Below is the text that describes what the First Nations are doing. Woodward is the lawyer who won the important Tsilhqot'in Decision on lands in the interior. He will be using the same tack to claim First Nation ownership of water, land and the territory of coastal Nations.
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Be part of a powerful, multi-pronged legal strategy that will finally get foreign-owned factory fish farms out of BC waters!
Factory fish farms spew diseases, parasites and waste into the ocean, harming wild salmon and other sea life. The industry has had a particularly devastating impact on the Dzawada’enux First Nations (DFN) of Kingcome Inlet, BC, who sustained themselves for thousands of years with the abundant ocean resources of their territory, in what is today known as the Broughton Archipelago.
This small, resilient nation has tried everything to remove fish farms – flotillas, letters, government engagement – but to no avail. Norwegian giants Marine Harvest and Cermaq still operate 10 farms in DFN territory, even after most of their provincial tenures expired on June 20 of this year. The DFN were left with no choice but to go to court. They hired lawyer Jack Woodward, Q.C. to help them.
Building on the landmark decision for the Tsilhqot’in First Nation, whom Woodward also represented, the DFN have devised a multi-pronged legal strategy that is “unstoppable”, says Woodward. Using a combination of legal tools – Aboriginal title and rights claims, injunctions, judicial reviews, and other legal challenges – the DFN are the best hope for removing fish farms from BC’s coastal waters.
“It will cost some money, but once we get this thing moving, there will not be fish farms in DFN territory,” Woodward assures. “I believe that this man can do it for us,” says Melissa Willie. We will get fish farms out of our territory – we just need your support.” The DFN’s success will create legal precedents and blaze a trail for others to follow, forcing the factory fish farming business to adapt and move onto land or go the way of the dodo. Thus, anyone who shares the DFN’s concerns for this industry can only benefit from getting behind their efforts.
“When you look at the tourism economy or people who just want to fish for wild salmon, this fight is for all of BC, not just our nation,” says Chief Willie Moon (Okwilagame). But they can’t do it alone. The DFN have received virtually no revenues from the resources taken from their territories over the years and they maintain their remote community through hard work and perseverance. “It’s not easy for us to ask the outside world for help,” says Hereditary Chief Joe Willie (Hawil’kwo’lal), “but we will need help for this important work.”
The process is already under way, with the DFN having filed their title claim on May 28 and begun an injunction process on June 19. But they need your support to ensure they have all the resources required to see these cases through.
Your donation goes directly to the DFN’s Wild Salmon Defence Fund, through a lawyer’s trust account which is regularly audited and held to the highest standards of accountability, according to the rigorous rules of the Law Society of British Columbia.
Now is the time to stand up for our wild salmon and ocean resources by backing the DFN in court. “The legal and constitutional defenders of the environment in Canada are the First Nations,” says Woodward. “I’m honoured to support them and I hope you will too.”
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It bears being repeated that on-land fish farms are now all around the world. My list has 240 on-land companies: http://fishfarmnews.blogspot.com/2016/05/152-different-on-land-fish-farm-systems.html. When is enough, well, enough? There is no reason for the old-tech, dinosaur, in-ocean farms anymore.
I think that the issue of First Nation rights is the correct strategy. All the years of science have borne no fruit because DFO has a bias toward fish farms, and while I think science should still go on, I think it is wrong to make the decision based on science, because the fish farms pay for science for their side. Science is political, it is bought and paid for and is ignored by DFO, unless it supports leaving fish farms in the water.
BC needs the rights to our own salmon back from Ottawa, and the FN approach is the best way of achieving this. This assumes the FN will not be bought off by the multi-billion dollar fish farm companies from Norway.
And the BC government should put money into freshwater habitat restoration for salmon. Please send a letter to John Horgan, Lana Popham, Andrew Weaver, Adam Olsen, and Sonia Furstenau, asking them to put money into habitat by giving it to the Pacific Salmon Foundation that leverages money 4 to 7 times.
Please everyone. Send a note to our MLAs:
John Horgan: john.horgan.mla@leg.bc.ca
Andrew Weaver: andrew.weaver.mla@leg.bc.ca
Lana Popham: lana.popham.MLA@leg.bc.ca
Carole James: carole.james.MLA@leg.bc.ca
Adam Olsen: adam.olsen.MLA@leg.bc.ca
Ellis Ross: ellis.ross.MLA@leg.bc.ca
Melanie Mark: melanie.mark.mla@leg.bc.ca
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