IW im INDIAN nSHIRV 



I thcrclorc rccDiiitucnd — 



X. When- lhf> iuv wiiiiiiK mid uMo to dti S4>, bund otiiii- 

 I'ils sImmiUI Ih- I'lKtiiini^iHJ to l;\kv ri-s|Miiisihlit> for 

 adiiiiiiistr.KJw and sniKnison liiiK'ti«His avMniali-d 

 with Indian tislH'rics. In p:u1iciilitr, they slMuild Im.' 

 fjivcn responsibility f»)r — 



i) Vpportioninn tlR> hantfs allocation <if fish anM>n^ 

 the hand iiK<nihi-rs. 



ii) Issuing indi>idual Indian fishing pemiits wiKTC 

 the IX*partnient issues a general permit to the 

 hand. 



iii) Negotiating with the DepartnK'nt ab<Hit the 

 band's fishing airangenients and the design of 

 plans under Indian fishery agreements. 



iv) Supervising the hands" fishing and related activi- 

 ties. 



v) Providing statistical and other information to the 

 Department. 



Under Indian fishery agreements the responsibilities of 

 the band council should be set out in the agreement itself. 



Since the Department is ultimately responsible to Par- 

 liament for managing the fisheries resources, it must have 

 the opportunity and means to ensure that the arrange- 

 ments for Indian fisheries are properly administered and 

 enforced. The new forms of fishing rights I have pro- 

 posed, by providing for specific quantities of fish instead 

 of undefined allocations, will shift the focus of enforce- 

 ment away from compliance with restrictions on fishing 

 time and gear and toward monitoring catches. It is essen- 

 tial that catches under Indian fishing arrangements be 

 reliably monitored and identified. To meet this need I 

 recommend — 



9. Simple tags should be required to be attached to all 

 fish caught under Indian fishery arrangements. The 

 E)epartment should issue sufficient tags to each band 

 to cover its allocation of fish. 



10. The present regulation requiring Indians to remove 

 the dorsal fins and snouts of their fish should be res- 

 cinded. 



The Department requires accurate and timely statisti- 

 cal information about catches in Indian fisheries in order 

 to manage escapements. But these requirements vary 

 considerably as do the bands' ability and willingness to 

 provide the information. So the procedures for reporting 

 catches should be determined jointly by the Department 

 and individual band councils. Where Indian fishery 

 agreements are adopted, the agreed arrangements should 

 be set out in the agreements themselves, and all agree- 

 ments should pledge the band to cooperate with the 



Department in providing information and facilitating 

 inspections of fishing activities. 



F'lnally, the legal and administrative uncertainty sur- 

 ri)undmg band fishing by-laws should be ehmmatcd. 

 Under my proposals above, I can foresee a valuable role 

 for such by-laws in managing and administering the 

 bands' fishmg activities on reserves, organizing marketing 

 arrangements and so on. But they must be compatible 

 with the proposed agreements and permits. And the 

 Department, with its general mandate to conserve and 

 manage fish, must be able to monitor these arrangements 

 eflectively. I therefore recommend that steps be taken to 

 resolve the conflict between the Indian Act and the Fish- 

 eries Act: 



11. The Minister of Fisheries and Oceaas should initiate 

 discussions with the Minister of Indian and Northern 

 Affairs and representatives of Indian organizations to 

 find means of reconciling band fishing by-laws with 

 the paranK)unt respoasibility of the Department of 

 Fisheries and Oceans for fish conservation and man- 

 agement. 



To a large extent at least, Indian fishing by-laws have 

 been a response to unsatisfactory working relationships 

 between bands and the Department. With the more 

 secure access to fish and the more effective management 

 framework recommended in this chapter, by-laws can 

 become more constructive supplementary instruments for 

 regulating Indian fisheries and advancing fisheries man- 

 agement generally. 



Mariculture Opportimities 



In Chapter 1 1 I reviewed the promising developments 

 in mariculture and the considerable opportunities for this 

 activity on the Pacific coast. My proposals for maricul- 

 ture leases are designed to enable private parties to 

 engage in commercial fish culture and ocean ranching 

 ventures. These offer special opportunities for Indians 

 because of the strategic location of their communities 

 and their famiharity with fish. J 



Indians should be encouraged to participate in devel- 

 oping mariculture and ocean ranching opportunities, and 

 I suggest that some of the initial pilot projects recom- 

 mended in Chapter 1 1 be undertaken by Indian organiza- 

 tions. 



12. The Department should encourage Indian organiza- 

 tions to participate in mariculture and ocean ranching 

 through carefully selected mariculture leases. J 



Some imaginative proposals for ventures of this kind 

 were presented by Indian organizations at hearings of 

 this Commission.'* 



I have already emphasized the need for cautious devel- 

 opment and careful plaiming of mariculture and ocean 



