In a private meeting held at the Stz’uminus Elders Centre Monday, May 12, First Nations chiefs from up and down the coast expressed their full support for the action being taken by the Stz’uminus First Nation in its dispute with Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO).
Stz’uminus had announced May 2 that it was restricting access to its core territory in the Salish Sea.
Stz’uminus Chief John Elliott met with David Bob of Snaw-naw-as (Nanoose), Chip Seymour of Cowichan, Wilbur Jack of Penelakut, John Wesley of Snuneymuxw and James Thomas of Halalt on May 12, and Elliott addressed the media on behalf of the group following the closed meeting.
“We had to get together because we all share the same frustrations around management and the issues that we have around creating economy for our people,” said Elliott. “They wanted to show their support by coming today and letting us know the work we have been doing is not going unnoticed. I think it was a very strong statement today that our neighboring nations are as frustrated as we are.”
Elliott says their key issues are that they want co-management of fisheries in their territories, and they want to have economic opportunities in their territories that truly benefit their nation.
Elliott says the Stz’uminus First Nation is watching all the fisheries in its territory, and this issue is not going to go away.
“We’re in it for the long haul,” he said. “I think we’re going to have to take action if DFO doesn’t change its policies. If it’s just being out there, I don’t know how you determine or define blockading, we will definitely be out there to protect our resources.”
Ray Gauthier, CEO of Coast Salish Development Corporation, explained that while DFO makes licences available to them, the problem is there is no guarantee they will have continued access to those licences.
DFO did not respond by press time.
