Gitxsan Ban all recreational sports fishing.

[OldBlackDog]

Gitxsan Hereditary Chiefs ban all recreational sport fishing for 2019
Bill Fee
April 29, 2019 03:39 pm
April 29, 2019 03:39 pm
Citing a crisis in salmon numbers, Gitxsan Hereditary leaders have banned all sport fishing from their territory in northwest B.C.

The Huwilp Government, composed of 38 Hereditary Chiefs, has been working since 2017 to protect the habitat of salmon, which

are integral to the diet and culture of Indigenous people in the Skeena watershed.

“All persons holding recreational fishing permits and/or fish guiding licenses are no longer allowed to trespass in Gitxsan territory. People need to know that when they fish here, they are trespassing in controlled territory,” says Brian Williams, Chair of Gigeenix
(Up River Chiefs), in a news release.

The Chiefs have set up an advisory committee dubbed the “Crisis Team” which will collaborate with government to create a future process where all sports fishers will require permission from individual Chiefs.

“Our fish are in crisis and this is an ongoing situation with a track record that has been going downhill. We have to do something. The next step we talk about is to find a path to turn this around and banning recreational and sports fishers from fishing our
traditional territory is a step in the right direction,” says Art Wilson (Wiimoulglxsw), Gitxsan Hereditary Chief.

The Chiefs say they have created a communication platform, including a website, newsletters, and live streaming of
meetings to “promote transparency around the decisions and actions of Huwilp Government.

 

[onefish]

Do you still think seals are the problem here? The new reality is staring everyone in the face but nobody wants to see it for what it is. The natives are taking back the fish and the govt is helping them do it.

 

[OldBlackDog]

From Bob Hooton on his Facebook site.
There's more to the story!

Here's the latest from Skeena country. Can anyone begin to keep up with who's who in the First Nations? The Huwilp Government, Anaat, Gigeenix, Gyeets, Daxgyet of the Simgiigyet........? Now we have 38 hereditary chiefs we have to deal with individually if we want to catch and release one of the steelhead they own.

Do these people understand that half the commercial fishing fleet on the north coast is comprised of First Nations members? Who are they blaming for the crisis faced by their fish? Do they expect us to believe they are all of a sudden gong to control the gill netting that occurs in the Skeena itself by their own Gitxsan Nation? Can they offer up a shred of evidence that recreational angling has anything to do with the status of salmon and steelhead populations in their territories?

I see the Chiefs have learned the federal and provincial government lesson - process is the product. They've created an advisory committee (aka "Crisis Team") with the mandate to include "an advisory role with stakeholders like BC and Canada". Now there's a confidence booster for the anglers and fish habitat protectionists among us. When was the last time anyone remembers either of those governments stepping up to protect our interests?

May dear Justin long be remembered for accelerating the demise of fish and fishing opportunity out here in far away British Columbia where it just doesn't matter to the nation wide status of his party. I wonder if he appreciates who has funded management of fisheries resources (good, bad or otherwise) lo these many years. How much longer does he think us taxpayers should continue to pay for protecting, conserving and enhancing publicly owned fish resources none of us can access?

 

[Whitebuck]

People Will still be fishing regardless of FN closures, just like last year.
My fishing plans ain’t changing!

 

[IronNoggin]

Effing lucky I don't live there.

 

[seascene]

We are on the fast track to re-defining Canada. Provincial boundaries may in fact become symbolic. Federated economic zones overlapping both provincial boundaries and in some cases for Alberta and BC the US border states are inevitable.