The Aboriginal Newspaper of British
Columbia & Yukon
July - 2006
Success in court
Raven's Eye Staff
In a unanimous decision on June 8, the BC. Court of Appeal stated that the federal Aboriginal Fisheries Strategy is not a race-based fishery. The news was greeted positively by the First Nations Summit and with a promise to appeal to the Supreme Court by the BC Fisheries Survival Coalition.
The court decided the communal license of the Musqueam-Burrard and Tsawwassen nations was not a separate fishery but simply a method of allocation of the resource.
Summit Grand Chief Edward John said "It is now time for First Nations to move forward and work with the [Department of Fisheries and Oceans] to implement the recommendations contained within the First Nations Panel Report on Fisheries." The panel was formed in 2004. Its report, entitled Our Place at the Table: First Nations in the BC Fishery, contains seven recommendations, including the immediate recognition of Aboriginal fishing and fisheries management rights.