James Walkus built up a multimillion fishing business from scratch with the help of his family, including youngest son Lloyd (background). His grandson, Kohener, 12, (left) is the company’s newest employee.
Third-generation family business just one of many success stories of First Nations aquafarmers.
From one leaky skiff found washed ashore to his latest state-of-the-art $9-million transport hauler, James Walkus has built a fisheries company that has fed three generations.
The recipient of this year's BC Aboriginal Business Award for Individual Achievement, Mr. Walkus recalls his entrepreneurial start as a fisher, at age 15, when he found a leaky boat on the beach near his home in Port Hardy, B.C.
"There was an old boat there and no one claimed it, so I went and repaired it," says the 76-year-old elder of the Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Nations. "That first week, I made $250. The second week fishing, I went out and bought an old gillnetter that leaked and I had to pump it twice a day to keep it afloat."
Today, James Walkus Fishing Co. is a multimillion-dollar fishing company. The latest addition to his fleet, the Amarissa Joye, is a purpose-built vessel for harvesting farm-raised salmon, and one of the largest all-aluminum vessels built in B.C. It has a capacity of hauling and processing 272,000 kilograms of fish a day, or 8,000 market-sized Atlantic salmon an hour.
Lloyd Walkus, Skipper, |
I learned that [aquaculture] By turning to aquaculture and forging a partnership with Marine Harvest Canada, B.C.'s largest salmon farming company, Mr. Walkus successfully diversified his business when wild fish stocks began to decline in the mid-1990s. Aquaculture now accounts for 60 per cent of Mr. Walkus's business and allows him to employ some 30 people year-round, including his three sons. The rest of his business is wild fisheries, where he employs his 12-year-old grandson Kohener.
His youngest son, Lloyd, now 43, remembers the decline of the wild fisheries and the impact on his family while he was growing up. "We couldn't really support ourselves on just fishing anymore. It used to be that you could fish in the summer and spring, and you would be able to survive. Times have changed."
A fish packer on the aquaculture side of his dad's business, Lloyd at first opposed the move into salmon farming. After about a year, he came around to the idea. "I needed work," he says. "I learned that [aquaculture] is a good job that put food on the table and was good for our family."
The Walkus company is contracted by Marine Harvest to work at its salmon farm sites in the waters adjacent to northern Vancouver Island. The collaboration is one of 19 socioeconomic partnerships between B.C. salmon farmers and coastal First Nations. These agreements include formal protocols for farming in traditional First Nations territories. They also establish principles for environmentally sustainable aquaculture practices that are respectful of First Nations objectives.
Lloyd's two older brothers also work in the business, along with their children and his own three boys when they're not in school. The youngest member of the Walkus family to get hired is Lloyd's youngest son, Kohener, who is 12 and works on his grandfather's wild fisheries boat. "He started this year," says Lloyd, whose sons all began working at age 12 .
"I love going fishing," says Kohener, who joined his grandfather on almost every wild salmon fishing trip last summer. "It must have been 10 or 11 trips. They're amazing. It's quite a bit of travel, but it's all worth it when we get there."
Kohener lends a helping hand as a young member of the crew and assists his grandfather with, he says, "whatever he's doing," such as helping out on the deck or running one of the smaller boats that bring the net to the beach.
Asked what he wants to do when he grows up, Kohener readily replies, "Either take over the company or be some sort of engineer."
His relationship with his youngest grandson is "very close," says Mr. Walkus. "I take him with me when I go shopping for boat material or to do a little business. I tell people he is my assistant."
SALMON FARMING IN B.C. |
As global demand for seafood rises, aquaculture increases in importance. So too do we see improvements in best practices, sustainability, environmental practices and growing good-quality, healthy food.
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This content was produced by The Globe and Mail's advertising department in consultation with BC Salmon Farmers Association. The Globe's editorial department was not involved in its creation.