First Nations fear Bute Inlet landslide threatens fishing ground

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — A massive landslide that impacted Vancouver Island has a local First Nation worried about the future of its traditional fishery.

A glacier lake let loose this past week, sending a torrent of water and debris down Bute Inlet, choking up the downstream river, which is one of the main spawning grounds for coho and chum salmon.

“As it flowed out of there, it just picks up so much pace when it’s going down a steep slope and it really gouged out the land,” says Homalco First Nation Chief Darren Blaney. “When it hit the bottom, it had so much momentum it wiped out the trees. It’s a big area that got cleared out.”

Blaney says the First Nation is meeting online Tuesday with members of the provincial and federal governments to figure out if anything can be done to restore the environment.

“It’s our culture,” he tells NEWS 1130. “It’s not just the food we rely on. We have to pass on the knowledge of our traditions around salmon and being stewards of the territory.”

He says the run out of Southgate River had been vital, but now the slide has rolled over one of the few remaining spawning rivers for their traditional salmon fishery.

It’s another major blow to their traditional fishery that was already suffering.

“The year before, we only got 1,200 chum out of the 4,000 we were supposed to get,” Blaney says. “We took 900 out of that, and then our neighbours south of us didn’t get any, so we gave 300 to their elders.”

There are also concerns the slide will impact the local sportfishing sector because coho and chum are prized salmon on northern Vancouver Island, which is a major part of the tourism sector in the region.