Shirley Antonelli: Representing the Wuikinuxv Nation on the CNF Board

When it comes to building a career on hard work and dedication, you’d be hard pressed to find a better example than Shirley Antonelli, CNF Board member for the Wuikinuxv Nation. Although she’s always humble, Shirley has boat-load of knowledge and experience in the fisheries sector, and the substance of her accomplishments shines through her humility.

Her background is coastal through and through—predominantly Heiltsuk and Wuikinuxv on her maternal side, Shirley has family from Kitasoo Xai’xais Territory on her paternal side. She also has a bit of Scottish ancestry as well. And laced through all of her family relations is a connection to fishing and the ocean.

“My very first experience fishing was with my mother, who took me out to catch sockeye off the west coast in the early 90s,” she recalls. “My mother’s passion was sockeye, so it brings a sense of home to me.”

In Heiltsuk Territory (2016), Shirley did an honorary season of the roe-on-kelp fishery for her mother, who passed away just weeks before.

Born in Wagisla (Bella Bella), Shirley currently lives in Coal Harbour, Quatsino Territory, on the north end of Vancouver Island. Although she wasn’t raised in her homeland, Shirley feels deeply connected to the region through fishing and hunting. “Fishing is a lifeline to my family, and it connects me to all my relatives,” she says. “Whether it’s events, fisheries or feasts, it all revolves around fish.”

As with many working in the fishing industry, Shirley’s career started out on the docks. In 1993, she landed her first role at a fish plant in Bella Bella, packing sea cucumbers and urchins, before moving down to Coal Harbour, where she did offloads and tallies for local fishers. Shirley was one of the first employees when Port Hardy-based Keltic Seafoods started up their operations, and her adeptness for tallies eventually led to a supervisor role.

The early 2000s brought Shirley further south to Port Alberni, where she took on a role at Robertson Creek Hatchery and began coded wire tagging. It wasn’t long before the owner of the company saw her knack for tagging, and recruited Shirley to fill the job she’d performed for 40 years before retiring from the position. Shirley got so adept at coded wire tagging, she launched her own company in 2010, starting with a contract of 450,000 fish. “When I finished in 2021, in a 4-month period, I was marking 2.2 million fish,” she says. “I really enjoyed it.”

Shirley’s experience is not confined to fisheries sector either. When her kids were old enough, she headed back to school—partly to branch out, but also to get certified in office admin and finance to help run her business. “I took breaks because I had children, but I kept searching for new roles,” she says. “It was always like a gravitational pull back to fisheries.”

After working at a friendship centre, Shirley landed her current role coordinating food fish distribution for the Wuikinuxv First Nation. “It was a task that had just sat on everyone’s desks and no one had time to do it,” she says. After volunteering her time and expertise for a year, it eventually led to the full-time role she’s been in for two years and counting.

Asked why she keeps getting pulled back to the fishing sector, Shirley says it’s “just ingrained” in her blood. “Growing up, anytime my grandfather’s boat, the China Hat, was at the dock, us kids were on it… climbing on it, playing on it, fishing off it,” she says. “I just felt very drawn to it. And the way I was raised, the quality of the fish always meant a lot to me—that sense of value added to the fish was so important.”

As her roles expanded in scope, Shirley’s ability to manage both projects and people came to the fore, opening up a whole other side of the fishing industry. She worked with Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) on salmon enhancement efforts, which was rewarding but also very challenging. “It was really hard work,” she says. “I started with a crew of six, but by the end I had a crew of nine people. One of the biggest challenges, she adds, was working in a traditionally male-dominated industry. “That’s always been a hurdle, but I just never gave up.”

At the Port Renfrew hatchery in 2013, Shirley performs the delicate work of the salmon enhancement project.

That strength of character, and sense of right and wrong, is at the heart of Shirley’s work. “I enjoy the support side of fisheries,” she says. “Before it was really even recognized, I knew that there was something wrong with the system. I was raised to know what my rights are, and that we need to exercise our rights in order to have them.”

Rather than complain about the industry and what it’s not, she’s determined to make something of it. “We’re trying to re-create and work in a fishery that’s been pounded to the ground; it almost feels like we’ve been fed scraps,” says Shirley, adding that rebuilding Community Based Fisheries is a key part of fisheries reconciliation. “I tell fishers in Wuikinuxv to take every opportunity that’s offered and it will slowly bring results. The ones who really want to fish, they’ll show up. It’s a slow process for sure, but it’s happening before my eyes.”

As for her relatively new role on the CNF Board, Shirley remains ever humble and just focuses on where she can improve. “I’m still finding my voice and getting a grasp on all the pieces,” she says. “I’m just here to share where Wuikinuxv sits in the discussion. I feel very proud to be at that table with everybody.”

Shirley doing what she loves, fishing in coastal waters.