"The eulachon (Thaleichthys pacificus), a small anadromous smelt (Family Osmeridae) found only along the Northwest Pacific Coast, is poorly understood. Many spawning populations have suffered declines but as their historic status is relatively unknown and the fisheries poorly documented, it is difficult to study the contributing factors. . . An in-depth view of the Nuxalk Nation eulachon fishery on the Bella Coola River, Central Coast, BC, is provided."

Megan Moody: Eulachon past and present
Resource Management and Environmental Studies
University of British Columbia, 2008

Left: Nuxalk women with their eulachon catch on the
Bella Coola River, c. 1920

"Springtime in the Nuxalk village of Qomqots (Bella Coola) has always been marked by the arrival of the Sputc, or eulachon, to our river. That is, until about 10 years ago, when they suddenly and sadly disappeared." Jacinda Mack: Eulachon Conference Acknowledges New Era

Right: Nuxalk Glenn Clellaman on the Bella Coola River rowing towards an old eulachon stink house. Published in the Globe& Mail newspaper on 20 June 2007: "In few places has there been as dramatic a collapse of eulachone as in BC's Bella Coola Valley, where it has been culturally devastating."

"In 1995, when the last big run came in, there were millions of eulachon, so many they spilled out onto the gravel bars in writhing waves. Since then, the river has been nearly empty of fish." Mark Hume: More than the loss of a resource

2005 Eulachon Project, Bella Coola