Still at it

When I was DG of Communications for Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), we were continually dealing with the Indigenous, who ignored and contravened every regulation designed to support the fishery and prevent over-fishing that would decimate species.

Naturally, the natives thought our scientists were inferior to their elders and just continued to flout the law, with predictably devastating results.  They're still at it.

The Globe carried a feature on the illegal harvesting of baby eels (elvers) in Halifax by local Indigenous.  While non-Indigenous fishers obey the laws and regulations, local natives believe they are above them.  A much sought-after delicacy for sushi around the world, one kilogram is worth about $5,000, so the battle's on.

The sticking point is the 1999 "Marshall ruling" that determined First Nations had treaty rights to fish and hunt to earn a "moderate livelihood".  Those last two words are the problem.  What's a "modest livelihood"?  A second decision was supposed to clarify that all harvesting were to be subject to federal regulations to ensure conservation.  That second decision is also being ignored.

People like the chief of the Millbrook First Nation told DFO that his community won't abide by federal regulations that limit the catch of elvers and is instead asserting his right to earn a "modest livelihood" from his harvest.  Who does he think he is?  And how dumb to risk species decimation?  

The scientists I worked with were frustrated and I assume they still are.  "Even though it's been 25 years, we are still trying to figure out the scope and nature of the right as it's actually implemented on the ground," said UNB law professor Nicole O'Byrne.  "People have different interpretations of how broad that should be, how it should be regulated and in whose interest."

Said another ignorant law-breaker, "It's our right to fish." 

Non-Indigenous fishers have been trying in vain to get Minister Joanne Thompson to step up and curb the illegal fishing.  She hasn't.  Could that be because she's a dyed-in-the-wool Newfoundlander and committed environmentalist who can't see the forest for the elvers?

If you want to know how the Indigenous are treating their pristine, protected environment, here's a picture worth a thousand words:

A member of the Pictou Landing First Nation with his harvest on the "pristine" Millbrook First Nation.

And so, the insanity continues.