00:00:01.717 --> 00:00:03.414
[rain pattering]

00:00:03.414 --> 00:00:05.997
[serene instrumental music]

00:00:14.189 --> 00:00:16.114
[wings flapping]

00:00:30.780 --> 00:00:33.660
- The Fraser River is
a very large drainage.

00:00:33.660 --> 00:00:36.517
It drains about one quarter
of British Columbia.

00:00:36.517 --> 00:00:39.100
[serene instrumental music]

00:00:41.910 --> 00:00:44.820
It plays a really important role

00:00:44.820 --> 00:00:49.820
in the productivity and
diversity within the Salish Sea.

00:00:52.580 --> 00:00:55.163
[serene instrumental music]

00:01:01.188 --> 00:01:03.938
[waves lapping]

00:01:05.040 --> 00:01:07.290
The Salish Sea is a body of water

00:01:07.290 --> 00:01:09.900
shared by British Columbia
and Washington State,

00:01:09.900 --> 00:01:12.330
formed by dozens of freshwater rivers

00:01:12.330 --> 00:01:13.620
flowing from the land,

00:01:13.620 --> 00:01:16.383
meeting seawater moving
with tides and current.

00:01:18.900 --> 00:01:20.280
As these waters mix,

00:01:20.280 --> 00:01:23.130
nutrient and sunlight
fuel plankton blooms,

00:01:23.130 --> 00:01:26.670
which, in turn, start a chain
reaction of food sources

00:01:26.670 --> 00:01:29.794
that feed everything from
fish to birds and whales.

00:01:31.786 --> 00:01:34.369
[serene instrumental music]

00:01:38.657 --> 00:01:41.490
[water splashing]

00:01:49.106 --> 00:01:51.122
[whale spouting]

00:01:51.122 --> 00:01:54.540
Depending on the season,
between 50% and 90%

00:01:54.540 --> 00:01:56.490
of a Southern Resident killer whale's diet

00:01:56.490 --> 00:01:57.543
is Chinook salmon.

00:01:58.920 --> 00:02:02.130
These are the biggest and
fattiest of all salmon,

00:02:02.130 --> 00:02:03.780
and they once returned to the Fraser

00:02:03.780 --> 00:02:05.733
almost every month of the year.

00:02:09.510 --> 00:02:12.780
We know so much about these animals,

00:02:12.780 --> 00:02:16.230
and yet, despite all of this knowledge,

00:02:16.230 --> 00:02:19.935
they're still declining before our eyes.

00:02:21.785 --> 00:02:25.368
[plucked string music]

00:02:30.030 --> 00:02:33.540
The Fraser Estuary is Canada's
number one salmon producer

00:02:33.540 --> 00:02:35.970
and Canada's number one Chinook producer,

00:02:35.970 --> 00:02:38.163
but we don't treat it like it is.

00:02:41.370 --> 00:02:44.703
- Today, we are out here
sampling for juvenile Chinook.

00:02:46.410 --> 00:02:47.970
We are in the Fraser Estuary.

00:02:47.970 --> 00:02:49.380
This is kind of one of the last spots

00:02:49.380 --> 00:02:51.000
before they get into the ocean

00:02:51.000 --> 00:02:53.150
and start their next
part of their journey.

00:02:54.630 --> 00:02:57.030
- [Paige Roper] I think
it's fun to put out a net

00:02:57.030 --> 00:02:58.410
and see, like, what is in there,

00:02:58.410 --> 00:02:59.820
'cause it's always a surprise.

00:02:59.820 --> 00:03:01.753
[plucked string music]

00:03:01.753 --> 00:03:04.586
[water splashing]

00:03:09.841 --> 00:03:11.257
- [Misty MacDuffee]
Someone coined the term

00:03:11.257 --> 00:03:12.723
the invisible migration.

00:03:13.680 --> 00:03:17.160
You look at the Fraser
Estuary, but you have no idea

00:03:17.160 --> 00:03:21.561
about the small, juvenile
Chinook salmon going to sea.

00:03:21.561 --> 00:03:24.978
[rhythmic marimba music]

00:03:27.005 --> 00:03:30.620
- Chinook, 74 by...

00:03:31.881 --> 00:03:32.790
- [Misty MacDuffee] One of the reasons

00:03:32.790 --> 00:03:36.450
that we are studying the
juvenile out-migration

00:03:36.450 --> 00:03:38.700
is so that we can better understand

00:03:38.700 --> 00:03:42.993
how we can improve their
survival at every life stage.

00:03:46.050 --> 00:03:47.550
- What brought me to this work

00:03:47.550 --> 00:03:49.920
is just experiencing firsthand

00:03:49.920 --> 00:03:51.720
how connected everything was

00:03:51.720 --> 00:03:53.463
within that coastal ecosystem.

00:03:55.950 --> 00:03:57.210
My family were fishers,

00:03:57.210 --> 00:03:59.940
and we did a lot of our
own harvesting of seafood.

00:03:59.940 --> 00:04:01.620
The numbers were going down so drastically

00:04:01.620 --> 00:04:02.640
that we just didn't even feel like

00:04:02.640 --> 00:04:04.275
we should be taking anything anymore.

00:04:04.275 --> 00:04:07.182
[water cascading]

00:04:07.182 --> 00:04:10.110
- [Misty MacDuffee] The
amount of lost habitat

00:04:10.110 --> 00:04:13.050
that was available to Chinook for rearing,

00:04:13.050 --> 00:04:15.990
up to 80% of that habitat is gone

00:04:15.990 --> 00:04:17.400
through the lower Fraser,

00:04:17.400 --> 00:04:19.383
so that's a huge loss.

00:04:22.049 --> 00:04:22.882
- Yes. [chuckles]

00:04:22.882 --> 00:04:24.620
- Yes, if it was anything bigger...

