Coastal Voices Film and Web Site Launched!

Today, we launched our film: Coastal Voices; Navigating the Return of Sea Otters on our new project web site: CoastalVoices.net

In June 2014, a diverse group of people with a shared passion for our oceans risked to think in new ways and listen to new ideas. We are a group of First Nations leaders, artists, scientists and journalists who gathered together on British Columbia’s central coast to discuss the profound transformations triggered by the recovery of sea otters. Through the lens of traditional knowledge and western science, our goal was to share information and begin a respectful dialogue to better equip coastal communities with strategies to navigate the ecological and socio-economic changes that come with the recovery of this predator. Watch our conversation.

About the Film

With a shared passion for our oceans, Indigenous leaders, scientists, and artists discuss the conflicts and profound transformations triggered by the recovery of sea otters along the Pacific coast of North America. This mini documentary captures the voices of prominent Indigenous Leaders on the value of sea otters in maintaining kelp forest ecosystems, the role of humans in ecosystems, and the pillars of Indigenous governance. Elders share their knowledge of the hunting and management practices of their ancestors while anthropologists describe evidence revealed from thousand year old archaeological sites that mirrors this knowledge. Marine ecologists discuss the cascading effects and resource conflicts caused by sea otters today and social scientists and Indigenous stewardship managers reflect on possible solutions, the governance of ocean spaces, and the reassertion of territorial rights by coastal First Nations in British Columbia, Canada.