Shellfish harvesting in Boundary Bay - Governing Transboundary Waters: Canada, the United States, and Indigenous Communities - page 108

who can and cannot access these resources are exercises of State authority. This
process of “calculative rationality” resonates with Miller's (1997) observation that
calculative systems (including accounting conventions) always involve the
prioritization of some criteria over others. It is the process of prioritization that is
at the heart of ecocolonization - through which frameworks are often established
and voices are privileged or overshadowed, as is the case for the Coast Salish com-
munities in Boundary Bay.
Coast Salish peoples and connection to marine resources
Numerous scholars have contributed ethnographic details of the political and societal
structure of the Coast Salish communitie s. 5 T hese discussions help lay a foundation
for examining the inconsistencies in access to marine resources for people who
share a common ancestry and a long-standing connection to land and water. One
issue central to the focus of this chapter is that people Indigenous to the Pacific
coastal area have a deep and sustained relationship with marine ecosystems, but
due to contemporary political framings and extraterritorial pollution, access to these
resources is limited. The traditional way of life for Coast Salish people centres on
the ability to harvest resources from a marine environment. The connection to
these resources is not merely economic or dietary, but rather part of a long-standing
tradition that is integral to cultural identity (Suttles, 1974). The importance of this
connection was continually reinforced in interviews and meetings, as indicated by
the following quotes from Coast Salish community members: “Our people have
always relied on the sea for our food . . . harvesting from the sea is our way of
life”; “To us, it is not about money or jobs, it is directly related to what it means
to be a Salish person”. In addition, archaeological records clearly show the overall
long-term importance of shellfish in the Boundary Bay regions, dating back
thousands of years (Matson, 2010).
These statements and records demonstrate that severing access to traditional foods
has immediate and significant impacts on the physical and cultural health of a
community. Reduced access occurs through a number of stressors. Pollution
inputs, global climate change, and changing land use patterns all affect the quality
of the marine environment, including food sources. In Boundary Bay, marine
resources such as shellfish have decreased significantly since European contact, and
continue to be compromised both in terms of quality and quantity (AFN, 2007;
Donatuto, 2008).
Shellfish harvesting: British Columbia, Canada
Closures of shellfish harvesting sites have increased steadily in British Columbia over
the past three decades. As of 31 December 2004, Environment Canada had
reported 123,832 hectares closed to harvesting of shellfish in British Columbia (BC).
The majority of the closures appear in the heavily populated Georgia Basin region
(71,818 hectares), with some of the largest closures occurring in Boundary Bay
(Figure 5.1). The closures result from nonpoint source pollution inputs associated