On July 30, Kwakwaka’wakw hereditary chiefs held a press conference in Vancouver announcing their application for a judicial review of Canada’s decision to allow ocean-based fish farms to through 2029.

Representatives from ‘Namgis and Kwikwasutinuxw Haxwa’mis First Nations shared their reasons for launching the court action, including lack of consultation, their inherited obligation to the environment, and precautionary stories from those now in the spirit world.

We spoke with Kwakwaka’wakw hereditary chief Ernest Alfred at his dock on northern Vancouver Island. With his phone in one hand, tinkering with his boat with the other, Alfred is heading to a reported collision with a humpback within his traditional territory. “It’s not my job, it’s just something we do. It’s a responsibility.”