Tseshaht First Nation has issued a strongly-worded protest to the province over a proposed permitting system that would allow guided hunters to kill up to 40 black bears annually in Tseshaht traditional territory.
In a letter dated Jan. 6 to senior wildlife biologist Sean Pendergast of the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations (West Coast Region), Tseshaht Chief Councillor Hugh Braker spelled out his nation’s objections to an application by the Vancouver Island wing of the BC Trappers Association that would allow a licensed trapper to harvest two black bears annually on each of his or her registered traplines.
Braker noted that there are up to 20 registered traplines that are situated, in whole or in part, within Tseshaht traditional territory. That mean guide-outfitter clients could be allowed to harvest as many as 40 black bears annually from that territory. That is simply not sustainable, he said.
Braker said he is very disappointed by the province’s failure to create a sustainable bear management strategy.
“A couple of years ago, Tseshaht protested very loudly to the province when we saw, online, a report from the client of a (local) guide-outfitter, bragging that they had bagged [13] black bears in two days on Vancouver Island,” Braker said. “To us, it’s just another example of the province looking at these resources as a cash cow rather than as something that should be sustained for future generations.”
In his letter, Braker acknowledged that the ministry had sent a referral letter about the black bear kills Sept. 17, 2015 and requested a response from Tseshaht within 25 business days, by late October 2015. Braker said Tseshaht does not have the financial resources or the manpower to respond immediately to every request for consultation it receives, due to the sheer volume. At present, the process takes about three months, he explained.
“I note that the province has not requested information from Tseshaht as to our uses of black bear or our relationship to wildlife within our traditional territory,” Braker wrote. Tseshaht does have traditional uses for black bear parts and those traditional uses continue to this day, he explained.
“Tseshaht claims an aboriginal right to hunt black bears for our own purposes within our traditional territory. Tseshaht also claims a right to manage the black bears within our own traditional territory.”
Braker concluded that the proposed harvest by guide-outfitters would interfere with Tseshaht aboriginal rights and title.
Darrell Ross, Tseshaht’s research and planning associate for Lands and Forestry, said he did not expect a response from the ministry for at least a week.
Ross confirmed that his nation has been peppered with requests for consultation by the ministry. Those include multiple requests concerning the BC Trappers Association and its harvesting practices.
“It requires a great deal of review and process on our side, especially when it comes to hunting and fishing and sensitive areas such as forestry,” he said.
Ross said the information exchange with the province can be pretty one-sided. He noted that Tseshaht only heard about the slaughter of 13 bears by one hunting party via social media, when a member ran across the report online.
They (the ministry) don’t share much with us about conservation,” he said.
