Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents -A number of questions have arisen in regard to the report of BC First Nations supporting fish farms brought forward last week
Firstly the author of this very polished 20 page is not mentioned and while a great many facts are presented, few sources are given.
There is some question as to who the First Nations for Finfish Stewardship actually represents.
There were initially said to be 17 Nations, but their map only displays 13 names on their map.
The K’omoks First nation is one of the 13, but on Facebook, Chief Nicole Rempel of K’omoks First Nation wrote, “previous Chief signed us up in 2014 or 2015 I think, without consulting community and I’ve been trying to get us out of it since 2017. Our community members do not want us to be connected with them.”
They were one of the seven First Nations that DFO consulted prior to deciding that fish farms must be phased out of the Discovery Islands.
The We Wai Kai were also among the seven and one of its members insisted that that’s nation’s name does not belong on that list.
She wrote, “This has to stop. It’s all about money we will never see. We want to eat wild salmon that’s what we grew up on. My family says no to farm fish.”
Two Ahousat expressed their disapproval of their nation being on the list and called for consultation.
While these last references were from band members rather than chiefs, there are also questions about the land where the Tlowitsus Nation wants to see fish farms. Tlow it see
They are not the only First Nation claiming it as their ancestral territory and the Ma’a̱mtagila Nation is opposed to fish farms.
As Chief Ernest Alfred recently explained in a recent press conference given by the Maaamtagila and three other Kwakwa̱ka̱'wakw nations, “The Ma’a̱mtagila own this area! They own this area, but it isn’t exclusive. You need to understand that this is disputed territory.”