00:04:25.577 --> 00:04:27.560
- Right, two three, push!

00:04:27.560 --> 00:04:31.468
[water splashing]
[group laughing]

00:04:32.618 --> 00:04:36.801
[engine roaring]
[water splashing]

00:04:38.093 --> 00:04:40.926
[subdued string music]

00:04:42.690 --> 00:04:45.510
- Chinook are my favorite fish. [chuckles]

00:04:45.510 --> 00:04:50.100
Those first fish that we
used to catch in March,

00:04:50.100 --> 00:04:53.970
they've got all the omega-3
and fatty oils that you need,

00:04:53.970 --> 00:04:56.295
and amazing over a barbecue.

00:04:56.295 --> 00:04:58.878
[subdued string music]

00:05:01.560 --> 00:05:04.080
Every chance I get, I'll
bring my grandkids down there

00:05:04.080 --> 00:05:06.030
as I brought my kids down there before.

00:05:07.320 --> 00:05:09.000
To me, it's important,
that's where we come from,

00:05:09.000 --> 00:05:09.833
it's who we are,

00:05:09.833 --> 00:05:12.870
it's who our ancestors were and still are,

00:05:12.870 --> 00:05:15.570
and they expect us to do
what we've always done,

00:05:15.570 --> 00:05:17.163
and that's be connected.

00:05:18.870 --> 00:05:20.189
We are the Stó꞉lō.

00:05:20.189 --> 00:05:23.070
Stó꞉lō, translated, has two meanings.

00:05:23.070 --> 00:05:24.870
One is "people of the rivers",

00:05:24.870 --> 00:05:27.423
the other one is
"the river of all rivers."

00:05:29.490 --> 00:05:34.080
I'm 59 now, and fished
with my dad since I was 13.

00:05:34.080 --> 00:05:36.090
Every weekend you could go fishing

00:05:36.090 --> 00:05:37.440
throughout the entire year.

00:05:40.350 --> 00:05:42.390
Back then, we were
fishing three days a week.

00:05:42.390 --> 00:05:46.500
I think it equates to
156 days out of the year.

00:05:46.500 --> 00:05:48.270
It's a good chunk of
time to be on the water

00:05:48.270 --> 00:05:49.140
if you wanna go.

00:05:49.140 --> 00:05:51.540
And then when I look at today's situation,

00:05:51.540 --> 00:05:54.060
15 days in the year.

00:05:54.060 --> 00:05:56.340
So I've lost 90% of my opportunity

00:05:56.340 --> 00:05:59.430
over a period of three or so decades,

00:05:59.430 --> 00:06:01.890
and if I think of it from that perspective

00:06:01.890 --> 00:06:04.413
I'm only 10% of the way
it was back then, right?

00:06:07.320 --> 00:06:11.430
That kind of puts the emphasis on urgency

00:06:11.430 --> 00:06:14.013
and the need to get what
you can while you can.

00:06:15.930 --> 00:06:18.540
We don't care if it's raining,
snowing, we'll go fishing.

00:06:18.540 --> 00:06:20.610
That's the thing, right?

00:06:20.610 --> 00:06:22.923
'Cause it's only three
weekends I'm gonna go.

00:06:24.840 --> 00:06:25.740
Being a salmon lover,

00:06:25.740 --> 00:06:27.180
I'd love to have more opportunity

00:06:27.180 --> 00:06:28.530
to put fish away, [chuckling]

00:06:28.530 --> 00:06:29.880
but yeah, that's our challenge

00:06:29.880 --> 00:06:34.203
in keeping salmon on the plates
and in your food and diet.

00:06:35.385 --> 00:06:38.552
[propellors whirring]

00:06:39.663 --> 00:06:42.413
[dramatic string music]

00:06:43.680 --> 00:06:46.533
- It's a Wild West in the Salish Sea.

00:06:47.474 --> 00:06:50.010
[birds calling]

00:06:50.010 --> 00:06:55.010
It's such chaos for the
sea life in the area.

00:06:58.890 --> 00:07:01.230
- I love what I do, and
that's why I do what I love,

00:07:01.230 --> 00:07:04.594
so the general day, for us,
is just protecting the whales.

00:07:05.786 --> 00:07:08.640
[dramatic string music]

00:07:08.640 --> 00:07:09.780
- Our main focus is

00:07:09.780 --> 00:07:12.130
the endangered Southern
Resident killer whales.

00:07:14.700 --> 00:07:18.030
So they specifically rely solely on fish,

00:07:18.030 --> 00:07:20.550
and about 80% of that is Chinook salmon,

00:07:20.550 --> 00:07:21.543
but the challenge of that is

00:07:21.543 --> 00:07:23.700
that they're endangered as well.

00:07:23.700 --> 00:07:25.320
You have this endangered species

00:07:25.320 --> 00:07:27.665
relying on another endangered species.

00:07:27.665 --> 00:07:32.665
[dramatic string music]
[engine roaring]

00:07:33.030 --> 00:07:36.030
Southern Resident killer whales
are very sensitive to noise

00:07:36.030 --> 00:07:38.940
because of their use of
echolocation to hunt.

00:07:38.940 --> 00:07:41.010
It would be like us, for
example, trying to talk

00:07:41.010 --> 00:07:42.161
in a really loud room.

00:07:42.161 --> 00:07:44.911
[boat horn blaring]

00:07:45.750 --> 00:07:47.430
- It's like a highway for
whales here, you know.

00:07:47.430 --> 00:07:48.720
They come here to eat salmon,

00:07:48.720 --> 00:07:52.473
and I've personally seen tankers
not slow down for whales.

