Native Fish Society Native Fish Society

Wild Fish for All

Native Fish Society Equity Practice

The field of fisheries science and management is strikingly not diverse.

In the American West, where Native Fish Society works, white males make up the vast majority of fisheries scientists and managers. For example, 53% of the population is white, but 94% of fisheries scientists in academia and 91% of federal fisheries scientists are white. Three out of every four fisheries managers/scientists identifies as a man. Broadly speaking Native Fish Society reflects this lack of racial and gender diversity. Based on the best available information, less than 10% of our membership are folks in the Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) community. Less than 25% of our membership and volunteers identify as women. Through an organization-wide commitment, actions with accountabilities, and relationship building we are taking a proactive approach to dismantle the systemic barriers to women and people of color in our organization.

To revive healthy watersheds and abundant wild fish we need innovative solutions that elevate science, facts, and indigenous ways of knowing and doing.

One way to advance these needs is by increasing the racial and gender diversity of our organization and field. Studies show that diverse teams focus more on facts, process facts more carefully, and are more innovative. Additionally, an increase in diversity can bring ways of knowing and stewarding fish, rivers, and watersheds that are more deeply rooted in place and sustainability.

Environmental stewardship relies on healthy communities and environmental justice.

Stewardship happens when community members work together to safeguard the land, air, water, and species we all depend on. In the United States, systemic racism and discrimination against communities of color creates barriers to enviornmental stewardship. Racism and discrimination has also concentrated pollution in communities of color. For example, landfills, hazardous waste sites, and other industrial facilities are most often located in communities of color. In the Pacific Northwest, native fish like salmon remind us that everything and everyone is downstream. To revive wild fish to abundance that swim in every corner of our region and throughout the ocean, we must work in unity to ensure no community’s clean air, water, or healthy lands is sacrificed.

Reviving abundant wild fish will take a groundswell of support from communities united across difference.

Big coalitions of diverse communities are the best way to win the attention of decision-makers and make positive change happen. Research on non-violent public campaigns finds that mobilizing 3.5% of a population is required for a successful effort. In the Pacific Northwest, this means mobilizing over 500,000 people. To create this kind of groundswell Native Fish Society needs to be a leader in building a relevant and welcoming organization.

  • In-reach and relationship building with Tribal Nations and indigenous communities to advance equitable outcomes for conservation efforts

  • Continue to implement our Women for Wild Fish plan

  • Update our Volunteer Handbook utilizing our lexicon guide and an increased focus on relationship building and case studies

  • Recruit a board member with skills as a DEI trainer

  • Develop benchmarks for DEI skills and capacity

  • Partner and highlight organizations and people of color working to improve the environment

  • Engaged in in-reach and relationship building with members of the Klamath, Yurok, Siletz, Grand Ronde, and Tolowa Dee Ni Tribal Nations and indigenous communities to learn about their concerns and areas of overlap and commonality

  • Developed a lexicon guide that is inclusive around the central ideas of our mission and work

  • Made DEI part of required board agenda; staff meetings; RS gatherings; public events

  • Included an equity consideration for every conservation campaign we're engaged in

  • Included training and capacity building as part of annual work plans for staff members

  • Grew the Women for Wild Fish social media community to over 1,000 folks

  • Through the Women for Wild Fish community, we recruited a new board member who identifies as a woman, highlighted the conservation work of River Steward Jodi Wilmoth in the Deschutes watershed, and helped recruit women to volunteer in her Bull Trout eDNA project

  • Highlighted the work of Soul River and its founder and Executive Director Chad Brown

  • Launched the Wild Fish For All Scholarship

  • Identify and engage current relationships with communities of color, with a focus on Tribal Nations and indigenous communities

  • Inreach to tribes to learn about their concerns and areas of overlap and commonality

  • Create DEI team and standardize meeting schedule

  • Create DEI line item in 2019 budget

  • Include Equity Strategy priorities into staff work plans and performance reviews

  • Review and update mission, vision, and program whys through DEI lens

  • Incorporate DEI messaging into website, newsletter, events, and board meetings

  • Poll new River Stewards regarding incentives or resources that can better enable their advocacy and remove barriers

  • Develop sick leave policy

  • Review and implement co-created retirement plan with staff

  • Highlight our updated mission and vision on website

  • Incorporate annual review of vacation and assessment of work/life balance into year-end review

  • Complete Women for Wild Fish plan

  • Perform annual review and refinement of Equity Strategy

In 2016, Native Fish Society staff and board members recognized the need to increase the diversity, equity, and inclusion of the organization. In 2017, Native Fish Society staff applied for support from the Meyer Memorial Trust to build our knowledge and skills for this work with the guidance of the Center for Diversity and the Environment (CDE). Staff, board members, and partners from the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians participated in a 2-day diversity, equity and inclusion training. Later that year, staff, board members, and volunteers participated in a 3-day strategy session with CDE to build a plan for equity work at the Native Fish Society. In 2018, the Native Fish Society Equity Strategy was adopted by the board. In 2019, we created a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion team to identify opportunities, help troubleshoot challenges, share resources, and hold ourselves accountable for the work outlined in the plan. In 2020, we pursued this work, despite the challenging pandemic conditions with the help and guidance of our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion team. In 2021, we're looking forward to welcoming new DEI team members and continuing to broaden our network of relationships with Northwest BIPOC communities.

We greatly appreciate Queta Gonzalez at the Center for Diversity and the Environment for her guidance as we have developed this practice as an organization. We also want to thank the Meyer Memorial Trust and the Oregon Community Foundation for supporting this work at the Native Fish Society.

Diversity: all of the ways we’re different, similar, and unique.

Equity: a guarantee of fair treatment, opportunity, access, and advancement, while at the same time striving to identify and eliminate barriers that have prevented the full participation of some groups. The principle of equity acknowledges that there are historically underserved and underrepresented populations and that fairness regarding these unbalanced conditions is needed to assist equality in the provision of effective opportunities to all groups.

Inclusion: the act of creating environments in which any individual or group can be and feel welcomed, respected, supported, and valued to fully participate.

Culture: a social system of meaning and custom that is developed by a group of people to assure its adaptation and survival. These groups are distinguished by a set of tacit rules that shape values, beliefs, habits, patterns of thinking, behaviors, and styles of communication.