Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

British Columbia’s West Coast is a hotbed of activity when it comes to ancient aquaculture. First Nations cultivated clam gardens for millennia along the Pacific coast, modifying coastal beaches to create optimal habitat for the mollusks, boost production and feed their people, research indicates. But Indigenous clam production on Quadra Island ­— located between the B.C. coast and Vancouver Island in the territories of the Laich-Kwil-Tach First Nations and northern Coast Salish — was especially intensive, said researchers Dana Lepofsky and Christine Roberts.