Prey as Bait: the Deep Bay Example

Abstract

This paper introduces the concept of prey as bait in which human groups exploit predatory relations among economically important species in a food chain. The food resource procurement strategy based on this concept is seen as an alternative to specialized acquisition of generally abundant species such as Pacific salmon. The Deep Bay site illustrates how predatorprey relationships were exploited by a prehistoric Northwest Coast group, and the implications of this strategy for understanding subsistence systems and Northwest Coast prehistory are discussed.