Connie Crocker’s cultural name is Xqulsiim. She is a Coast Salish Elder and her tribe is Pune’luxutth’. Connie is fortunate to have lived her life on the Salish Sea enjoying the lifestyle, culture, and abundant daily resources from the ocean. The four reserve lands of Pune’luxutth’ are located on the east side of Vancouver Island outside of Chemainus and about 80 km from Victoria. Xqulsiim grew up on the North Galiano Island Reserve with awesome parents and five siblings in a unique fishing community. What made it unique was the abundance of salmon, cod, and herring and this drew fishermen from afar to live in their boats for parts of the year. All her brothers and sisters and herself bought boats and chose this way of life for their families. When she was 22 she began buying fish with a truck for Hi-To Fisheries in Cowichan Bay. The next year she bought a 40’ wood packer named the “Advise” so she could better get to the fishing grounds. Life was good until the cod went missing, then two herring seasons were a bust and finally the salmon. The decline of the industry was very evident and 80 per cent of the fleet had to sell. Back to school Connie went and studied information technology and then went to work for Fisheries & Oceans. She now works as a First Nations Liaison with Kelp Rescue Initiative.