Time to address abuses of native foc NEWS flash: B.C. Indians say they'll sell the salrnon they catch! Really? You mean they won't just use their traditional food fishery for their own use? Have they ever? Nanoose chief Wayne Edwards apparently thinks non-natives are labouring under the ilhision that the native food fishery has previ- ously been just that — a tish- ery used solely tor personal and ceremonial purposes as it’s supposed to be. Give us a break. According to a report in the daily press, Edwards has taken to heart the most recent Supreme Court of Canada ruling that sets abo- riginal people apart from the rest of the Canadian rank and file. ' - Asa result, he says he’s going fishing and will sell what he catches, Current fisheries regula- tions count for naught. in case you haven’t been reading the newspapers of late, the Supreme Court rul- ing, which sparked the recent lobster skirmish on the east coast, upheld a 1760 treaty between England and the east coast Mi’kmaq Indians _ that allows natives to “hunt ‘and fish as formerly.” « East coast native bands have interpreted the ruling as “mailbox Attention to Park Dear Edituz: In March ‘of this year, I felt ” compelled to express my con-: about what J perceived to a licence to fish whenever they wanted, regardless of season or environmental sen- sitivity. The federal povernment has since applied limits to the native lobster fishery. Bur the issuc of native versus non- native fisheries is still tar from solved. Chief Edwards’ open sea- son fish war whoop aside, natives have been selling the product of their “food” fish- cry since time began. And why weuldn’t they? The system almost begs them to. For example, the annual per-person native food fish- ery allocation from the Fraser River ranges around 560 pounds. That’s a whole fot of salmon. A person can only cat, smoke and freeze so much of it. So into the black market the native food fish gocs — up to 90% of it, according to the estimates of some fish- cries personnel. For Phil Eidsvik of the B.C. Fisheries Survival Coalition native food fishery abuses are a major reason why the West Coast salmen boom has turned to bust. To him, buying salmon caught under the auspices of a food fishery is akin to buying stolen*speakers in a shopping mall parking Jot. He's not the only one whe regards the future of the West Coast salmon fishery with growing pessimism. Confidence in the ability of the federal fisheries department to manage salmon and other fish stocks has been seriously eroded over the past few years by some egregious miscalcula- tions and fish return esti- mates. The continued exploita- tion of herring, which is a fundamental building block for salmon stocks, and the recent resumption of the pilchard fishery, which was © exploited to near-extinction until its ultimate collapse in 1947, underline the poor decisions the department continues to make. Its ability to police fish- cries violations also needs far more muscle. The native food fishery would be a good place to start. . Witness, for example, the recent case in North Vancouver provincial court in which Cheam native band Royal garbage dumo appreciated be a garbage dump rising near Park Royal South in West Vancouver. ‘T would now like to say that Tel: 986-5581 a Narive J EWELLERY/ Weppinc Rincs” 444 West 3rd Street, ‘?" North Vancouver - 988-9215 - a vast improvement has been “made at this site. It seems that tidying up is ongoing and member Anthony Warren Alex was charged with attempting to sell salmon caught without a commercial licence. The Cheam have contin ued to defy the recent Fraser River sockeye closure — the first in the river's history — instituted because of critically low sockeye returns, In the Alex case, we're not talking about a few sock- eye in the back of a pickup truck. We're talking about over 100,000 cans of the stuff seized from a North Vancouver cannery — more than 2,000 cases of fish taken during a sockeye closure worth upwards of a half mil- lion dollars. The native Fraser River sockeye salmon food fishery is likewise significant. In ycars past it has accounted for up to 50% of the total Fraser River sockeye catch. This year it was virtually 100% of the harvest. So Chief Edwards’ decla- ration rings more than hol- low. The B.C. Fisherman’s Survival Coalition has long’ been banging this drum: race-based fisheries openings are wrong and non-aborigi- nal fishermen are tired of being discriminated against. No one is arguing that natives have not been the victims of serious racial dis- crimination in the past and because of this I wish to express my appreciation and thanks to Larco Investments. G. Lorne Rettie North Vancouver We're very excited about having more then 12 experts from... manuiacturerssuch as: Arcam, Bang & Olufsen, Classé, Halas, | Levinson, Linn, Loewe TV's, Mcintosh, Mirage, MIT, Procaad, : Runco and Wilson Audio. They will be holding seminars to inform you on the latest in DYD, OTS and HDTV. See Vancouver's first High Definition Television satellite broadcast! if you're confused about new technology in home entertainment, this is your chance to get answers from the experts. Last years _ event was an overwhelming success, so reserve your space today by calling 873-4571. Come join us, you may even win one of our great door prizes! sound. plus 600 West Broadway, Vancouver BC . 873-4871 Sunday, likely in the present. But to believe that those wrongs can be righted by perpetuating new racial discrimination is thick-headed and irresponsi- ble. ‘The Supreme Court aside, other Canadian court juris- dictions agree. For example, in a 1998 case involving Reform MP John Cummins, federal court Judge Howard Thomas said he could find no reference in the Fisheries Act or anywhere else that empowered the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to authorize a native-only com- mercial fishery. Ottawa's centralized man- agement of West Coast fish resources is a lamentable dis- aster, I'd say the harvesters of the stocks would do a far better job of the cultivation and censervation of the resource that is their liveli- hood. But if the federal fisheries department is to remain the sole manager of West Coast October 17, 1999 — North Shore News — 7 di fishery fisheries it needs a wholesale restructuring. Fishery openings and closings need to be across the board. No special fish- eries for special interest groups. Native fod fish allowances could casily be factored into those openings. And far more necds to be invested in fisheries conserva- tion and enforcement con- trol. There are currently 12 fisheries control cflicers cov- ering an area that runs from Squamish co che Fraser River and south to the U.S. bor- der. That's nowhere near enough. Our fish resources will have a hard time surviving much more of the federal government’s current man- agement. That’s not much of a news flash, just basic sea-level reality. —trenshaw@direct.ca ; 181s Ambheside tee 922.7737 - « (Divectly bebind Windsor ents) ° _ Ai Siiiae, Oil, Lube a : Filter sere 21 pt. Safety check, 15 minutes - FASTI Includes up_ ‘to S litres of 10w30. Quekersiere 1362 Marine Drive ©30-9113 gant tien al If not, t call 482.2551. to receive your FREE x Expres Oct. 27709 J Tademark of TD Bank TD Evergreen isa _ oe > division of TD Securities Inc., a subsidiary of TD Bank ~ : _ and a licensed user of TD Bank. trademarks. 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