00:07:53.580 --> 00:07:55.110
- But what's happening is

00:07:55.110 --> 00:07:56.430
when there are vessels around,

00:07:56.430 --> 00:07:59.160
that actually mutes some of the sound.

00:07:59.160 --> 00:08:01.350
With the marine mammal
distance regulations,

00:08:01.350 --> 00:08:04.230
the whale watchers, they're
allowed to go 200 meters,

00:08:04.230 --> 00:08:06.750
whereas everyone else
has to stay 400 meters.

00:08:06.750 --> 00:08:09.840
It is very challenging
trying to get progress done,

00:08:09.840 --> 00:08:11.490
because, unfortunately,

00:08:11.490 --> 00:08:14.760
there isn't actually connection
between the regulations

00:08:14.760 --> 00:08:16.260
across the border.

00:08:16.260 --> 00:08:18.000
Washington State has put up initiatives,

00:08:18.000 --> 00:08:19.290
including the 1,000 yards

00:08:19.290 --> 00:08:21.780
that you have to stay away
from the Southern Residents,

00:08:21.780 --> 00:08:23.220
but we don't have that yet,

00:08:23.220 --> 00:08:25.375
and so the rules are different.

00:08:25.375 --> 00:08:27.450
- The government of
Canada isn't doing enough

00:08:27.450 --> 00:08:29.760
for our relatives of the deep,

00:08:29.760 --> 00:08:31.860
the qal̕qaləx̌ič, the killer whales.

00:08:31.860 --> 00:08:34.650
It's about the work
that our ancestors have

00:08:34.650 --> 00:08:36.330
done before, in the past.

00:08:36.330 --> 00:08:38.610
You need to listen to what we're saying,

00:08:38.610 --> 00:08:41.700
because obviously the
things you've been doing

00:08:41.700 --> 00:08:43.198
haven't been working.

00:08:43.198 --> 00:08:45.781
[discordant instrumental music]

00:08:48.097 --> 00:08:49.230
- [Misty MacDuffee] Chinook have declined

00:08:49.230 --> 00:08:51.450
on both sides of the Canada-US border

00:08:51.450 --> 00:08:53.130
for many reasons.

00:08:53.130 --> 00:08:55.800
In both cases, manmade structures

00:08:55.800 --> 00:08:57.450
that block salmon migration

00:08:57.450 --> 00:08:59.310
are big problems.

00:08:59.310 --> 00:09:00.900
Whether it's dams on the Columbia

00:09:00.900 --> 00:09:03.720
or jetties and floodgates
on the Fraser River,

00:09:03.720 --> 00:09:05.640
these structures have blocked access

00:09:05.640 --> 00:09:08.130
to miles of habitat once used by salmon.

00:09:08.130 --> 00:09:10.713
[discordant instrumental music]

00:09:12.089 --> 00:09:14.839
[bombastic orchestral music]

00:09:16.950 --> 00:09:18.720
- [Narrator] An Indian
chief takes a last look

00:09:18.720 --> 00:09:21.630
at a spectacle that's been
going on for a hundred years

00:09:21.630 --> 00:09:23.400
but soon will be history.

00:09:23.400 --> 00:09:25.140
The reason why is pointed out.

00:09:25.140 --> 00:09:28.135
A huge new dam has been
built at The Dalles,

00:09:28.135 --> 00:09:29.730
downstream from the falls.

00:09:29.730 --> 00:09:31.290
Little Papoose will never grow up

00:09:31.290 --> 00:09:32.850
to catch fish under the falls,

00:09:32.850 --> 00:09:35.190
which will soon be submerged themselves

00:09:35.190 --> 00:09:36.840
as once again, red man bows

00:09:36.840 --> 00:09:39.270
before white man's march of progress,

00:09:39.270 --> 00:09:40.410
a river is harnessed,

00:09:40.410 --> 00:09:42.318
and the old order passeth.

00:09:42.318 --> 00:09:44.901
[solemn music]

00:09:50.550 --> 00:09:51.450
- We don't have a fish problem,

00:09:51.450 --> 00:09:53.950
we have a human problem,
we have a people problem.

00:09:57.660 --> 00:09:59.100
Our nations and our leadership

00:09:59.100 --> 00:10:03.180
have learned the colonial
system as best they can,

00:10:03.180 --> 00:10:06.150
and then they have to
translate it and transform it

00:10:06.150 --> 00:10:11.150
into our more holistic First
Nations' Indigenous view.

00:10:11.220 --> 00:10:12.450
Our worldview on things

00:10:12.450 --> 00:10:14.880
is that everything is interconnected.

00:10:14.880 --> 00:10:16.410
If you do something over here,

00:10:16.410 --> 00:10:18.300
there's gonna be a cause and effect

00:10:18.300 --> 00:10:21.090
that you need to consider
before you do so.

00:10:21.090 --> 00:10:22.470
Between land, air, and water,

00:10:22.470 --> 00:10:24.420
you have to be cognizant
of what you're doing

00:10:24.420 --> 00:10:27.780
with those vital resources.

00:10:27.780 --> 00:10:30.960
We're thinking seven generations,
we're thinking long term.

00:10:30.960 --> 00:10:32.640
We can't just Band-Aid this now

00:10:32.640 --> 00:10:34.840
and expect it to be
good a century from now.

00:10:36.030 --> 00:10:38.220
That's the two views that I look from

00:10:38.220 --> 00:10:40.620
in terms of the colonial perspectives

00:10:40.620 --> 00:10:43.570
and then this world Indigenous view.

00:10:43.570 --> 00:10:45.320
[indistinct chatter]

00:10:45.320 --> 00:10:46.961
- We're all a family.
- I know that.

00:10:46.961 --> 00:10:48.960
- [Murray Ned] If you can't
transfer that knowledge

00:10:48.960 --> 00:10:50.340
to the next generation,

00:10:50.340 --> 00:10:51.757
then you lose it.

