I« INDIANS IN THE COMMFRCIAl HSMKRIEiS 



To stabili/.e ihc Indian presence in the tisherics, the 

 corfHiratinn would purchase hccnsed vessels trom ni>n- 

 Indians. sell or otherwise dispose olthe vessels, and make 

 the licences available to qualified Indian applicants, who 

 would purchase or construct their own vessels suitable for 

 licences under the prevailing vessel replacement rules. 

 Depending upi>n their financial circumstances, recipients 

 might be provided with additional assistance from the 

 corporation. 



The interest of the corporation in acquiring licences 

 should, incidentally, strengthen the value of Indian ("A 

 I") licences, which are presently restricted to Indians. 



Discussions with the Department suggest that it would 

 be desirable to create a new calegor>' of Indian licences 

 for this purpose that would unambiguously prohibit their 

 transfer to non-Indians and would enable this and the 

 Northern Native Fishing Corporation to maintain owner- 

 ship of licences while leasing them to individual Indians. 

 I therefore make the following recommendation: 



3. Licences held by Indian fishing a>rporations should 

 not be transferable to non-Indiaiis and licensing poli- 

 cies should be developed to enable such licences to be 

 leased to individual Indians. 



These conditions would ensure that the licences would 

 never leave the Indian community, and would advance 

 the developmental objectives of the corporation. 



The proposed Indian Fisherman's Development Cor- 

 poration would be well-suited to organizing some of the 

 innovations in commercial fishing that I have suggested 

 in earlier chapters. For example, it could organize small 

 numbers of licensees to operate in "packet fisheries," 

 establish new contractual arrangements with foreign fish 



buyers, and organize fishing cooperatives. More 

 specifically, the corporation could establish an interest in 

 the long-term opportunities in mariculture and ocean 

 ranching. In the shorter term, the proposed corporation's 

 interest in economic activity based on fish converges with 

 one of the objectives of the Salmonid linhancement Pro- 

 gram, which is to expand the Community Development 

 Program component of the Salmonid F.nhancement Pro- 

 gram. 



Finally, my proposals in preceding chapters for fleet 

 rationalization and reform of the licensing system call for 

 special provisions to ensure that Indians will be able to 

 maintain and improve their position, the third condition 

 for a successful Indian fisheries policy noted above. 1 

 therefore recommend — 



4. The Department of Indian and Northern Affairs 

 should provide Indians and Indian corporations with 

 the financial assistance they need to compete success- 

 fully in the proposed periodic reissuing of licences by 

 competition. 



In summary, the proposed program appears to be a 

 well-conceived and constructive approach to the problem 

 of Indian participation in the commercial fisheries, and 

 offers considerable promise for improving the economic 

 opportunities of coastal Indian communities. It is a costly 

 program, but the alternative of not undertaking it is likely 

 to be even more costly, not only in economic terms, but 

 also in terms of social distress among Indian people. 

 Moreover, if it succeeds, the cost will decline as Indian 

 fishermen become more self-reliant. And if the other pro- 

 posals made in this report are also adopted and prove 

 successful, this improvement in the position of Indian 

 fishermen will be accelerated. 



FOOTNOTES 



1 . Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council, Exhibit # 1 5, p. 8. 



2. Nuu-chah-nulth) Tribal Council, Exhibit # 15, p. 6. 



3. W.F. Sinclair, The Importance of the Commercial Fishing Industry 

 to Selected Remote Coastal Communities of British Columbia. 

 Department of Environment, Vancouver, 1971. 



4. H. Hawthorn, C. Belshaw and S. Jamieson, The Indians of British 

 Columbia . University of Toronto Press. Toronto, 1958. p. 113. 



5. W.F. Sinclair, The Importance of the Commercial Fishing Indus- 

 try, p. 16; W. McKay, The Native Commercial Fisheries and the 

 Potential Impact of Oil Spills . Enviroimient Canada. Ottawa, 1978. 

 p7T9^ 



6. Kwakiutl District Council, Exhibit #89, section 4, p. 6. 



7. See Exhibits #89 and #15. 



8. B. Campbell. An Assessment and Evaluation of the Salmon Vessel 

 Licence Control Program l%8-73 . Fisheries and Marine Service. 

 Department of the Environment, Vancouver, 1974. Table 24 and 

 pp. 46-58. 



9. W. McKay and K. Ouellette, Review of Indian Fishermen's Assist- 

 ance Program, 1968-69-1977-78 . Department of Indian and North- 

 em Affairs, Vancouver, 1978. p. 13. 



10. 



12. 



Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Exhibit #167, Table 2, p. 18. 

 W. McKay, TTie Indian Fishermen's Emergency Assistance Pro- 

 gram. Commission on Pacific Fisheries Policy, Research Document 

 R-2, Vancouver, August 1981. 



C. Cummins, M. Friedlaender and D. Williams, Impact of the Sal- 

 monid Enhancement Program on Native People . Fisheries and 

 Marine Service, Enviroimient Canada, Vancouver, 1978. p. 34; see 

 also Kwakiutl District Council, Exhibit #89. 

 Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Exhibit # 167, p. 21. 

 A recent policy statement of the government of British Columbia 

 states an intention to "consult with Indian people with respect to 

 resource management and development plans that affect their trad- 

 itional uses of and special interests in marine resources." Commer- 

 cial Fisheries and Mariculture: A Policy for the 1980s . Ministry of 

 Environment, Victoria, (undated). 

 Nishga Tnbal Council, Exhibit #129, p. 18. 

 Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council, Exhibit # 15, p. 18. 

 The Native Brotherhood of British Columbia, Exhibit # 141a, pp. 

 69-74. 



