The Nuu-chah-nulth Nations’ Feb. 21 court victory to prevent commercial herring fishing in waters off the West Coast of Vancouver Island was front-and-centre as the First Nations Summit met last week.
As bands from every region of British Columbia gathered on Musqueam territory, one of the first agenda items was a presentation of gratitude by Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council leaders. Two other nations had backed the Nuu-chah-nulth Nations in their fight against Canada’s intention to reopen the fishery only eight years after depleted stocks led to its closure in 2006.The Nuu-chah-nulth had gone to federal court to prevent the 2014 fishery and the court granted an injunction.
“Today was a big thank you to the Haida and Heiltsuk for standing with us,” NTC Vice-President Ken Watts told Ha-Shilth-Sa following the presentation. “They’re going through some similar issues in their territories.
“It was an important decision on herring. We just heard from the Haida that there won’t be a commercial roe herring fishery in their territory, either. More than anything, we wanted to share with all the nations at the Summit table that working together does really work. If anything, it’s an exciting chance to think about other things we can work on together.”
The judge’s decision came amidst revelations that Fisheries Minister Gail Shea went against the recommendations of her senior scientists in her push to re-open commercial fishing of roe herring, according to an internal memo brought to light during hearings.
After the Summit presentations, Heiltsuk hereditary chief Edward Newman told Ha-Shilth-Sa that shared interests drove the solidarity between his nation and the Nuu-chah-nulth Nations. He said it should serve as a reminder not only of First Nations’ winning streak in the courts, but also of the need to more assertively exercise aboriginal rights and title.
“It’s a victory not just for the Nuu-chah-nulth,” he said, “but all of us on the coast who have spent a long time trying to protect our herring.
“I’m proud of the Nuu-chah-nulth for standing up ... We all need to stand up like that and support each other. Many of our nations have lost their ooligan runs because of the way it’s managed. We’ve lost the abalone fishery because of the way it was managed by DFO. All the management plans DFO puts in place never work; it makes sense to try to take control of our resources for the benefit of our people.”
Only weeks before, NTC president Deb Foxcroft stood outside the Vancouver federal courts alongside Assembly of First Nations National Chief Shawn A-in-chut Atleo, both decrying the contradictory science upon which DFO approved the herring fishery.
“Their science is lousy,” Newman agreed. “It doesn’t work.
“We lived off the resources in the ocean for years, but now we have a hard time doing that because of the way it’s been mismanaged. The herring disappeared on the coast for five years and we thought it would never come back, but luckily it did. Now we should look after it.”
A controversial DFO document presented in court bolstered the Nuu-chah-nulth argument that herring have still not sufficiently recovered from a history of repeated collapse, beginning nearly 50 years ago. According to the internal DFO memo presented in the case – which was written by the ministry's federal herring coordinator and signed off by the associate deputy minister – top scientists agreed with that conclusion as well.
But that advice didn’t stop Minister Shea from adding in handwriting: “The minister agrees to an opening at a conservative 10-per-cent harvest rate for the 2014 fishing season.”
Herring has long been one of B.C.’s most contentious fisheries, though by no means the only one that has faced conflict over management policies. Herring numbers collapsed in the late 1960s, leading to a commercial fishing ban in 1968 and again in 2006.
In the House of Commons, New Democrat aboriginal affairs critic Jean Crowder (Nanaimo-Cowichan) asked Shea why the Nuu-chah-nulth “had to resort to the courts to stop the minister from reopening the commercial herring fishery.”
“She ignored scientific evidence and the advice of her own department to wait until the recovery of the stock was guaranteed,” Crowder alleged. “Now that the federal court has overruled her decision, will the minister finally listen to first nations and her department’s own scientists and stop putting the herring fishery at risk?”
Shea replied that her decision to re-open the fishery in three previously closed regions “was based on the department’s scientific advice.
“In fact, the stocks in question were more than 7,000 tonnes higher than what science required for reopening. We are currently reviewing the court’s decision, so I cannot comment further at this time.”
Foxcroft said working with the Heiltsuk and Haida was “a real honour” and hoped it would lead to more collaboration on resources issues in future.
“We all come from the same place in terms of our resources and our rights,” she said. “If we stand together strongly, it just gives us more strength in moving forward on any of our issues.”
Related: http://www.hashilthsa.com/news/2014-03-11/government-denial-nuu-chah-nulth-rights
