Ottawa took control of B.C.’s aquaculture industry last month in a move First Nations say was done without proper consultation and could threaten the livelihood of their communities.
“They want to delay, deny and distract us as business as usual carries on,” said Chief Bob Chamberlin of the coastal Kwicksutaineuk/Ah-Kwa-Mish First Nation.
Last month, Chamberlin, along with representatives from the BC First Nations Fisheries Council (FNFC) and the K’omoks First Nation, protested the changeover in front of a Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) office in downtown Vancouver.
B.C. aboriginals say the oversight change was done without meaningful consultation with the First Nations communities that would be affected.
Richard Hardy, general manager of K’omoks-owned Pentlatch Seafoods Ltd., said more than 250 shellfish aquaculture licences were issued last month to private operators within his community’s traditional territory.
Chamberlin said coastal First Nations, unlike their counterparts in the Interior, don’t have a lot of land and rely on aquatic resources to generate jobs and wealth for their people.
“Our villages live in poverty,” Chamberlin said. “As a result of that, we turn to the natural resources that have sustained us since time immemorial to survive. What we find now is that there are different bays and areas in our territory where we simply can’t harvest our foods from.”
According to DFO, the changeover is aimed at streamlining regulation and providing certainty around government management of the aquaculture industry.
The DFO now regulates marine finfish, shellfish and freshwater aquaculture licensing for an industry in B.C. that employs some 6,000 people and generates $224 million in wages.
The federal government has said B.C. will still issue area tenures where fish and shellfish farms operate, but the ultimate responsibility for the industry now resides in Ottawa with DFO Minister Gail Shea.
The DFO representatives could not be reached for comment, but the department said on its website that it is “committed to meaningfully engaging First Nations.”
The DFO also pointed out that it spent considerable resources to organize 10 information sessions specifically for First Nations.
Chamberlin said those 10 sessions work out to about 20 hours of consultation.
“In issues as complicated as aquaculture it’s simply inadequate,” he said.
Ken Malloway, co-chairman of the FNFC, referred to the consultation sessions as “drive-bys” where “somebody comes in, does a PowerPoint [presentation] and leaves.”
Worse yet, Chamberlin said Ottawa’s lack of consultation is in direct violation of Canada’s November 12 statement to support the United Nations’ declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples.
“The message we’re trying to get back here is DFO isn’t walking the way they’re talking,” Hardy said.
Added Chamberlin, “We’re talking about giving up access to big parts of our territory with these things. We’re here to talk about the fact that we want First Nations to have the authority to say ‘yes’ to an industry and the authority to say ‘no’ to an industry.”
Conservative MP for Delta-Richmond East John Cummins said although the government has a duty to consult with First Nations, that doesn’t mean aboriginals have veto power over an industry.
“What’s the point of having a provincial legislature if it can’t make a decision on matters that, under the Canadian Constitution, are under its purview?” Cummins asked. “… If all these decisions by both the federal government and the provincial government have to be endorsed by the local native band then we’re in deep trouble in this country.”
Aside from First Nations, the change in control also brings other issues to light.
Cummins said it has created a conflict within DFO, because now the department is responsible for both the promotion and regulation of B.C.’s aquaculture industry.
“Which mandate do you abide by? Your mandate to protect fish wildlife and their habitat or your mandate to promote aquaculture?”
Mary Ellen Walling, executive director of the BC Salmon Farmers Association, said although the new regulatory regime is a step in the right direction, that step has been complicated by the fact that new aquaculture regulations are being drafted under an archaic Fisheries Act.
“When the Fisheries Act was first written, the idea of farming the seas was not in anyone’s mind.”
She added that’s why the industry should be regulated by a separate aquaculture act.
Still, Walling is optimistic the change in oversight will usher in new certainty for private operators, but she also said it’s too early to tell how effective it will really be.
“Like any change we’re going to have things we like about it and things we don’t like about it. You should probably call me by about March. It’ll take some time.”