Pauquachin First Nation Marine
Yu sq'uq'a' kwthu xe'xe' smunmeent (Together with our sacred rocks)
What We Do
Shellfish Restoration
Pauquachin First Nation (PFN) has taken a crucial step towards addressing the closure of shellfish harvest in Coles Bay, British Columbia, with the release of three comprehensive reports. The reports shed light on the challenges faced in reopening the bay for shellfish harvesting and propose potential solutions to restore this vital resource. The reports encompass recommendations to the Canadian Crown governments, emphasizing the urgent need for collaborative efforts to rectify the longstanding closure.
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Shellfish have played a central role in the lives of the Pauquachin people for generations. However, since 1997, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) has imposed a closure on shellfish harvesting in Coles Bay due to concerns over sanitary pollution. This extended closure has had a major impact on the community, though active restoration practices including beach tilling, increased water quality testing, and re-introduction of cultural stewardship is turning the tide.
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Pauquachin First Nations' Marine Department has been diligently working throughout low tides to bring back this sacred space for our Elders, youth, and future generations, as we navigate steps forward.
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Pauquachin First Nation Marine Stewardship
Pauquachin First Nation Marine Department (PFNMD), located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, has a long-standing connection to its lands, waters, and cultural traditions.
The Marine Department was created in 2020, under community and leadership direction, in order to play a pivotal role in integrating Indigenous knowledge with ecological practices to protect and restore marine and coastal ecosystems, ensuring the sustainable management of these vital resources.
Its' creation is the realization of a long-standing community vision of re-integrating community practices back onto the landscape and actively address challenges that have been perpetuated in the territory, by centering resilience and leadership in marine and coastal stewardship.
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Pauquachin First Nations' Marine Department (PFNMD) stewards and actively monitors the traditional territories of Pauquachin First Nation, from Saanich Inlet to outwards of Saturna Island, and all lands and waters of historical use and significance for the Nation.
Nurturing A Community
Pauquachin First Nation (BOḰEĆEN) is a strong independent nation that takes pride in ȻEṈEṈITEL ȽTE (working together). Through unity BOḰEĆEN thrives as a safe, healthy and successful nation taking an active role to protect our lands and resources for our SELISET (family).
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The community of Pauquachin, a name generally meaning “the land of cliffs and bluffs”, is historically a First Nations community that is located on Southern Vancouver Island.
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Pauquachin was originally part of the W̱SÁNEĆ (Saanich) Nation, which also includes SȾÁUTW̱ (Tsawout), W̱JOȽEȽP (Tsartlip) and W̱SIḴEM (Tseycum). These bands share a common history and territory. The Saanich Nation belongs to a broader cultural group known as Central Coast Salish. Saanich First Nation settlements have been mostly concentrated on the western side of the Saanich Peninsula. The population in Pauquachin began as a small group of 14 families and many of these families are still present today.
The Saanich Nation, including Pauquachin, shares the sacred mountain of ȽÁU, WELṈEW̱, which translates to “place of refuge”. This sacred mountain, which is otherwise known as Mount Newton, has held cultural significance for 10,000 years (Weiss, 2008).​ ȽÁU, WELṈEW̱ is understood as the place where people go to feel connected to the Great Spirit.
Coles Bay, BC
Call for Action: ​
Coles Bay has been closed to shellfish harvesting since 1997 due to sanitary pollution contamination. This has not only profoundly affected an important and reliable source of food, but also created wider impacts for Pauquachin cultural practice.
The closure has had far-reaching impact on the community because shellfish harvest at Coles Bay has been a source of nutrition and health; an economic resource; a cultural site; a site of education; a place where generations bonded and traditional knowledge was passed; a place where language and stories were learned, and where laws and obligations to one another and the world was learned. This type of tragic and unjust closure is all too common along British Columbia’s coastline.
The source of the closure at Coles Bay is largely a result of E. coli pollution that mainly comes from poorly regulated neighbouring septic systems. Primarily, outdated municipal storm drain and septic networks fail to mitigate the problem, and deliver unfiltered septic and other pollutants to Coles Bay shellfish beds. North Saanich, the adjacent municipality bordering Coles Bay, has been aware of the geographic unsuitability for septic fields along the beachfront since 1978 and has failed to mitigate septic impacts for decades.
In 2007, North Saanich made a number of formal commitments to address maintenance management of septic systems as well as several stormwater commitments. However, as the 2019 CRD Audit concluded, North Saanich was non-compliant with its own commitments regarding septic systems and stormwater runoff. As of 2023, North Saanich moved on one of Pauquachin First Nations' recommendations, joining the Capital Regional Districts' Bylaw No. 3479, increasing regulation and maintenance of onsite sewage systems with an added enhanced maintenance aspect being considered. Implementation of the bylaw will be initiated in 2025.
Fortunately, positive change through our advocacy has begun to occur, through various levels of internal and external efforts. Interests have been garnered from provincial, and federal crown agencies, aiming to move on the multi-jurisdictional barriers identified as restrictive to Pauquachin shellfish harvests. Additionally, regional municipalities and districts (CRD) have initiated joint restoration efforts for items impacting shellfish such as erosion alongside adjacent park and municipal areas. Non-profit interest and support has increased, with Pauquachin First Nation Marine Department training volunteers from Swim Drink Fish Canada to join us in our water quality sampling regimes, to continue monitoring sewage inputs from land-based sources.
Our project examples, including planned erosion control methods, sea garden implementation, native plant restoration areas and shellfish management strategies are all critical to this work, as we weave Indigenous knowledges together with scientific practices to generate novel and long-term solutions to challenging complex issues impacting our beach.
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