00:10:56.610 --> 00:10:58.440
- A lot of our indigenous women here,

00:10:58.440 --> 00:10:59.940
First Nation women,

00:10:59.940 --> 00:11:01.650
have learned to can,
they know it really well,

00:11:01.650 --> 00:11:03.753
and they can do it really, really quickly.

00:11:04.890 --> 00:11:07.500
So, we have a day or
two set aside for this,

00:11:07.500 --> 00:11:08.940
one of them being today,

00:11:08.940 --> 00:11:12.330
and then probably next week,
as well, if we get an opening.

00:11:12.330 --> 00:11:15.570
The people that are there today
have never gone to the river

00:11:15.570 --> 00:11:17.910
to see what's occurring on the river,

00:11:17.910 --> 00:11:19.563
in terms of catching the fish.

00:11:23.070 --> 00:11:25.950
So, what they're getting is
just a portion of knowledge.

00:11:25.950 --> 00:11:27.570
It's only one day out of the year

00:11:27.570 --> 00:11:29.400
compared to what might
have happened in the past.

00:11:29.400 --> 00:11:33.150
- Yeah.
[men chatting indistinctly]

00:11:33.150 --> 00:11:34.950
- What are we doing, pullin' fish out?

00:11:34.950 --> 00:11:36.008
- Yeah.
- Yeah?

00:11:37.170 --> 00:11:38.460
You tell them we're pullin' fish out.

00:11:38.460 --> 00:11:41.070
- We're pullin' fish out.

00:11:41.070 --> 00:11:42.600
- Where'd the fish come from? River?

00:11:42.600 --> 00:11:43.643
- Yeah.

00:11:43.643 --> 00:11:45.324
- Righto, pick it up.
- Don't want that one.

00:11:45.324 --> 00:11:47.160
You don't want that one? Too heavy?

00:11:47.160 --> 00:11:47.993
Why not?

00:11:47.993 --> 00:11:49.874
- That one's for show.

00:11:49.874 --> 00:11:52.024
- Got this big one here.

00:11:52.024 --> 00:11:53.774
- This? Look at this.

00:11:54.974 --> 00:11:56.599
Mmmmm!

00:11:56.599 --> 00:11:58.049
Mmmmm!

00:11:58.049 --> 00:11:59.463
This tail right here.

00:11:59.463 --> 00:12:01.110
We need another cutting table.

00:12:01.110 --> 00:12:02.100
- [Murray Ned] That's our challenge today,

00:12:02.100 --> 00:12:04.050
is trying to maintain who we are

00:12:04.050 --> 00:12:06.120
as people of the river, the Stó꞉lō,

00:12:06.120 --> 00:12:08.910
and ensure that cultural
identity stays intact somehow

00:12:08.910 --> 00:12:10.487
to the river and the fish.

00:12:10.487 --> 00:12:13.546
[women laughing and chatting]

00:12:14.654 --> 00:12:15.487
- Wanna know who's...

00:12:15.487 --> 00:12:16.553
- Who's that?

00:12:17.912 --> 00:12:20.222
[man laughing]

00:12:21.280 --> 00:12:23.520
- We just really have to
look to the First Nations

00:12:23.520 --> 00:12:28.520
to see how this was done
for so many centuries.

00:12:31.410 --> 00:12:36.410
They never went out chasing
fish out in the ocean.

00:12:36.630 --> 00:12:40.462
They'd just wait for the
fish to come to the river.

00:12:40.462 --> 00:12:45.462
[pensive instrumental music]
[water murmuring]

00:12:45.780 --> 00:12:48.360
Chinook are known as "king salmon"

00:12:48.360 --> 00:12:51.227
because they live longer and
have the potential to grow

00:12:51.227 --> 00:12:52.683
much larger than other salmon.

00:12:55.890 --> 00:12:57.930
Here in the Fraser watershed,

00:12:57.930 --> 00:13:00.240
their journey begins
in the mountain valleys

00:13:00.240 --> 00:13:02.193
hundreds of miles from the ocean.

00:13:03.150 --> 00:13:06.300
Unlike other salmon that leave
for the North Pacific Ocean,

00:13:06.300 --> 00:13:09.120
Chinook can stay close to
home in our coastal waters

00:13:09.120 --> 00:13:11.101
while they feed and grow.

00:13:11.101 --> 00:13:13.890
[water murmuring]

00:13:13.890 --> 00:13:17.850
A hundred years ago, they were
being pulled out of the river

00:13:17.850 --> 00:13:20.013
at over 100 pounds.

00:13:21.930 --> 00:13:25.830
They can be going 1,300
kilometers through freshwater

00:13:25.830 --> 00:13:27.540
to reach their headwaters.

00:13:27.540 --> 00:13:32.207
They have to be big, powerful
fish to make that journey.

00:13:35.040 --> 00:13:39.543
A trophy fish today
would be a 40-pound fish.

00:13:40.650 --> 00:13:45.650
What has to change is the
way that we manage and fish

00:13:46.230 --> 00:13:48.003
those Chinook populations.

00:13:49.110 --> 00:13:53.310
It's the only salmon where we fish them

00:13:53.310 --> 00:13:56.373
on the same grounds that they're rearing.

00:13:58.740 --> 00:14:01.920
If we want to try to correct that,

00:14:01.920 --> 00:14:04.740
one of the ways that we can do that

00:14:04.740 --> 00:14:07.350
is by moving those fisheries

00:14:07.350 --> 00:14:11.070
off of the rearing grounds and
off of the migration routes,

00:14:11.070 --> 00:14:13.470
and moving them into the river areas,

00:14:13.470 --> 00:14:14.910
what we call terminal fisheries,

00:14:14.910 --> 00:14:19.683
sort of the terminus of the
migration route for these fish.

