Eleven years after the courts affirmed Nuu-chah-nulth rights to sell seafoods, the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans has refused to negotiate details according to Indigenous fishermen.
Ahousaht fisheries negotiator Cliff Atleo Sr says confusion within DFO means nothing is getting done.
“It’s beyond frustrating in terms of trying to address this with the department,” said Atleo. “The left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing. The right hand says ‘we’ll introduce reconciliation’ but the left hand is hard of hearing or doesn’t comprehend, which results in no motion forward.”
Due to the lack of progress, Nuu-chah-nulth commercial fishermen are catching chinook salmon offshore, but Fisheries Officers have been trying to block sales, and are threatening charges.
Atleo says First Nations will keep fishing.
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