DECLINE OF COASTAL NATURAL RESOURCE-BASED COMMUNITIES
challenges | solutions| links
last update: February 22, 2003

Challenges
Coastal natural resource-based communities in Cascadia face a number of recurring issues: the depletion of resource stocks, particularly Pacific salmon; the influence of consumer market attitude, particularly with respect to utilization of the resources of old growth forests; the allocation of resources to those outside the community; the displacement of resource workers, and the confinement of workers to seasonal employment.

The results are depression-like conditions in many coastal regions where resource industry jobs and opportunities have plummeted due to the economic downturn in the fishing sector and to recent restrictions on forestry activity. Smaller and outlying coastal communities have been further impacted by crashing global commodity prices. Communities are calling for a coordinated coastal economic development strategy to deal with this global economic restructuring.

In the absence of a viable salmon fishery and in the face of limitations on traditional forestry employment, where do coastal folks to turn for a sustainable livelihood within their communities?

Finding Solutions
There are various movements aimed at returning to the fishing boats and to intensive activity in the woods. The realities are such that these are not ready solutions for either the communities or the unemployed. Solutions to the problems facing coastal resource-based communities cannot include putting fishermen back on boats to seek Pacific salmon that are not there, or loggers back in the woods to harvest trees that are not available.

Needed are innovative solutions that allow people to live and work in their communities; to find and sustain local jobs based on the resources, assets and opportunities within and around the communities, and not upon those resources that are no longer available.

Fundamental to this is the encouragement and facilitation of community-based economic development planning. This involves the community directly in examining and evaluating its assets, opportunities and constraints for: natural resources, human resources and infra-structural resources. The questions to be addressed in this context are:

• What have we got in terms of environmental, natural, and cultural resource assets?

• What assets are on hand in terms of infra-structure, facilities and equipment?

• What have we got in terms of human resources, skills, talents, abilities?

• What are the development, business and employment opportunities these assets?

• What are the constraints to these?

• What are the immediate enterprise and job priorities in terms of community objectives and aspirations?

• What are the roles and skill sets required to: a) bring these about; b) sustain their management; and, c) staff and deliver them?

• What training for community members is needed (and feasible) to enable them to assume these roles?

The goal is to develop sustainable community-based enterprises and jobs and to train workers to enable year round sustainable employment.

Solutions to declining stocks and supply, such as resource and habitat restoration and stewardship, and an array of emerging related coastal resource activities will need experienced people who know the local areas.

Increased monitoring and surveillance of a restructured salmon fishery and of hinterland forest resources will require people with knowledge of local conditions, fishing and logging methods, tolerance of sea conditions, and ready access to vessels of various sizes and types.

Support of and involvement in these activities could retain many fishermen and loggers and related fish and forest industry workers within their respective coastal communities.

Links for more information

• Coastal Community Network 
  http://www.coastalcommunity.bc.ca/

• Coastal Zone Canada (BC) Association 
  http://ceor.seos.uvic.ca/CZCBC/

• The Stewardship Centre http://www.stewardshipcentre.org

• BC Community Forestry Forum 
  http://www.cf-forum.org/

• Forest Futures 
  http://www.forestfutures.org/

• Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management 
  http://www.gov.bc.ca/srm/

• Ministry of Water Land and Air Protection 
  http://www.gov.bc.ca/wlap/

• Community Forests Pilot Project 
  http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/pab/jobs/community/

• The Pacific Region Oceans
  http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/oceans/

• Sustainable Fisheries Society 
  http://www.sfsfishfirst.org/

• UBC The Fisheries Centre
  http://www.fisheries.ubc.ca/

• Waterfront Planning Checklist
  http://www.tbrpc.org/waterfront/howto.htm

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