00:14:22.410 --> 00:14:25.620
Moving ocean fisheries to the
river isn't without a cost

00:14:25.620 --> 00:14:29.460
to the people who currently
catch these fish in the ocean.

00:14:29.460 --> 00:14:32.670
Making hard choices means
fishers need to be compensated,

00:14:32.670 --> 00:14:35.760
which will require millions of dollars.

00:14:35.760 --> 00:14:38.490
But there is already a
cost from these fisheries.

00:14:38.490 --> 00:14:41.670
Right now, that cost is borne
by the salmon, the whales,

00:14:41.670 --> 00:14:44.343
and many First Nations
waiting for the arrival

00:14:44.343 --> 00:14:45.333
of those fish.

00:14:48.095 --> 00:14:50.678
[gentle ambient music]

00:14:59.103 --> 00:15:02.237
[bird cawing]

00:15:02.237 --> 00:15:05.637
[ambient music]
[water cascading]

00:15:19.342 --> 00:15:22.275
[waves lapping]

00:15:31.890 --> 00:15:34.770
- Being able to fish, it's my gifting,

00:15:34.770 --> 00:15:37.260
and I started fishing when I was 12.

00:15:37.260 --> 00:15:38.970
71 years old now.

00:15:38.970 --> 00:15:41.940
I've seen fish go extinct in my time.

00:15:41.940 --> 00:15:42.849
There's hardly any of them left.

00:15:44.057 --> 00:15:46.640
[gentle ambient music]

00:15:49.560 --> 00:15:51.990
The fish that get to the
spawning grounds are--

00:15:51.990 --> 00:15:54.963
there's very, very few,
not even 200 this year.

00:15:56.310 --> 00:16:00.090
Back in '93, there was maybe
two and a half million.

00:16:00.090 --> 00:16:02.773
It seemed like the
beginning of the end there.

00:16:06.576 --> 00:16:08.391
- Still wigglin'.

00:16:08.391 --> 00:16:10.920
- The way the commercial
fishery was managed,

00:16:10.920 --> 00:16:12.333
it got worse and worse.

00:16:13.260 --> 00:16:14.640
And they got it in their heads

00:16:14.640 --> 00:16:17.460
that if too many fish get
on the spawning grounds,

00:16:17.460 --> 00:16:18.750
they overspawn,

00:16:18.750 --> 00:16:21.360
and they do more damage
than if there's not enough.

00:16:21.360 --> 00:16:23.400
Before you guys showed up

00:16:23.400 --> 00:16:25.440
and started managing our fishery,

00:16:25.440 --> 00:16:28.590
it wasn't unusual for 100
million sockeye to come back.

00:16:28.590 --> 00:16:31.530
Now you guys managed 'em
into almost extinction.

00:16:31.530 --> 00:16:33.840
Trying to get Canada
to do the right thing,

00:16:33.840 --> 00:16:35.340
it's really, really tough, eh?

00:16:38.520 --> 00:16:39.570
We're working right now

00:16:39.570 --> 00:16:42.510
to put together a
memorandum of understanding

00:16:42.510 --> 00:16:45.300
between First Nations in BC

00:16:45.300 --> 00:16:47.500
and the First Nations
in Washington, Oregon.

00:16:48.420 --> 00:16:51.870
Those are our cousins, and
our uncles, and our aunties.

00:16:51.870 --> 00:16:54.720
Before the Europeans showed
up, there was no border,

00:16:54.720 --> 00:16:57.060
and they were our people, eh?

00:16:57.060 --> 00:16:59.970
Treaty rights to fish are
no good if there's no fish.

00:16:59.970 --> 00:17:03.150
And if they wipe out habitats,

00:17:03.150 --> 00:17:05.130
if they destroy fishing runs,

00:17:05.130 --> 00:17:07.226
then our treaty rights are gonna be empty.

00:17:07.226 --> 00:17:09.809
[gentle instrumental music]

00:17:11.834 --> 00:17:14.584
[boat engine buzzing]

00:17:22.710 --> 00:17:25.800
- There were two whales traveling south.

00:17:25.800 --> 00:17:26.760
It's a strange area,

00:17:26.760 --> 00:17:29.700
because this right here,
this line, is the border,

00:17:29.700 --> 00:17:32.340
but of course the whales
don't know the borders.

00:17:32.340 --> 00:17:33.960
But the vessels do,

00:17:33.960 --> 00:17:36.120
and so there are different
rules across the borders,

00:17:36.120 --> 00:17:38.130
which makes our job quite challenging.

00:17:38.130 --> 00:17:39.900
We'll be able to hopefully pick them up

00:17:39.900 --> 00:17:43.628
and hear their vocalizations
if they're vocalizing,

00:17:43.628 --> 00:17:45.378
but we'll just keep an eye on that.

00:17:48.203 --> 00:17:50.953
[boat engine buzzing]

00:18:04.050 --> 00:18:06.083
- [Patrick Elliot] Everyone
on the boat was quiet.

00:18:12.053 --> 00:18:14.520
[orca spouting]

00:18:14.520 --> 00:18:17.130
When I saw that saddle patch
and that dorsal fin up close,

00:18:17.130 --> 00:18:19.623
I immediately knew it was a blessing.

00:18:22.140 --> 00:18:24.690
When you're there with the
orcas and it's just them,

00:18:24.690 --> 00:18:26.406
it's amazing.

00:18:26.406 --> 00:18:28.740
[orca spouting]

00:18:28.740 --> 00:18:30.030
You can hear the blows,

00:18:30.030 --> 00:18:32.130
and you can hear the tail slaps,

00:18:32.130 --> 00:18:34.890
and it just echoes
throughout the Gulf Islands.

