July 03, 2013 - 4:15 PM
VANCOUVER - The B.C. Court of Appeal has ruled a Vancouver Island First Nation has the right to conduct commercial fisheries.
The 10-year legal fight over fish and shellfish fisheries wound its way to the Supreme Court of Canada before the final word came Wednesday from the appeal court.
The Nuu-chah-nulth Nation, home to Assembly of First Nations Chief Shawn Atleo, went to court saying its people have been fishing and trading their catch long before Europeans arrived and that translates to modern commercial fishing rights.
The Canadian and B.C. governments, along with several interveners, challenged the First Nation claim to the Supreme Court of Canada, which referred the case back to the B.C. Court of Appeal.
The appeal court has now upheld the lower court ruling that said the Nuu-chah-nulth had long-standing trade networks and that trading in fisheries resources was part of the culture around the time of first contact.
Atleo praised the decision, adding that the ruling should spur the federal government to negotiate a commercial harvest for the Nuu-cha-nulth, which represents more than a dozen First Nations on the west coast of Vancouver Island.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2013