Sii.ngaay ‘laa. Good day, everyone.

My name is Nang Jingwas, Russ Jones. I am one of the hereditary chiefs of the Haida Nation. I am joining you today from the village of Skidegate in Haida Gwaii on the west coast of Canada.

I have worked for first nations and the Council of the Haida Nation in the area of fisheries and marine policy for more than three decades.

I will briefly talk about my experience with incorporating Haida traditional knowledge into two collaborative initiatives involving the Haida Nation and Canada. The two projects were to develop a marine spatial plan for Haida Gwaii and to develop a rebuilding plan for Haida Gwaii herring.

The first project, the Haida Gwaii Marine Plan, was completed by the Haida Nation and the Province of British Columbia in 2015, and it is in its eighth year of implementation. Traditional knowledge was a major source of information in the development of the marine plan. I shared a copy of an academic paper with the standing committee, which describes the collaborative government-to-government process we went through to develop four marine spatial plans for northern coastal British Columbia. The marine spatial plans were co-developed by first nations and the Province of British Columbia. We used a nested approach to planning that started at the scale of first nations' territories.

The Haida Marine Traditional Knowledge Study was completed by the Haida Nation over three years, from 2008 to 2011, and prior to the formal start of planning. It involved marine chart-focused interviews with about 56 Haida. We recorded information and Haida knowledge about more than 4,000 locations and 150 marine species.

A few days ago, I provided a brief summary of our work to the standing committee, which we captured in a publicly available map of Haida Gwaii and in a brochure. The traditional knowledge studies supported the zoning and management direction in the marine plans. These plans were approved in 2015 after three years of intensive work with government and stakeholders. This work has also been contributing to the development of a marine protected area network for northern coastal British Columbia with the federal government.

Next I'll touch on the Haida Nation's work with Canada over the past five years to develop the Haida Gwaii herring rebuilding plan, which is in its final stages of approval.

The plan was co-operatively developed by the Haida Nation, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and Gwaii Haanas protected area staff. Haida traditional knowledge about herring was documented in a number of studies that were led or co-led by the Haida Nation. These are described in an appendix to the rebuilding plan, which I also provided to the standing committee.

Traditional knowledge, or TK, informed the establishment of reference points for fisheries management. These are target levels for rebuilding Haida Gwaii herring stocks based on ecological, economic and socio-cultural objectives. TK helped us understand spatial dynamics of stocks, and we adopted finer stock structure for management purposes in order to improve socio-cultural outcomes. TK led to a better understanding of the effects of fisheries, and we incorporated the lower impact of the commercial herring spawn-on-kelp fishery compared to the sac roe fishery in fisheries models. TK also documented ecosystem changes that may be a result of climate and predator changes. Finally, TK supports and informs co-management decision-making and reconciliation processes.

In closing, I'll touch on four of the lessons learned.

First, the two projects I mentioned required many years of discussion and negotiation, and they encountered many barriers before they came to fruition. They could have proceeded more quickly if there had been enabling policies and resources.

Second, barriers to the acceptance and use of TK can be addressed through collaborative governance processes that support the exploration and sharing of indigenous traditional knowledge and science. Key elements are forming relationships and developing trust between the partners. It helps the relationship to formalize key understandings and decision-making structures through written agreements.

Third, traditional knowledge studies are ideally led by indigenous groups. However, many indigenous groups lack resources and capacity to engage fully on resource development issues. This limits their potential for documenting and applying traditional knowledge in research and management

Lastly, traditional knowledge about ocean spaces provides an invaluable baseline for assessing changes in the marine environment that are of particular importance as we experience unprecedented climate-related changes.

[Witness spoke in Haida and provided the following text:]

Dii gii dalang gyuusdlas sGaawdaagii dalang Gaa hl kil 'laa ga.

[English]

Thank you for your time.

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