Nuu-chah-nulth and their view of their fisheries – Courier Islander

March 25, 2015

(The Nuu-chah-nulth Justification Trial: The Nuu-chah-nulth View.)

The recent Ardent Angler column by Jeremy Maynard (“The Nuu-chah-nulth Justification Trial,” March 17, 2015) is mostly accurate, but leaves out many important details that should allay concerns of recreational fishers.

First, one important clarification: the column states that the Nuu-chah-nulth Nations are “asserting an infringement of their fishing rights.” The 2009 B.C. Supreme Court decision found that the aboriginal fishing rights of the five Nuu-chah-nulth Nations were infringed by DFO’s regulations and policies.

Infringement of the aboriginal fishing rights of the Nations is not an assertion, but a finding of fact at trial and upheld through appeals to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Read More: http://www.courierislander.com/opinion/nuu-chah-nulth-and-their-view-of-their-fisheries-1.1803423