Before the pandemic, my family and I really enjoyed going out to a restaurant for a beautiful West Coast meal, with fish being the central part of our dinner. We are so fortunate to live in a community with access to fresh fish, with different varieties being offered year-round. Over the past decade, what I appreciated seeing on the menu was the Ocean Wise indication to support the sustainable fishing practices.

Because of my undergraduate degree in Oceanography (completed in the distant past, mind you), I have been taught about the impacts of humans on the fish stocks over the course of history. In recent centuries, overfishing and ecosystem damage, both byproducts of colonialism, have not only depleted fish stocks of some fish to near extinction, they have also led to significant destruction of the ecosystem at large. This is a significant threat to not only our food supply, but the food supply of the aquatic ecosystem and our planet as a whole. Before any settlers came, fish were bountiful under the stewardship of the Indigenous peoples and it was the conquests of explorers that began the downward spiral of depletion of the fishing industry henceforth.

So, I always think, what can I do in my small bubble right now? I am back at my dinner table: when choosing fish, I try to choose varieties that have been identified as sustainable stocks, such as sablefish. I try to eat smaller portions of fish in general, and alternate fish with plant-based proteins so I can make sustainable choices on a local level. I listen and learn from Indigenous people in my community and how acknowledge that they are the true stewards of our lands and waters - it is the way in which we can one day find our way back to sustainable ways of living.