Both the use of and jurisdiction over fisheries resources is an important
issue for many First Nations in British Columbia. Historically, fish played an
important spiritual, social and economic role in numerous Aboriginal societies.
These societies had various methods of managing the resource and, although
they had the technological capacity to over-exploit the fisheries, they were able
to maintain sustainable levels of fish. Following contact with European settlers,
Aboriginal fishers were initially able to continue their traditional methods of
fishing as well as expand their use of the fisheries through trade with non-
Aboriginals. However, with the opening of the canneries on the coast the
fisheries grew in economic importance to non-Aboriginal fishers and
management of the resource was gradually but systematically taken over by the
state, with various ideologies being used to justify the take-over. Aboriginal
fishers lost not only their control over management of the resource, but also their
ability to use it as extensively as they once had. Over the years, Aboriginal
participation in both the food and commercial fisheries has declined although
various government-sponsored programs have been initiated to attempt, with
only partial success, to remedy this problem. In the meantime, the Department
of Fisheries and Oceans has been battling other problems in the commercial
fisheries, including over-capitalization of the fleet and depletion of fish stocks.
Management of salmon in particular, because it is an anadromous species which
travels through several different jurisdictions, has become extremely complex. It
is in this context that much litigation over Aboriginal fishing has been launched.
Only a few of the issues have been clarified by the judgments which have
resulted and certain myths and ideologies have surfaced repeatedly in many of
the decisions. It is likely that the recent decisions of the Supreme Court of
Canada on Aboriginal commercial and management rights will result in
increased complexity and political controversy. However, problems of fisheries
management, including the accommodation of Aboriginal interests, is not unique
to British Columbia or even Canada. Similar problems have been experienced
elsewhere in the world and various types of co-management regimes have been
established in various jurisdictions in an attempt to deal with some of these
issues and to recognize a greater role for Aboriginal fishers and communities in
fisheries management. It is not clear whether, and to what extent, comanagement
will be adopted in British Columbia, or what the role of Aboriginal
fishers might be in such a regime. Even if co-management is established, it is
highly probable that the state's underlying regulatory regime will remain intact.
However, co-management may result in increased Aboriginal participation in
both the use and management of the resource.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/4681 |
| Date | 11 1900 |
| Creators | Kyle, Rosanne Marie |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Relation | UBC Retrospective Theses Digitization Project [http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/retro_theses/] |
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