Divers survey for lost fi shing gear

Ha-Shilth-Sa newspaper is published by the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council for distribution to the members of the NTC-member First Nations, as well as other interested groups and individuals. Information and original work contained in this newspaper is protected by copyright and may not be reproduced without written permission from:

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Divers survey inlet for lost fi shing gear

Ahousaht crew documents what’s found in the Alberni Inlet and plans for removal

By Karly Blats Ha-Shilth-Sa Contributor

Port Alberni, BC - An Indigenous-led dive team was busy last week scanning the waters of the Alberni Inlet for ghost fi shing gear and garbage. The team, consisting of lead Henderson Charlie, his brother Greg Charlie and nephew Jermaine Bulwer, all from Ahousaht First Nation, were contracted by the Coastal Restoration Society (CRS) to complete surveys of what they found while diving in the Barkley Sound. The survey project is fi nanced by the Ghost Gear Fund, which is resourced by the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) and has taken place in Sooke, Clayoquot Sound and Barkley Sound. Henderson Charlie, who has been diving commercially since 2014, said his team was surveying between Canal Beach and Clutesi Haven Marina. “We come out here, we see a bunch of crab traps, tires, garbage anything and everything,” Charlie said. “We’ve just been documenting everything we see to the best of our abilities. It’s hard to see what’s in the Port Alberni harbour because there’s so much mud and generations and generations of garbage left.” Charlie said before cleaning anything up, his team will fi rst record everything they fi nd in the water and provide the survey to the CRS. “After we’re done surveying, we’ll come in again with my dive team and a group of other people who work on the top side of things…we’ll start breaking things up and sending it to the surface,” Charlie said. “We’re here to come in and document what we see, send it forward to the government, and while we’re doing this, we’re coming up with a plan on what’s going to be the best, most effi cient and safest way to retrieve the garbage that’s left down here.” Charlie said his crew is mostly seeing garbage and fi shing gear from the past couple of months on the ocean fl oor, but there’s also generations of garbage buried in the harbour. “We can’t see it because the mud is so soft everything kind of just sinks under it, so we have to develop a plan to get what’s underneath to the best of our ability so we can take some stuff out of here,” Charlie said. “We’ll never get it all, but we want to get some.” Capt. Josh Temple, executive director with the CRS, said the society was awarded $700,000 to perform large-scale ghost gear removals focused on lost fi shing gear and abandoned aquaculture sites, and regional ghost gear surveys to “support DFO’s prioritized action approach for future removal projects along the West Coast of Vancouver Island and the southern Salish Sea.” Temple said the CRS has goals to initiate First Nation-led projects. “CRS is deeply committed to supporting environmental stewardship goals of host First Nations,” Temple said. “By working to support capacity building and training in specialized technical skills pertinent

Photo by Karly Blats Henderson Charlie (front), dive team leader, and his brother Greg Charlie from Ahousaht First Nation scan the ocean fl oor with Greg Boyd (right) near the Harbour Quay on Feb. 25 for ghost fi shing gear and garbage. to large-scale environmental work, CRS has helped to create a career pathway for Indigenous peoples to engage in meaningful employment and contract opportunities in an environmental stewardship career that resonates culturally with First Nations stewardship values.” Temple added that going forward, the CRS hopes to provide opportunities for hundreds of Indigenous peoples to enter this career pathway across the broader Vancouver Island and the Salish Sea region. “We are working constantly to develop opportunities to ensure that host First Nations, provincial and federal governments are fully supported in their commitment to environmental stewardship goals.” Temple said.

Ha-Shilth-Sa belongs to every Nuu-chah-nulth person including those who have passed on, and those who are not yet born. A community newspaper cannot exist without community involvement. If you have any great pictures you’ve taken, stories or poems you’ve written, or artwork you have done, please let us know so we can include it in your newspaper. E-mail holly.stocking@nuuchahnulth.org. This year is Ha-Shilth-Sa’s 48th year of serving the Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations. We look forward to your continued input and support. Kleco! Kleco!

