On Feb. 26, lawyers for the Nuu-chah-nulth Nations will be back in Federal Court to protect the herring stocks on the West Coast of Vancouver Island. They will be seeking an injunction on behalf of Nuu-chah-nulth Nations to stop the commercial roe herring seine and gillnet fisheries that DFO is planning.
Nuu-chah-nulth Ha’wiih, leaders, fishers, and community members remain concerned that there are not enough herring in their territories to support any commercial fisheries.
The injunction hearing begins at 9:30 a.m. at 701 West Georgia in an office tower at the corner of Georgia and Granville in Vancouver. Nuu-chah-nulth Ha’wiih and Nations would like to see a strong presence of Nuu-chah-nulth-aht and their supporters in the courtroom.
Despite Nuu-chah-nulth efforts to warn the commercial fishing industry off the WCVI area in 2015, a number of companies selected the WCVI for their fishing area, even though there are abundant herring stocks in the Strait of Georgia and Prince Rupert area.
There are 15 roe herring gillnet licenses and seven seine licenses that selected WCVI, including one seine licence held by the Canadian Fishing Company. NTC leadership met with CanFisCo President Dan Nomura and senior staff prior to the final area selection to stress that the WCVI is a no-go zone for commercial roe herring fisheries in 2015.
Nuu-chah-nulth Ha’wiih have been very clear that the commercial roe herring fishery is not welcome in the WCVI. On Jan. 30, at a meeting with Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), Nuu-chah-nulth Ha’wiih made it clear that the territories of the Hereditary Chiefs will remain closed to commercial roe herring fisheries this spring due to on-going conservation concerns for West Coast of Vancouver Island herring.
See that story here: http://www.hashilthsa.com/news/2015-02-03/nuu-chah-nulth-will-meet-them-courts-and-water-if-required
