The map on Ernie Tallio’s computer screen showed a tangled mess of red lines and dots.
It was late September and Tallio, who manages the Guardian Watchmen program for the Nuxalk First Nation in Bella Coola, B.C., was demonstrating where his team worked the previous summer: travelling the maze of inlets and bays along this rugged coast.
Among their myriad tasks was helping distressed boaters, pulling in crab traps as part of an annual scientific survey and monitoring the coast for illegal fishing and hunting activity.
“We’re the eyes and ears of the nation,” Tallio explained. “It’s important to have our presence out there,
