Since a 2016 diesel spill on British Columbia's central coast, members of the Indigenous Heiltsuk Nation say the fallout continues to shape their daily lives.
The accident contributed to an explosion in invasive European green crabs, which are damaging clam beds of deep cultural importance.
Here's what to know
According to Canada's National Observer, for Heiltsuk community member Turza Humchitt, that damage reaches back to family memory. Humchitt explained that fresh clams "still taste like childhood," but collecting them near home has become harder as the shoreline ecosystem shifts.
After the Nathan E. Stewart tugboat ran aground in October 2016 and spilled 29,000 gallons of diesel into important clam harvesting beds, the Heiltsuk guardians, an Indigenous conservation group, began seeing a sharp increase in European green crab numbers in the region. The crab is one of the world's most invasive species, and its presence has raised concerns about the spill's potential impact on the local ecosystem.
In a July 2026 report, Diana Chan, natural resource manager with the Heiltsuk Integrated Resource Management Department, and Milène Wiebe, a PhD candidate at the University of Alberta, wrote that the spill was "likely a significant contributing cause" of that increase, Canada's National Observer reported.
Green crabs cope with degraded habitat better than many local species. The spill also closed the commercial clam fishery, removing an activity that had helped suppress crab numbers.
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The size of the invasion was unmistakable by 2024. Over three months, Heiltsuk crews removed more than 32,500 green crabs from roughly 20 clam beaches in Gale Creek.
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution associate scientist Carolyn Tepolt told Canada's National Observer: "If you were going to design a great invasive species, it would probably have a lot of the qualities the green crabs have."
More background
For the community, the crab outbreak reaches beyond ecology: It puts pressure on food supplies, cultural practices and employment. Clams have long been both an everyday food source and part of the local winter economy.
Gale Creek once contained "football fields" of clam beds, according to William Housty, director of the Heiltsuk Integrated Resource Management Department. The same area also supported a commercial Manila clam fishery that employed 30 to 40 people, plus shore workers.
As Marilyn Slett, chief councilor of the Heiltsuk Nation, described it to Canada's National Observer, families gather clams, preserve them, and bring them out for potlatches and feasts. Now, the invading crab threatens those traditions as well as the entire ecosystem.
What's being done?
Across Heiltsuk territory, Canada's National Observer reported that crews are setting about 300 traps for green crabs with a staff of six full-time employees. The Nation said that level of effort still falls far short of what is needed.
The 2026 report put the price of a more aggressive campaign at more than $22 million over six years. Its target would be "functional eradication" within five years.
Trapping methods are also being adapted to avoid the "hydra effect," a rebound in which taking out too many adult crabs lets more juveniles survive. Crews now use traps that can catch smaller crabs too, allowing them to see whether juvenile numbers are climbing as adult counts fall.
Officials and community members are also exploring whether the captured crabs can be put to use. Some are already being composted in the region, and discussions with Fisheries and Oceans Canada are looking at possible uses in food, fertilizer or bioplastics.
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