DFO shuts down herring row fishery, citing First Nations reconciliation

A Tlingit in Alaska gathering Herring roe,.

by Randy Shore, Vancouver Sun, March 3, 2018

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) has agreed to cancel this year’s commercial roe herring fishery on B.C.’s central coast, citing the federal government’s commitment to reconciliation with First Nations.

Bella Bella herring fishery to re-open with much smaller catch

Agreement comes after First Nation’s occupation of DFO offices in March 2015

By Radio West, CBC News,  Jan 19, 2016

Less than a year after members of the Heiltsuk First Nation occupied federal fisheries offices in Bella Bella, the two parties have reached an agreement over the Pacific herring fishery.

Last March the Department of Fisheries and Oceans opened up the herring roe fishery in the Spiller Channel, which the Heiltsuk Tribal Council said should have remained closed to preserve herring stocks.

Video: How The Heiltsuk Won- #occupyDFO

https://www.youtube.com/embed/Enr3Yue42ig“>

Posted by Nicky Young to Youtube

Heiltsuk wins herring dispute as government agrees to close fishery

Sue Farlinger, regional DFO director (center) speaks to crowd of Heiltsuk community members gathered outside the DFO office on Denny Island, to update on negotiations about the controversial herring fishery on Monday night. Photo by Mychaylo Prystupa/Vancouver Observer.

by Jenny Uechi, Vancouver Observer, April 2, 2015

In a stunning reversal, the federal government caved in to Heiltsuk First Nation’s demands to close commercial fishing of herring near Bella Bella in northern B.C.

“It is confirmed. All commercial gill-netters are exiting Heiltsuk waters,” Heiltsuk First Nation councillor Jess Housty wrote on Facebook this afternoon. “They will be escorted by Heiltsuk patrol boats and we will continue to occupy DFO until they have exited our waters.”

DFO director a no show at Heiltsuk herring dispute in Bella Bella

Heiltsuk fisherman Frank Brown speaking to DFO officers on Denny Island on Sunday. Photo by Mychaylo Prystupa/Vancouver Observer. March 29, 2015.

“I just got the text.  Sue Farlinger is a not coming up.  This action is a sign of terrible disrespect,” said Heiltsuk fisherman Frank Brown

by Mychaylo Prystupa, Vancouver Observer, March 30th, 2015

An astonished look came down on Heiltsuk people’s faces when it was announced that Sue Farlinger, Regional Director General Pacific Region, was not flying up Monday morning to negotiate a resolution to the heated herring conflict on the central B.C. coast.

Elected chief councillor Marilyn Slett is still locked inside the DFO office on Denny Island, since yesterday evening.

DFO Offices in Vancouver Occupied in Solidarity with Heiltsuk

Two of the people participating in the occupation of the Vancouver DFO offices, March 30, 2015.

by Warrior Publications, March 30, 2015

During a solidarity rally with the Heiltsuk occupation of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) office on Denny Island, near Bella Bella, BC, 4 protesters also began an occupation of the DFO offices in Vancouver, BC, on Monday, March 30, 2015.  Outside the building, around 50 people rallied and blocked the streets.  The offices are located near the intersection of Burrard and West Pender streets.

Heiltsuk Nation occupies DFO office in face of expected herring fishery

Heiltsuk Nation members confront DFO officers at Denny Island coast guard station (Pacific Wild) via Common Sense Canadian.

by Damien Gillis, Common Sense Canadian, March 29, 2015

Updated 7 PM

Tensions continue to escalate on the waters of the Great Bear Rainforest over a highly controversial herring fishery, as members of the Heiltsuk Nation are now occupying the local DFO office in opposition to a planned gillnet opening.

A group of Heiltsuk youth, elders and chiefs paddled and boated this afternoon from Bella Bella to the coast guard station on nearby Denny Island  – headquarters of DFO’s central coast operations – to deliver an eviction notice reminding local representatives that Area 7 is a no-go zone for a commercial herring fishery this year.

B.C.’s Heiltsuk Nation mobilizes boats to protect herring fishery

Heiltsuk woman Carrie Humchitt watches powerlessly as a commercial fishing boat takes in tonnes of herring fish in a disputed fishing area on the B.C. central coast near Bella Bella on Sunday. Photo by Ian McAllister, Vancouver Observer.

THE CANADIAN PRESS March 26, 2015

BELLA BELLA – The Heiltsuk Nation is vowing to protect herring in its territory by any means necessary as it readies boats to defend a contentious fishery on B.C.’s Central Coast.

The First Nation has issued a news release saying it met with federal officials about a commercial herring gillnet fishery in its territory Wednesday afternoon but failed to reach an agreement.

Heiltsuk First Nation says commercial herring fishery violated constitutional rights

A fishing boat pulls in a net full of herring on the Central Coast of B.C. (Heiltsuk First Nation)

Heiltsuk claim Fisheries and Ocean Canada’s method of measuring herring stocks is flawed

CBC News, March 23, 2015

The Heiltsuk First Nation on B.C.’s Central Coast says when Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) opened a herring fishery on Sunday afternoon it violated the band’s constitutional rights.

According to a statement released by the Heiltsuk, just before 5 p.m. PT, the federal department opened the herring sac roe seine fishery in Spiller Channel, despite the First Nation’s demands the commercial fishery remain closed this year to preserve herring stocks.

Haida Nation win injunction against commercial fishery on Haida Gwaii

A fishing boat is capsized and nearly sinks after herring caught in the seine net sounded (swam to the bottom), in Sitka, Alaska, April 2011.

By Justin McElroy, Global News, March 6, 2015

A federal court has ruled that the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans cannot open a fishery in Haida Gwaii this year.

An injunction was given to the Haida Nation, against the federal government, to prevent the re-opening of a commercial herring fishery on the nation’s north coast.

“This win is another step to building herring stocks, and in doing so, contributes to an economy that will provide a reasonable living for our people, and the path of reconciliation with Canada,” said Haida Nation President Peter Lantin in a statement.