This year’s eulachon run has been anything but typical!

‘Ẅa̱h (common noun for eulachon)  can be found up and down the coast, and go by many different names; we’ve heard:

• eulachon (scientific spelling and Steve’s preferred spelling)
• oolichan (Lisa’s preference, oolie for short)
• ooligan
• hooligan
• candle fish
• saviour fish

The eulachon run is the first run of fresh fish after the long winter months. Eulachon are famous for their oily properties, and make a unique local product: ḵ’awtsii –  eulachon grease !

In Sm’algya̱x , there are names for the four different runs.

• Ha’limootk [ha’/li/*mootk] – is the first run, which is akin to saying saviour fish (literally translates to time/place where safe) . It hear it makes a very dark grease.
• Hanig̱oox [ha/ni/*g̱oox] – is the second run of oolichan , which is less oil rich and better for smoking or drying.
• Laa’na̱ [*laa/’na̱] – is the third run .
• K‘awoo [ḵ’a/*woo] – is the fourth run.

Tsimshian have access to two major eulachon runs, in the Ksyen – Skeena River and the Kluusms – Nass River ,and just like ḵ’awtsii, everyone has a preference. My mom, Jennifer Sampson, prefers the Nass River run, which she grew up eating in Lax Kw’alaams.

The ‘ẅa̱h seem to have trickled in this year to the Ksyen, making it tricky to figure out which run is which. It’s apparent that the ‘ẅa̱h, and wildlife that feed on them, have been much more scarce. Steve thinks the first run may have come in late, or there were few? The Nass was early, so perhaps the predators headed north for the earlier run? Or they might have gone under the ice?

Or perhaps they’re relying on the Skeena main stem and big tides to make their way up river? ‘Ẅa̱h are not the strongest swimmers – so they rely heavily on the tides to help push them up river. The Skeena is so large that the tides can be seen as far as Kasiks (it’s usually about a 4-5 hour delay from the tides in the Prince Rupert harbour).

I tagged along with Steve and his co-worker Kathryn a couple weekends ago, and they said it was their best catch yet this season in the eulachon gill nets. It was a good thing we were wearing waders, because getting the ‘ẅa̱h off the net is messy business (heads, eggs and scales tend to fly all over the place with three people working on one net). Katie and Steve said I was the good luck charm when it came to this season’s eulachon fishing. There were lots of g̱a̱guum [g̱a̱/*guum] – seagull(s)  and xsgyiik [x/*sgyiik] – eagles  feeding on the candle fish – not many üüla̱ [*üü/la̱] – seals or t’iibn [*t’ii/bn] – sea lions this weekend though.

Typically you can dip net off Highway 16 and fill up a bucket fairly quickly – but this year has been hit and miss! We did not catch anything in the dip nets this trip. Also – I didn’t realize that EAGLES EAT SEAGULLS. I don’t know why this was so surprising to me, as xsgyiik are apex predators. Steve told me that he’s seen an eagle take out a seagull before.

Steve and I decided to set a gill net after work last weekend, just to see *if* we could catch anything. Like I said, this season has been slow – so we were hoping to catch a few over night in the gill nets. We raced out right after work while it was daylight, because sun set was around 6:30pm. As soon as we set the gill net, we went back to try dip netting, just to see if anything was around.

And, voila! I was the lucky charm again. We found a school of them and filled our buckets up quickly! Some dips came up empty, but when the bana [*ba/na] – dip net  was full, we had anywhere from 1-30 eulachon per dip net. We were so sure it was going to be a slow night, that we had a second spot in mind up river that we didn’t make it to. There were so many eulachon, that we could feel them hitting the edge of the dip net as it ran through the water. We could also feel them bumping up against our legs, and if we weren’t careful, we’d step right on them!

We had set the gill net early, thinking we’d have a tough time catching anything. But Steve realized there were eulachon nearby, and he pulled the net after only 20 minutes. Fortunately/unfortunately, the net was loaded with eulachon (which meant more work for us after the fact taking the fish off the net).

The pros of using the gill net: it’s relatively easy to set up, it has potential to catch a lot of fish, and you can leave it to do its thing while you do other stuff.

The cons of using the gill net: it can be time consuming to clean, the net can be damaged by ice and wildlife, and the fish can be damaged while you’re taking them off the net – which is more wasteful of the fish than dip netting (dip netting catches the fish whole – the gill net tends to pop the heads off if they’re really stuck behind the gills).

We tried to clean the net the same night while we were out there – but our hands were cold and wet, and it can be time consuming. Took us about an hour to finish off the net the next morning.

Steve said to be careful of wolves out there, as he’s seen wolves patrolling the islands and gravel bars in the Skeena River. One was a big black female wolf with a white beard that was staring at him from one of the gravel bars. So I was on high alert for wolves. Just before we were getting ready to leave, we heard an unusual animal sound – a sea lion! I was really ready to go then, because now we had to worry about wolves AND sea lions.

(We didn’t see the sea lion. To me, it sounded close, but Steve said it was a little further off on the main stem. Still, too close for comfort!)

During the daytime, I’ve seen sea lions feeding in the Skeena! You can spot them right from the highway, and hear them! They make a unique grumbling sound. I think they’re more abundant on the Skeena when the eulachon are more abundant.

DFO does not make it easy to find out info on the eulachon fishery. The Nass and Skeena River populations are considered to be “Special Concern” (http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/species-especes/profiles-profils/eulachon-eulakane-eng.html), and “recreational harvest of eulachon is closed coast wide.” (section 5 of https://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/mplans/eulachon-eulakane-ifmp-pgip-sm-eng.html). Steve is Gitga’at and I’m from Lax Kw’alaams, so we food fish as our traditional harvesting right. The gov calls this FSC (fish for Food, Social and Ceremonial purposes).

S&L – March 10, 2020