Tribe challenges DFO on seal kill licences

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British Columbia's Kwicksutaineuk/Ah-kwa-mish Tribes have filed a judicial review application in Federal Court to stop what they describe as the "slaughter" of seals and sea lions by salmon farming operations near Gilford Island, about a one-and-a-half hour's plane ride north of Vancouver Island.

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans admits that about 400 marine animals have been deliberately killed in the past year, but say the kills equal about half the number shot in the previous year.

The tribes, belonging to the Musgamagw Tsawataineuk Tribal Council, criticize DFO for issuing licences to any and all salmon farms upon request, authorizing them to kill marine predators that invade the farmed fish compounds.

All but one of 25 salmon farms is within the tribe's territory.

The Kwicksutaineuk/Ah-kwa-mish people object to the marine mammal killings on the grounds that they have never been consulted about the issuing of licences. They say the destruction of marine mammals is having a detrimental effect upon their traditional hunting practices.

"Our First Nation traditionally hunted seal before Europeans came to British Columbia. Several continue their seal hunt today and are teaching the traditions of the seal hunt to younger members of the band," Chief Percy Williams stated in a prepared release.

"A number of our Elders eat seal meat and blubber, and we believe the slaughter of these important animals is disrespectful to our way of life as well as damaging to the health of the ocean," Councillor William Triebwasser said.

Another difficulty the First Nation has with the practice of shooting marine mammals is that their carcasses are allowed to sink to the ocean floor. The meat is wasted and the environment is polluted when the dead animals are not retrieved. Farms are obligated to make the attempt to retrieve the animals, but practically speaking this isn't always possible and there is no way to ensure farms make the attempt, DFO says.

Lawyer for the tribe, Eamon Murphy, said his client feels "this is just unacceptable, this practice of issuing fishing licences to slaughter seals like this.

"There's no concern about financial loss to themselves," he said when asked about the breadth of the tribe's concerns. "It's first of all a concern for the way this is being authorized by the department, this sort of indiscriminate slaughter, and sort of the respect for the seals as living beings, but also . . . because this is part of the traditional fishery of the Kwicksutaineuk/Ah-kwa-mish people."

Murphy said the court is being asked to review the "seal-kill licences" because in their view "the minister was wrong to issue the licences in the way he did. We're asking the Federal Court to overturn the decision."

The Fisheries Act and regulations are aimed at the management and regulation of fisheries, and the license being sold to salmon farms has been issued under marine mammal regulations, he said. "Those licences are really issued for fishing for seals . . . very much in the North, to the Inuit peoples. And this is the only instance we know of that they are actually issued just for the destruction of a seal or sea lion. And so we think, because of that, there is pretty good grounds for saying that what they're doing is, first of all, the fish farms are not fishing by any stretch of the terms. And so we say that if the minister wants to do or authorize that kind of activity . . . the minister actually has to use completely different sections of the Fisheries Act. And if they're going to go that route, they have to actually go through an environmental assessment, just because of the destructive nature of the practice."

Andrew Morgan, DFO's regional aquaculture co-ordinator, said fish farms must try other predator deterrents before they can apply for the licence that allows them to shoot seals and California and Stellar sea lions.

The department concedes, though, that a farm that applies for the $5 marine mammalpredator control licence usually gets one.

Only after trying other, "non-lethal" methods of predator deterrent can operators apply for a licence, he said. These methods might include having dogs on site, putting up stronger predator netting, use of technology and perhaps wider walkways.

If that fails, they can apply for a licence and "usually I'll issue it."

He said DFO doesn't visit the site, but issues the license based on a telephone discussion between Morgan and the company.

He said DFO has not consulted with the First Nation on any of the issues raised by them.

He is aware of recent court decisions upholding an Aboriginal right to consultation.

"It's a little grey," Morgan said, "the consultation guidelines around the issuance of these marine mammal control licences."

He added, "I guess we'll find out how grey it is when it goes in front of the court."

Morgan said he's not aware of any effect on the tribe's cultural practices, but "in terms of the field population, there's no significant impact."

He said DFO's marine mammal co-ordinators and "scientific folks" do a periodic census of the population, monitor their activities and have "a fairly good grasp on the numbers."

Morgan said his first knowledge of the tribe's concerns was relayed to him through its lawyers.

He would have preferred to sit down with the tribe to discuss their concerns before heading to court.

"And wow, you know, as far as I'm concerned, this is just me speaking, talking out of turn, and my lawyers would probably jump down my throat, but it sounds like there's an arrangement that could be, that's in the offing here, if First Nations are interested in meat and maybe we can come to some arrangement. But I don't think a court would impose that kind of arrangement. We're going to have to at some point sit down and talk."

Morgan intimated there might be more to this court action than meets the eye.

"A lot of the folks up in Broughton (on the northeast coast of Vancouver Island) do't like salmon farms-period. There's been a policy decision made by government saying that folks who farm fish are legitimate users of the coastal resources, and folks want to revisit this decision all the time. And I'm not sure if that's what's at play here, but potentially it is."