Aug. 28, 2003: Gooseneck barnacle harvest may open
Feb. 4, 2004: Gooseneck barnacle fishery revived
by
Josie Osborne
NTC Central Region Biologist
Ha-Shilth-Sa Newspaper, August 14, 2003
Imagine 300' cliffs towering straight out of the Atlantic Ocean, non-stop winds pushing waves atop the ocean swells right into the rocks at the base of the clliffs.
Out of the white water and foam, the bright red shirt of a goose barnacle fisherman appears. What saves him from getting swept out to sea is a line, tied to his waist, the other end at the top of the cliff where his fishing partner watches the swells and pulls him out of the worst. What drives him to risk his life is the lucrative percebe (per-SAY-bee), or goose barnacle.
Goose Barnacles
Found in rocky shores and mussel beds; goose barnacles thrive in pounding surf or surge channels. Currently harvested by hand or using pry bar. Considered excellent eating by native peoples, they are steamed to reduce the salty taste; the edible insides are then bitten off and eaten.
Percebes are a true delicacy in Spain. Although the Spanish people consume
more seafood than any other country in the world, Christmas is the time of
year when they eat the most. This is when the highest demand for percebes
exists, and seafood restaurants serve bowls of soup adorned with six or eight
cooked barnacles for over $50.
Percebes are also sold raw, by the kilo, in the streets of coastal communities. Walk into a bar and ask for a beer, you would be just as likely to be served with a side dish of raw barnacles as you would a bowl of beer nuts in North America.
The Spanish are crazy about their seafood, so when the demand for Spanish barnacles exceeded the supply, importers began looking around for where they could get goose barnacles.
The Spanish goose barnacle, scientific name Pollicipes cornucopia, is very closely related to our goose barnacle, Pollicipes polymerus. The only difference is the red fringe around the shell plates of the Spanish barnacle. The similarity in appearance and taste is what led to the successful goose barnacle export industry that developed in the 1980's.
Canadian goose barnacles not only satisfied the finicky Spanish consumer, but were also more plentiful as overfishing began to limit the supply of Spanish barnacles. The oil spill from the tanker Prestige last fall has also severely impacted the Spanish goose barnacle industry, making barnacles less plentiful and driving prices up. Unfortunately for Canadian goose barnacle harvesters and for Spanish importers, the Canadian fishery was closed in 1999.
(left: researchers measure barnacle density on the West Coast of Vancouver Island)
(below: a 'goose gun' barnacle harvesting tool)
Although the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council and the WCVI Aquatic Management
Board are working hard with harvesters, Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations and others
to reopen the fishery, it remains closed.
During the recent
NTC Trade and Technology Mission to Europe, NTC delegates Josie Osborne and
Roberta Stevenson met with goose barnacles importers who expressed "extreme
interest" in Canadian barnacles.
"When you get your fishery open," said Ramon Leboriero, owner of
a Spanish import company, "Send me a sample!"
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UPDATE:
August 28, 2003: Gooseneck barnacle
harvest may open
By Denise Ambrose
Central Region Reporter, Ha-Shilth-Sa Newspaper
Tofino - NTC Central Region fisheries biologist Josie Osborne has been busy these days weighing and measuring gooseneck barnacles in an effort to convince DFO there is enough stock to open a commercial harvest this fall. (see photo, above)
According to Osborne, the gooseneck barnacle commercial fishery has been closed since May 30, 1999 due to DFO concerns over lack of catch reporting by harvesters and the unknown impacts of harvesting on barnacle habitat.
The stock assessment work started in Ucluelet in mid-August and will continue in Clayoquot Sound and Kyuquot over the next few weeks, weather permitting. Samples are randomly selected, counted and measured. Data will be gathered to show DFO the abundance and biomass in each of the three areas sampled.
If the results are positive, DFO may issue an experimental license that may run for three to five years. The fishery, if opened, would be for an as yet unknown number of harvesters, both Nuu-chah-nulth and non-Nuu-chah-nulth, in Northwest Barclay Sound, Southern Clayoquot Sound and Kyuquot.
Osborne excpects to hear news about a possible opening sometime in late September. If all goes well, she is hopeful there will be harvesting opening in October.
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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 (hashilth@nuuchahnulth.org)
