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by Deboroh Steel
Ha-Shilth-Sa Reporter
Jan. 18, 2007

Larry Johnson of Huu-ay-aht First Nation went to great lengths to bring a rare treat to a group of people attending a talk at the House fo Gathering at Hupacasath on Jan. 8. He served up 100 Northern (Pinto) Abalone for sampling.

Abalone has been on Canada's threatened species list since 1999, and has been legally protected since 1990, so to procure the tasty gastropods required Johnson to do some hoop jumping.

Johnson had to fill out reams of paperwork and promise to adhere to 17 conditions for the permit to be granted, including the assurance that all the shells would be returned to the hatchery.

You see, the abalone weren't of the wild kind. They were grown at the Bamfield Marine Science Centre under the Bamfield Community Abalone Project (BHCAP).

The abalone project in Bamfield has developed the technology to spawn the mollusk and is working to restock the surrounding ocean area. The Huu-ay-aht are also seeking approval to classify their grown stock as a cultured variety, removing it from the list of protected species with the hopes of someday prying open a new economic development opportunity.

The reason for the gathering was not just to taste the cultured product, however. It was intended as a brainstorming session to find ways to protect the wild stock from poaching, a profitable undertaking of criminal elements on the coast, said Anne Stewart, public education coordinator at the Bamfield Marine Science Centre.

It was only the second time in Johnson's life that he had been able to indulge in the delicacy, long a favourite of the Nuu-chah-nulth people, including Johnson's 78-year-old father Kenny, who was in attendance to partake in the small feast.

Pinto abalone, once abundant in coastal waters before the introduction of SCUBA equipment in the 1960s, is on a slippery slope to endangerment, so a complete ban on abalone harvesting was ordered by Fisheries and Oceans Canada. And while the voracious sea otter has decimated shellfish populations around the northern parts of Vancouver Island, the furry creature hasn't ventured into waters in Barkley Sound. So the real threat to the Pinto on the central coast is the illegal harvest by humans, who can get up to $73 per kg for abalone on the black market.

Stewart was hoping to find a champion in Port Alberni, who would help to launch a chapter of the Abalone Coast Watch.

Abalone Coast Watch is a passive crime prevention program modeled on the Neighborhood Watch programs popular in North American municipalities. Coast Watch is made up of a large group of volunteers who keep a watch out for poachers. Protecting wild stocks is an important part of the strategy of removing abalone from the threatened species list, as is letting others know that abalone are off limits.

The Coast Watch volunteers are asked to raise that awareness and keep their eyes peeled for suspicious activity. Stewart said tips from the public on suspected poaching have led to many of the busts surrounding illegal harvesting. There are Coast Watch programs in existence in Haida Gwaii and in areas on Vancouver Island, including Bamfield. But Port Alberni hasn't established one. At least not yet. Stewart said she's hoping that will change this year.

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Copyright Ha-Shilth-Sa Newspaper, published by the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council. Reproduction of this article or photographs, in whole or in part, is illegal without the written consent of Ha-Shilth-Sa Newspaper (hashilthsa@nuuchahnulth.org)

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