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Illegal trade in native-caught salmon rampant: DFO
■ C ALM B EFORE T HE W EEKEND
Cohen inquiry zeroes in on black market food fish sales Jeff Nagel Black Press Aboriginal fisheries on the lower Fraser River are “out of control” and vast amounts of salmon supposed to go strictly for food, social and ceremonial purposes are instead sold on the black market. That’s the assessment of Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) staff tabled in evidence this week at the Cohen Commission into the decline of Fraser sockeye. DFO investigators estimated 97 per cent of lower Fraser sockeye harvested under aboriginal food fisheries are sold, according to one document summarizing internal department concerns after an April 2010 meeting. Scott Coultish, who heads DFO’s Intelligence and Investigation Services branch, defended the figure before the commission Tuesday, saying it reflects staff estimates. That and other evidence filed at the inquiry gave fresh weight to long-running claims of widespread native poaching and illegal sale of salmon. “The root cause of illegal harvest is the sale of that product,” said the 2010 document. A 2006 operational intelligence assessment by DFO’s Special Investigations Unit warned illegal sales of First Nations-caught fish is widespread across B.C. via back door dealing to restaurants and fish shops as well as door-to-door sales. “The FSC (food, social and ceremonial) First Nations fishery on the Lower Fraser River is largely out of control and should be considered in all contexts, a commercial fishery,” the assessment said, warning DFO is “unable to effectively control the illegal sales.” Continued: CREY/ p5
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A family spends time together at Cultus Lake’s Main Beach on Thursday morning. Chilliwack RCMP are urging visitors to remember this is a family-oriented area and police won’t be tolerating rowdy or dangerous behavior this long weekend. See story, page 12. JENNA HAUCK/ PROGRESS
Yale treaty sets stage for conflict: Sto:lo Robert Freeman The Progress Pomp and ceremony greeted the proposed Yale First Nation treaty as it was introduced in the B.C. legislature Wednesday with tidings of great hope for a new life by children who will live under the landmark agreement. But there was bitterness back home among Sto:lo Nation leaders who believe the treaty is a “recipe for disaster” that will only continue conflict and uncertainty in the Fraser Canyon - and at other treaty
tables around the province. Sto:lo chief Joe Hall said the provincial and federal governments are setting a “dangerous precedent” by taking Sto:lo land - fishing sites, burial grounds and religious sites - and giving it to the control of “one Indian Act band” - the Yale First Nation. The treaty that BC MLAs will vote on in the next few weeks contains provisions for “reasonable” requests for access to these sites, but Hall asked who will decide what is reasonable? He pointed out that the Sto:lo have had a “long and antagonistic” relationship with Yale Chief
Robert Hope, who denies the Yale people have any cultural connection to the Sto:lo, and in 2008 he admitted bulldozing a cemetery in the Fraser Canyon claimed by the Sto:lo. Hall said no matter how “congenial” the Yale chief might be, the Sto:lo would never accept a treaty that denied them access to their culture. “The government has created a volatile situation that could ultimately result in bloodshed and violence,” he warned. Dr. David Shaepe, a Sto:lo archeologist, said the treaty could ultimately have a ripple effect beyond B.C. boundaries
as the Fraser Canyon area is being considered for a world heritage site, not just for aboriginal history, but for its record of human habitation that “you can’t find anywhere else.” Hall said he has met with government negotiators “on several occasions” over the last two years with “boxes” of historical evidence supporting the Sto:lo point of view, but to date has received “no one single response.” “Even worse, they haven’t provided one iota of evidence supporting their (treaty) decision,” he said. Continued: MINISTER/ p10