Summit held as tribal leaders seek to expand aquaculture

Tribal and First Nations leaders, aquaculture students, researchers, and natural resource professionals from across the Pacific Northwest of North America are gathering today for the second annual Pacific Northwest Indigenous Aquaculture Summit, hosted by the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe.

The event runs from today until Thursday at 7 Cedars Resort in Sequim, Washington state, in the United States.

This year’s inter-Tribal gathering, organised by the Kurt Grinnell Aquaculture Scholarship Foundation (KGASF), will welcome representatives from 18 Northwest Tribes, along with a delegation from the Northeastern Region of the US. Organisers say the Summit celebrates the enduring legacy and future promise of Indigenous aquaculture, bringing together communities to share knowledge and strengthen connections among Tribes.

Strengthening connections

“This conference is about coming together as Tribal communities,” said Jaiden Grinnell Bosick, KGASF president. “Our waters and our foods tie us to who we are. By sharing knowledge across Tribal Nations, we strengthen those connections and create lasting opportunities for our children and grandchildren to thrive, earn a living, and provide for our communities.”

Through collaborative discussions, scientific presentations, and cultural exchange, participants will explore how Tribal communities are blending ancestral wisdom with modern innovation to restore access to abundant seafood, expand Tribal enterprises, and advance restorative aquaculture practices, Bosick added.

Key topics include:

• Reviving and honouring ancestral aquaculture traditions
• Sustainable production of finfish, shellfish, and sea vegetables
• Tribal-led innovation, marketing, and enterprise development
• Strategies for shaping effective natural resource policy and advocacy.

'Seven-generation' planning

The Summit continues the vision of the late Kurt Grinnell, a respected Tribal leader and aquaculture pioneer. As vice chair of the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribal Council and a representative on numerous regional and national boards, Grinnell championed Tribal sovereignty and food security. Guided by the principle of planning “seven generations ahead”, he worked to ensure that aquaculture would remain a source of strength and resilience for Indigenous communities. The Kurt Grinnell Aquaculture Scholarship Foundation was established in his memory in 2021.

In January this year, the Washington State Board of Natural Resources voted to ban open net pen fish farming in state waters.

Jim Parsons, chief executive of Jamestown Seafood operated by the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe and president of the Northwest Aquaculture Alliance (NWAA), said at the time that the decision was “a blatant disregard for the hundreds of pages of thoughtful testimony from aquaculture experts, civic leaders, respected fisheries scientists, veterinarians, Tribal leaders, and consumers”.

Some local Tribes support the ban, and others oppose it.

Commercial net-pen farming in Washington may still proceed on other water bodies not leased by the state. The ban also does not affect raising native fish for release to the water or raising fish for tribal subsistence and ceremonial use.