Edited by Pitcher, T.J., Power, M. and Wood, L.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This report is the proceedings of a workshop on Back to the Future (BTF) held in Prince Rupert, a coastal town in northern British Columbia in December 2001. The objective of the workshop was to provide an opportunity for the Prince Rupert community to participate in delineating and evaluating policy options for restoration of past ecosystems. New sustainable fisheries opened in these restored ecosystems aim to restore the wealth of Prince Rupert's fisheries while conserving the health of the marine ecosystem in northern British Columbia. The workshop was follow-up to a preliminary BTF workshop held in 1998, and was attended by 35 people from the local community and by nine members of the UBC BTF team. It was sponsored by Coasts Under Stress, the Fisheries Centre and by World Wildlife Fund Canada, Pacific Region and supported by the City of Prince Rupert.

The workshop opened with presentations and discussion on the aims of the BTF process, including its basis of whole-ecosystem modelling, the incorporation of traditional and local ecological knowledge (interviews had been carried out in Prince Rupert earlier in the same year) and the need for community participation. Models of 3 past states of the northern BC ecosystem ( in 1750, 1900 and 1950) constructed by the UBC team over the past year, were presented together with a model of the present day. Four working groups from the local community each chose a past system to restore and discussed what fisheries should be included. Community views often differed from those of the UBC team. Ecosim simulations were used to explore the optimal fishing rates for each of the chosen gear types and the results were presented to the workshop. The report includes summaries of the discussions and participation by the community, and discusses the modelling and consultation issues encountered.

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