00:18:34.890 --> 00:18:36.300
I felt like I was living a dream,

00:18:36.300 --> 00:18:37.888
and that was an amazing feeling.

00:18:37.888 --> 00:18:40.471
[serene instrumental music]

00:18:42.059 --> 00:18:44.160
[camera shutter clicking]

00:18:44.160 --> 00:18:47.010
- [David Dick] There's that
imaginary line that divides us,

00:18:47.010 --> 00:18:50.340
and back in the day our
people, our ancestors,

00:18:50.340 --> 00:18:52.290
we traveled across to the other side.

00:18:52.290 --> 00:18:54.390
We have relatives on that side,

00:18:54.390 --> 00:18:56.613
we have our bloodlines on that side.

00:18:57.600 --> 00:18:58.860
- [Patrick Elliot] Just
to be able to go over

00:18:58.860 --> 00:19:01.260
and work with our
neighbors, the Lummi Nation,

00:19:01.260 --> 00:19:02.553
would be amazing.

00:19:03.750 --> 00:19:07.080
- Even all of our meetings
for creating the regulations,

00:19:07.080 --> 00:19:08.640
they are just within Canada.

00:19:08.640 --> 00:19:10.950
At the end of the day,
it's the qwe 'lhol mechen.

00:19:10.950 --> 00:19:12.570
They don't need the borders.

00:19:12.570 --> 00:19:14.280
They need us to all come together,

00:19:14.280 --> 00:19:16.473
and work together, and create alignment.

00:19:18.180 --> 00:19:20.100
- We've got 56 Nations and tribes

00:19:20.100 --> 00:19:22.320
that are a part of the Coast Salish.

00:19:22.320 --> 00:19:24.060
We don't recognize the border.

00:19:24.060 --> 00:19:28.080
In our statement of solidarity
for the lower Fraser,

00:19:28.080 --> 00:19:30.300
it basically says we
have to be responsible

00:19:30.300 --> 00:19:31.530
for wherever the fish migrate,

00:19:31.530 --> 00:19:33.420
not just our own territory.

00:19:33.420 --> 00:19:36.690
They have to go to the
marine waters for four years

00:19:36.690 --> 00:19:40.023
and then make it back to
their resident tributaries.

00:19:41.430 --> 00:19:43.500
We believe we have an interest
and a right to those fish,

00:19:43.500 --> 00:19:45.420
but we also have an obligation

00:19:45.420 --> 00:19:46.530
to look after those fish

00:19:46.530 --> 00:19:48.810
that need to pass through our territory

00:19:48.810 --> 00:19:50.463
to other Nations' territories.

00:19:51.900 --> 00:19:52.890
If I show you a map

00:19:52.890 --> 00:19:54.900
of all the jurisdictions
for the lower Fraser,

00:19:54.900 --> 00:19:55.920
it's messy.

00:19:55.920 --> 00:19:59.940
If I look, be a province,
feds, local jurisdictions,

00:19:59.940 --> 00:20:01.560
Fraser Valley regional districts,

00:20:01.560 --> 00:20:04.650
and you look at it,
it just boggles your mind.

00:20:04.650 --> 00:20:06.540
And then you put the First
Nation little reserves

00:20:06.540 --> 00:20:08.880
along the Fraser watershed,

00:20:08.880 --> 00:20:10.260
and then I get back to this,

00:20:10.260 --> 00:20:13.260
how do you disentangle this
jurisdictional situation

00:20:13.260 --> 00:20:15.000
with lines on the maps, right?

00:20:15.000 --> 00:20:16.320
Well, you get rid of everything

00:20:16.320 --> 00:20:19.860
and just say we're just gonna
manage together by watershed.

00:20:19.860 --> 00:20:21.840
And if the fish migrate up there,

00:20:21.840 --> 00:20:25.470
we collectively have to figure
out a way to work together.

00:20:25.470 --> 00:20:29.100
Forestry practices, mining practices,

00:20:29.100 --> 00:20:30.570
agricultural practices

00:20:30.570 --> 00:20:33.750
have all had an impact
on where the fish reside.

00:20:33.750 --> 00:20:35.760
We look at the estuary,

00:20:35.760 --> 00:20:37.440
I don't know how you recover that area.

00:20:37.440 --> 00:20:40.590
It's all industrialized, it's urbanized,

00:20:40.590 --> 00:20:42.090
it's got residents everywhere.

00:20:43.200 --> 00:20:44.490
You know, we have a crisis,

00:20:44.490 --> 00:20:46.413
but not everybody recognizes it.

00:20:47.400 --> 00:20:49.155
Maybe it's not publicized enough.

00:20:49.155 --> 00:20:51.905
[boat engine buzzing]

00:20:54.570 --> 00:20:58.950
- We're heading out of the
north arm of the Fraser River.

00:20:58.950 --> 00:21:02.310
This north arm is highly industrialized.

00:21:02.310 --> 00:21:05.640
They've been passing logs
from the forest industry,

00:21:05.640 --> 00:21:08.250
barges full of chips.

00:21:08.250 --> 00:21:12.033
- Historically, the estuary
is a really special place.

00:21:13.110 --> 00:21:15.210
And obviously it's really different now

00:21:15.210 --> 00:21:16.533
than it has been before.

00:21:18.870 --> 00:21:22.230
- A hundred years ago, they
did construction everywhere

00:21:22.230 --> 00:21:25.380
so that ships can get into
the arms of the river,

00:21:25.380 --> 00:21:28.323
and that was a huge
loss for Chinook salmon.

