In the past few months, we have offered various grants to support fishers from our five Nations. Last summer, we launched a fuel subsidy grant to assist fishers with their fuel expenses for fishing trips.

Additionally, last fall, we introduced a vessel and gear funding grant aimed at helping fishers purchase or upgrade fishing gear, motors, or vessels to improve their operations, safety, productivity, and foster economic growth within the five Nations’ communities.

While these two grants have now closed, we are currently working on opening new grants soon. Stay tuned for more information!

We have community liaison staff who facilitate connections between fishers and Ha’oom. Any fisher and any member in general from the five Nations can contact our community liaison for support.

The community liaison can assist any Five Nations members interested in finding a mentor to learn fishing skills, enhance their expertise, or enroll their children in the mentorship program.

The Ha’oom community liaison can also assist fishers with their loan applications by helping them draft a business plan, or provide support in drafting their fishing business plans in general.

They can also connect fishers with organizations like NETP for funding support for certification or training.

If any member from the Five Nations is interested in fisheries, we encourage you to contact our community liaison. If any fisher needs support with their fishing business plan, loan application, or finding training or funding for certification, please reach out to them; we are here to support you.

We organize various workshops and training programs throughout the year, focusing on industry-specific skills.

These included in the past safety training in partnership with FishSafe BC, youth workshops, taxation workshops, workshops focused on maintaining and repairing fishing gear, and last week for example, we organized a seafood traceability workshop in Gold River.

More workshops are planned for this year, including youth workshops for the summer, and they are open to all members of our five Nations.

We are also open to collaborating on workshops with other organizations, and if any buyers or institutions present would like to sponsor our workshops, we are always seeking funding to organize more training within the communities. Please let us know if you’re interested!

We are also working very hard this year to develop a Fisher Package designed for new fishers from our five Nations or members new to the fishing industry who would like to become fishers.

This package will provide all the information needed for success, including how to apply for a loan, the types of gear required for each fishery, and available access points to name a few. We are hoping to have this information package ready by the end of May. Stay tuned for updates!

This is a program we are excited to launch this summer. Any member from the five Nations will be able to apply to this free program. It is open to anyone new in the fishing industry, new fishers, or those interested in trying different fisheries.

We will match each mentee with a suitable mentor based on their specific needs, goals, and area of interest within the fishing industry, ensuring mentees receive guidance aligned with their individual aspirations.

Mentees and mentors will engage in regular one-on-one sessions covering various topics such as fishing techniques, deckhand skills, and personal development. These sessions will take place on the mentor’s vessel or at the mentee’s location, depending on availability.

Additionally, our community liaison, Lacey Adams, will oversee a special portion of the program reserved for youth.

Once or twice a week during the summer, she will organize fishing trips, teach food preservation (smoking fish, jarring salmon) with elders, engage in Microtrolling alongside our biologist, or facilitate navigation lessons.

This program is free, and we encourage all members of the five Nations who are interested to enroll their children. There are no prior requirements, just a desire to learn and have fun. We will provide all safety gear and fishing equipment to the youth.