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After years of stagnation, the small city and surrounding area are growing, bringing a need for capable hands

By Eric Plummer Ha-Shilth-Sa Editor

Port Alberni, BC - Back in March of 2020, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic put Cody Nielsen-Robinson in a tough position. The 24-year-old’s Level 1 carpentry course was put on hold, with few prospects of progressing his career aspirations amid the new restrictions. “I really was in a pickle because I couldn’t continue,” recalled Nielsen-Robinson. “They were pushing it through but they were online classes and I couldn’t really learn how to use power tools through Zoom meetings.” What followed was a long year and a half at home as the young man struggled to secure employment or appropriate schooling to progress his trade. But an opportunity for change fi nally arose in October 2021 with a call from the Nuu-chah-nulth Education and Training Program. There were openings in a new Trades Sampler course being off ered through North Island College and the Industry Training Authority. As a 15-week introduction to carpentry work - with additional instruction in electrical and plumbing – the course could be seen as a step back for Nielsen-Robinson, who had already started the Level 1 carpentry that the Trades Sampler serves as a prerequisite for. With the course about to start, he had four days to decide if this was worthwhile path to re-entering the workforce. “It was very scary, very intimidating. I took a few days to think on it,” said Nielsen-Robinson. “After consulting with friends and family, I decided that it couldn’t hurt. I couldn’t think of it as a waste of time.” From a storefront location on Port Alberni’s gritty Third Avenue, 10 other Nuu-chah-nulth people undertook the Trades Sampler course, which fi nished in late February. As many seek to restart their lives in the working world after two years of COVID-19 related restrictions and shutdowns, Ian Caplette spoke to the students about the meaning of perseverance during a graduation event for Trades Sampler students on Feb. 24. “You faced adversity before you even started, and you persevered,” said Caplette, who is the director of Education, Training and Social Development for the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council. “That is, in essence, how to succeed in life.” The surrounding community needs a healthy supply of perseverance to ensure

Photo by Eric Plummer Trades Sampler graduates David Prest (left), Cody Nielsen-Robinson and Mercedes Brown stand with smokehouses they built during the course. The smokehouses are to be reassembled on the Tseshaht First Nation reserve as part of an upcoming Level 1 carpentry course. Port Alberni residents will have enough homes in the future. After many years of no population growth, the city grew by three per cent over the last fi ve years, increasing to 18,259 residents in the 2021 census. Growth was greater in the Alberni Valley, an area that includes the Tseshaht and Hupacasath First Nation reserves. Last year’s census data for the Alberni Valley shows an increase of 4.5 per cent to a population of 25,786. This growth has translated into a housing shortage, raising rents and home prices at an accelerated rate. The city’s 2021 Housing Needs Report noted that rental prices have risen 53 per cent since 2015, with lower vacancy rates as people struggle to aff ord accommodation in a community that is still mostly made up of larger, older houses. Although Port Alberni’s house prices remain more aff ordable than most other West Coast cities, the supply shortage appears to be closing this gap. This year the city’s average value of a house set by BC Assessment jumped 47 per cent – more than any other city on Vancouver Island. Fortunately, more multi-unit developments are underway, including a large 1,500-home project the San Group plans to undertake on Burde Street. “We’re seeing a building boom in Port Alberni,” said Bob Haugen, director of continuing education at North Island College. “We’re also seeing a building boom in all of the Indigenous communities in the area. The housing stock in most Indigenous communities is aging.” At the Trades Sampler graduation event Tseshaht Chief Councillor Ken Watts mentioned upcoming work in his nation’s community, including the demolition and asbestos abatement of the old Sproat Lake school and the construction of a 50-plus-unit development off of Saiyatchapis Road, just west of the Somass River. The First Nation is currently undertaking a feasibility studies for this project. “There’s going to be no shortage of work just within Tseshaht,” said Watts. “As Indigenous communities rebuild and bring people back into their communities, they need homes,” added Haugen. “There is a huge shortage of tradespeople.” The Trades Sampler graduates have already begun a partnership with the Tseshaht, as a major part of the course was the construction of smokehouses for the First Nation’s community. After a month of apprenticeship work with a local company, building the foundations for these structures will be part of the upcoming Level 1 carpentry course. “Once that program is done then they go back to the company they apprenticed with and continue on getting their hours,” said Haugen. He saw the need to build connections with professionals when NIC held similar introductory trades programs in Kyuquot, Gold River and Tla-o-qui-aht communities near Tofi no, allowing students to keep a foot in the industry of their choice while they attend school. After working as a care aid over the last few years, Mercedes Brown is eager to gain a foothold in carpentry. “I want to stay in the construction part of all of it. That really interests me,” said Mercedes, who looks back on building with her grandfather, Ken Brown. “Health care is just not for me. I kind of grew up doing carpentry with my grandpa.” David Prest hopes to follow the career path of his father, Joe Prest, who was involved in construction for First Nations across Vancouver Island. David enjoyed building the smokehouses, which can be reassembled when they’re placed on the Tseshaht reserve. “It was an eye opener. I’ve never really done a trades program before,” he said. “We did some electrical training for light switches, we also did a little bit of piping for the bathroom and the sink…That was pretty cool.”

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