B.C. First Nation sues federal government over ban on herring spawn fishery

BELLA BELLA, B.C.- A British Columbia First Nation is suing the federal government for banning one of its commercial fisheries back in 2022. The Heiltsuk Nation claims the federal fisheries minister’s decision to close the commercial harvest of herring spawn-on-kelp in the nation’s territory was an infringement of its Aboriginal rights. In a lawsuit filed in B.C. Supreme Court against the Attorney General of Canada, the nation claims it developed joint management plans for harvests with staff from the Fisheries Department for several years leading up to 2022. The Heiltsuk and the department’s joint plan for 2022 had called for the nation to be able to take nearly 138,000 kilograms of herring eggs for commercial purposes in that season’s spawn-on-kelp harvest. The harvest involves removing herring eggs from kelp after…

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