For the first time in 40 years WSÁNEĆ hereditary chiefs from four nations gathered in regalia to call on the DFO to put an immediate stop to the upcoming commercial Food and Bait fishery, set to begin its season Nov. 24.

The chiefs gathered at Tulista Park in Sidney yesterday to read their declaration of territorial rights and sign a formal call to the DFO to halt commercial herring fishing. The signed declaration will be presented to the federal government.

Herring—once abundant throughout the Salish Sea—have significantly declined in population since the 1930s due to the introduction of commercial fishing in the region.

The WSÁNEĆ chiefs are concerned about the high quota the DFO has laid out for the Food and Bait season within the Strait of Georgia. Up to 10% of herring can be fished in the area with a maximum of 8K tons this year, according to the federal government’s website.

“Halting the herring fishery is essential to allow populations to recover,” said Tsawout Chief SXÁLIYE (Vernon Harry) in a release. “Pacific herring are part of the circle of life, vital to the health of our people. Our cultural survival and the survival of our relatives, such as the Chinook and Southern Resident killer whales, depend on the herring.”

Tsartlip Chief LESĆIM (Simon Smith Sr.) told Capital Daily that he was raised by his father to live off the land and to only take what was needed. As commercial fisheries wiped out herring populations in the Salish Sea, it became harder for some to do this, he said.

“We respected how much we could take and didn’t go overboard, but when the commercial fisheries arrived they didn’t respect what they could take,” said Smith. 

He says the overfishing of herring has destroyed the WSÁNEĆ people’s ability to access traditional food and economic opportunities, leaving nation members “to depend on the government of Canada to go to the store.”

Tsawout Chief WIĆKINEM (Eric Pelkey) said the WSÁNEĆ Leadership Council reached out to the DFO three years ago to request an immediate moratorium on herring fishing, but received a “real lukewarm response” with no concrete answer.

Since recent requests for a moratorium were submitted, the only communication the nation received from the fisheries department was a question about possible demonstrations planned.

“The DFO is concerned about that—so certainly there will be [demonstrations],” Pelkey said.

Another concern called out during the declaration was the end of Parks Canada’s project to eradicate fallow deer on Sidney Island—a decision that, Pelkey says, was made without consulting with WSÁNEĆ leaders or Sidney Island residents. Pelkey told Capital Daily that he received word from Parks Canada last Thursday that the project ended.

“Now they're going to let the fallow deer run rampant again out there and destroy the island once more, after years and years of work with our communities and the people and the residents,” Pelkey said.

European fallow deer are an invasive species that has decimated native plants on the island, making it harder, Pelkey says, to source traditional WSÁNEĆ ingredients for food and medicine.

He believes controversies that plagued the project, such as the high costs and a deer getting caught in a fence earlier this month, were likely part of the decision to end the project, but says the eradication of the invasive deer remains paramount.