00:21:30.300 --> 00:21:31.920
What these jetties have done

00:21:31.920 --> 00:21:35.280
is they've interrupted
the natural migration

00:21:35.280 --> 00:21:36.630
of those juvenile salmon

00:21:36.630 --> 00:21:39.870
to reaching the kind of
habitat that's close to shore,

00:21:39.870 --> 00:21:41.790
that's shallow, that's protected,

00:21:41.790 --> 00:21:45.720
that they want to grow and feed in.

00:21:45.720 --> 00:21:50.017
So we just went in and
removed all the rock

00:21:50.880 --> 00:21:54.270
on top of the wood, on top
of all this other material

00:21:54.270 --> 00:21:58.170
that they built the jetties
out of a hundred years ago.

00:21:58.170 --> 00:22:00.030
Once we got that out of the way,

00:22:00.030 --> 00:22:02.370
the idea was that we
wouldn't dig a channel,

00:22:02.370 --> 00:22:04.770
that we'd just let the
river carve its way back

00:22:04.770 --> 00:22:05.970
onto the delta,

00:22:05.970 --> 00:22:08.193
and it's working over time.

00:22:08.193 --> 00:22:10.443
[indistinct conversation]

00:22:12.009 --> 00:22:14.759
[water splashing]

00:22:19.859 --> 00:22:24.859
Paige, this breach is friggin' massive!

00:22:26.070 --> 00:22:28.380
Holy smokes, eh!

00:22:28.380 --> 00:22:30.123
- No, it's really, really big.

00:22:32.284 --> 00:22:35.100
[water lapping]

00:22:35.100 --> 00:22:36.393
We could start from here.

00:22:37.650 --> 00:22:39.690
- The more that we understand

00:22:39.690 --> 00:22:44.690
how these tiny Chinook are
using the Fraser estuary,

00:22:45.240 --> 00:22:48.750
the better decisions that
we can make about habitat

00:22:48.750 --> 00:22:50.760
and about how to protect that habitat,

00:22:50.760 --> 00:22:53.430
because we know where
these fish are coming from

00:22:53.430 --> 00:22:54.420
in the watershed,

00:22:54.420 --> 00:22:57.300
we know how long they're
spending in the estuary.

00:22:57.300 --> 00:23:00.600
All of this leads to better decisions

00:23:00.600 --> 00:23:04.622
that will improve survival
in this juvenile life stage.

00:23:05.464 --> 00:23:06.829
- Chinook, do you think?

00:23:06.829 --> 00:23:08.516
Ah, it is!

00:23:08.516 --> 00:23:10.440
- [Misty MacDuffee]
That's one of the steps

00:23:10.440 --> 00:23:12.300
that we have to take

00:23:12.300 --> 00:23:16.530
to larger, more fish
coming back in the end.

00:23:16.530 --> 00:23:18.660
We know that if we take out dams,

00:23:18.660 --> 00:23:19.920
if we breach jetties,

00:23:19.920 --> 00:23:22.680
if we start protecting riparian zones,

00:23:22.680 --> 00:23:25.413
that we could recover
habitat over time as well.

00:23:29.130 --> 00:23:31.208
- Good work, you guys.
- Aah.

00:23:31.208 --> 00:23:33.958
[boat engine buzzing]

00:23:39.960 --> 00:23:42.540
- So, we work together as a team.

00:23:42.540 --> 00:23:45.480
I'm looking from the
perspective of the biologist.

00:23:45.480 --> 00:23:48.690
The Guardians look at
it as a whole ecosystem.

00:23:48.690 --> 00:23:50.340
It's been amazing hearing the stories

00:23:50.340 --> 00:23:52.560
from the Guardians of the killer whales

00:23:52.560 --> 00:23:55.050
and how they had led the people.

00:23:55.050 --> 00:23:57.150
It was just a much deeper connection,

00:23:57.150 --> 00:24:00.093
and that is really important
for conservation in general.

00:24:00.930 --> 00:24:03.150
You have to get people to connect with it,

00:24:03.150 --> 00:24:04.650
and who better to do that

00:24:04.650 --> 00:24:08.400
than the original Guardians
and stewards of these waters.

00:24:08.400 --> 00:24:13.250
- It's just a new form of
guardianship work that we do.

00:24:13.250 --> 00:24:17.460
It is acknowledging there's
not enough being done.

00:24:17.460 --> 00:24:20.970
This is where we come
in as Indigenous people

00:24:20.970 --> 00:24:23.760
and say, "Look, we will do something,

00:24:23.760 --> 00:24:26.280
and we'll do something that's meaningful

00:24:26.280 --> 00:24:29.637
to give our relatives of
the deep a better life."

00:24:31.380 --> 00:24:32.370
- It means the world to me

00:24:32.370 --> 00:24:35.190
to have this role in our community.

00:24:35.190 --> 00:24:38.400
I hope one day that we
can have a fleet of boats,

00:24:38.400 --> 00:24:40.050
have a big Guardian program.

00:24:40.050 --> 00:24:41.430
It's not just helping the whales,

00:24:41.430 --> 00:24:43.530
it's having that presence in our territory

00:24:43.530 --> 00:24:44.760
and being out there making sure

00:24:44.760 --> 00:24:46.770
nothing's going on, you know?

00:24:46.770 --> 00:24:49.050
I'm glad to see that the
role of the guardianship

00:24:49.050 --> 00:24:49.883
is coming back

00:24:49.883 --> 00:24:51.360
into not only this community,

00:24:51.360 --> 00:24:52.760
but all communities as well.

00:24:56.409 --> 00:24:59.425
[drum beating]

00:25:00.675 --> 00:25:04.091
[First Nation members chanting]

00:25:06.210 --> 00:25:08.100
- This is about getting to a place

00:25:08.100 --> 00:25:10.200
where we have decision-making authority,

00:25:10.200 --> 00:25:11.850
and we won't have that unless we have

00:25:11.850 --> 00:25:14.430
government to government
to government relationship,

00:25:14.430 --> 00:25:17.700
the province, Canada, and Nations.

