” he says. “Everybody was in awe whenever he came to shore with his catch; it was always a great product.”

Oliver says his uncle had a fish box on each side of his original 19-foot boat, named Yankee Boy, which he’d fill with smaller fish, while the bigger halibut would be laid out on the deck of the boat. “Sometimes we’d have a 300-pound halibut laying there,” he recalls. “I think 318 pounds was the biggest I remember.”

Years before he started out on his own, Oliver was gaining an extensive set of skills in fisheries—as a deckhand trolling and halibut fishing with his uncle and as a deckhand on a crab boat and a skiff man on a seine boat.

Oliver working on the boat his uncle Wesley gave him, named Yankee Boy.

Looking over his many years fishing, Oliver recalls experiencing intense southeast winds and 25-foot seas while cutting across Hecate Strait in a 50-foot seine boat. “That's one of my most terrifying memories in bad weather,” he recalls. “But it was comforting knowing there were two bigger seine boats, one in front and one behind travelling with us.”

Oliver has been fishing on his own since 1985. For his first halibut and salmon license, he fished the 19-foot plywood mosquito boat that his uncle gave him—eventually fixing it up with new motors and a new bottom to make it more seaworthy.

With everything done by hand, longline fishing always meant long and demanding days. “We worked with the tides and fished the shallows,” he says, usually fishing no deeper than about 100 feet, and pulling the 1,800-foot ground line up by hand. “We would do it multiple times a day if the weather and tides let us.”

As time went on, he purchased the Uranus, a 39-foot wooden troller that he fished for eight seasons and then the Hy-Gwa—a 19-foot aluminum open boat with a power pack and a drum for longlining halibut, using the troller to pack the halibut. In 2002, he purchased a 26-foot aluminum custom-built charter vessel, the ‘new’ Hy-Gwa, which he still fishes up to the present day, and now as a hand troller in the CBF.

Oliver fishing on his second boat, the Uranus.

“It's like I've gone full circle now, but a little more modern with a comfortable 26-foot aluminum vessel,” says Oliver. “It’s great to be back in the mosquito fleet, and I'm happy to help out in any way I can.”

When discussing fishing, Oliver is quick to point out that sustaining fish populations for future generations is of utmost importance. “I was taught to only take what you need,” he says. “Whether I’m fishing for commercial or home use, there's nothing thrown away.” Over the years, Oliver supplied his whole family with fish, including “siblings, aunties, nonnies, uncles,” and shared with many others in the community as well. “You don't expect anything in return,” he adds. “That’s another thing my uncle taught me.”

Oliver's uncle Wesley, who taught him everything he knows about fishing.

Given the many rivers and the surrounding shoreline of Haida Gwaii, salmon fishing has been a staple for the Bell family, just as it has for other countless Haida fishers for generations. Oliver is bringing all that experience and love for salmon fishing to the new CBF project. “Salmon trolling produces the best quality fish,” he says.

Oliver recognizes how hard it is to get into fishing these days, especially covering upfront costs of the boat and gear, and he has plenty of advice for aspiring fishers. “I’d suggest starting small and working your way up, just to see if you love fishing enough to go in the hole and buy a vessel,” he says. “If you love something enough, you’re going to find ways to pay for it.” And as any experienced fisher will tell you, preventive maintenance and safety are also extremely important. “You need to respect your vessel,” he adds. “If you take care of your vessel, your vessel will take care of you.”

As he prepares for the salmon troll fishery again this year (2025), Oliver says he hopes it will open much earlier, since it didn’t get going until mid-August last year. “I think it would be a good idea to open at the same time as the commercial sport fishing lodges that fish these salmon species,” he says. “If we start earlier, we’ll be able to make back the investment that we’re putting in for gas and all expenses.”

Oliver believes that CBFs like the salmon troll and others could lead to promising long-term opportunities for his grandkids and others their age. “I think it’s a good start for young folks coming in,” he says. “It’s an opportunity not only to get food fish for themselves, but to have pride in owning your own vessel and to fish commercially to make a few dollars. I think it’s a great example for the future.”

Another day fishing in Haida waters.