A ruling released on 17 April 2008 has rejected indigenous claims to ancient fishing rights off Canada’s Pacific coastline.

Below is an article published by the Canadian Press:

The B.C. Supreme Court has ruled that a native band on the province's north coast has no right to a separate commercial fishery.

The Tsimshian First Nation had sought a declaration from the court that it has an aboriginal right to fish on a commercial scale for a wide variety of seafood, including salmon, halibut and herring.

The federal and provincial governments disputed the band's claim, arguing that before the arrival of Europeans, the Coast Tsimshian harvested a variety of species for sustenance, but traded only small amounts of fish, other than oolichan.

Madam Justice Deborah Satanove agreed with the Crown on that point, and ruled the trade in oolichan could not be expanded to a right to trade commercially for other species.

She also found the Crown had never given the First Nation a promise of commercial fishing rights or promised an exemption from limits placed on other fishing groups.

Note:

To read the full Reasons for Judgement, please click here.