Fishery Commission Extension Criticized

Sunday, February 06, 2011 04:00 AM

Prince George, B.C. – The BC Treaty Commission says it is concerned with an extension to the commission investigating the collapse of the Fraser River sockeye.

Justice Bruce Cohen has been given an extra 14 months to find out what happened to the run and suggest changes to make the fishery more sustainable. That means the federal government won’t likely see any of Cohen’s suggestions until the end of June, 2012. The catch is Ottawa has said that Aboriginal treaty fishing rights can’t be finalized until it gets Cohen’s report.

BC Treaty Commission head Sophie Pierre says the delay leaves First Nations close to an agreement-in-principle in limbo and undermines the credibility of the treaty process. Pierre says the extension also creates some serious financial concerns for the six nations close to a deal.

The issue is debt. Pierre says the more time spent at the bargaining table with the federal and provincial negotiators, the more the red ink adds up. She says some First Nations are teetering at the point where any cash settlement negotiated at the treaty table will be less than the debt racked up during the process.

The BC Treaty Commission says two of the First Nations currently close to an agreement in principle are from the north, including the Tsimshian and the Yekooche.

It’s not known what financial impact the Cohen Commission extension will have on the two.

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Posted on Sunday, February 06, 2011 04:00 AM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: gamblor on February 6 2011 10:12 AM

Unless Cohen recommends firing all provincial and federal fisheries biologists and their masters and placing a system to encourage science and discourage corruption, this is an exercise futility. Preservationism is a failed experiment.

Posted by: P Val on February 7 2011 9:22 AM

You cant allow people to string nets across the entire river then wonder what happened to the fish..

Posted by: trucker16x on February 8 2011 5:48 PM

Well said Val. But the worst thing about this is that it has taken soooo.. long to get these communities to come to an agreement in principle that they " Yekoocke" ect, have started to lose faith in the system. Word is that the FED's will not fund this extention.As much faith as "we" put in this system, the people that "we" put in place to oversee it, are not the people "we" need to have this process progress to the next level. Just ask anyone involved.