00:25:17.700 --> 00:25:19.980
And then you have this
trans-boundary consideration,

00:25:19.980 --> 00:25:20.910
that bringing the US

00:25:20.910 --> 00:25:23.613
into that government to
government relationship.

00:25:25.620 --> 00:25:29.010
In my view, it's gonna
take four decades plus

00:25:29.010 --> 00:25:31.708
to reverse what we got going,
rebuilding, recovery.

00:25:31.708 --> 00:25:35.708
[First Nation members chanting]

00:25:40.530 --> 00:25:42.180
So we have some work to do in that regard,

00:25:42.180 --> 00:25:44.370
and we're up for the challenge.

00:25:44.370 --> 00:25:45.600
At least I am.

00:25:45.600 --> 00:25:47.700
I could maybe have
another six years of work,

00:25:47.700 --> 00:25:50.883
but probably maybe become an
advisor after that. [chuckles]

00:25:51.796 --> 00:25:55.012
[gentle instrumental music]

00:25:59.307 --> 00:26:01.080
- When I first joined the crew,

00:26:01.080 --> 00:26:03.930
I felt like I was just
having this experience

00:26:03.930 --> 00:26:06.960
of seeing these fish for the first time.

00:26:06.960 --> 00:26:11.220
It's been cool to see all of the new techs

00:26:11.220 --> 00:26:12.330
that come in each year,

00:26:12.330 --> 00:26:15.630
and they are so excited about the work

00:26:15.630 --> 00:26:20.630
and so passionate to look at
kind of the broader picture.

00:26:20.850 --> 00:26:22.230
It's definitely, like, motivating

00:26:22.230 --> 00:26:24.390
to see their excitement for it.

00:26:24.390 --> 00:26:26.313
It definitely makes me excited.

00:26:28.230 --> 00:26:30.540
- So in September, I'll be going to BCIT

00:26:30.540 --> 00:26:32.880
to study ecological restoration,

00:26:32.880 --> 00:26:37.620
and I'm hoping to pursue a
career in stream restoration

00:26:37.620 --> 00:26:39.180
and helping bring back habitats

00:26:39.180 --> 00:26:42.060
that have been kind of affected by people.

00:26:42.060 --> 00:26:43.860
It's definitely, like, made me feel

00:26:43.860 --> 00:26:44.910
really, really passionate,

00:26:44.910 --> 00:26:47.907
and given me a lot of
drive to, like, pursue this

00:26:47.907 --> 00:26:49.293
for the rest of my life.

00:26:52.290 --> 00:26:53.850
- [Paige Roper] Day to day,
it's just cool

00:26:53.850 --> 00:26:54.900
to be out on the water.

00:26:54.900 --> 00:26:56.370
And more long-term,

00:26:56.370 --> 00:26:58.650
it's nice to be a part of these projects

00:26:58.650 --> 00:27:00.333
that are actually helping salmon.

00:27:02.610 --> 00:27:04.950
- [Misty MacDuffee]
Recovery is still possible

00:27:04.950 --> 00:27:06.870
at this 11th hour,

00:27:06.870 --> 00:27:10.410
but it's going to take
a much greater effort

00:27:10.410 --> 00:27:14.520
than it would have had we
done this a decade ago.

00:27:14.520 --> 00:27:18.300
I'm hopeful that we're
going to slowly increase

00:27:18.300 --> 00:27:19.320
the size of these fish,

00:27:19.320 --> 00:27:22.203
recover that population
structure over time.

00:27:26.280 --> 00:27:28.560
What gives me hope is the power of people

00:27:28.560 --> 00:27:30.450
to make hard choices,

00:27:30.450 --> 00:27:32.100
and we have two great examples

00:27:32.100 --> 00:27:33.723
right here in the Salish Sea.

00:27:34.590 --> 00:27:36.300
Breaching dams in the Elwha River

00:27:36.300 --> 00:27:38.520
and breaching jetties
in the Fraser Estuary

00:27:38.520 --> 00:27:42.540
both have benefits to salmon,
First Nations, and whales.

00:27:42.540 --> 00:27:44.610
It brings salmon back to the watersheds

00:27:44.610 --> 00:27:46.563
that are the lifeblood of this region.

00:27:49.020 --> 00:27:52.140
People have to have some
kind of a connection,

00:27:52.140 --> 00:27:54.360
but a lot of times it's a heart connection

00:27:54.360 --> 00:27:56.253
to the places that we live in.

00:27:58.280 --> 00:28:01.530
- In our language, we have
what's called lets'emo:t.

00:28:01.530 --> 00:28:03.810
Translated, it's "one
heart, one mind" in English.

00:28:03.810 --> 00:28:06.540
So from mountain to sea,
everything's interconnected,

00:28:06.540 --> 00:28:07.780
and we have to recognize that.

00:28:09.072 --> 00:28:12.338
[serene instrumental music]

00:28:31.659 --> 00:28:35.959
[indistinct chatter]
[instruments clacking]

00:28:35.959 --> 00:28:39.876
[First Nation member chanting]

00:28:51.244 --> 00:28:55.077
[First Nation group chanting]

00:29:09.010 --> 00:29:10.564
[drum beating]

00:29:10.564 --> 00:29:14.481
[First Nation member chanting]

00:29:25.994 --> 00:29:29.827
[First Nation group chanting]

00:29:45.450 --> 00:29:49.367
[First Nation member chanting]

00:30:00.807 --> 00:30:04.640
[First Nation group chanting]

00:30:20.604 --> 00:30:23.354
[orca spouting]