A group of hereditary chiefs from northern Vancouver Island are calling on a finfish stewardship coalition to clarify its list of open net-pen fish farm supporters.
Hereditary chiefs of the Musgamagw Dzawada91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ™enuxw and Kwakwa̱ ka̱ ʼwakw First Nations with the First Nation Wild Salmon Alliance were in Vancouver Wednesday (Dec. 4) asking for the Coalition of First Nations for Finfish Stewardship to publicly release its list of 17 supporters.
The alliance said the 17 First Nation agreements in the industry are a misleading statement.
First Nation Wild Salmon Alliance chair Bob Chamberlin said the alliance was asking the coalition to share its list so it's "not misrepresenting the work done" by those working to end fish farms.
The First Nation Wild Salmon Alliance supports the end of fish farms, while the Coalition of First Nations for Finfish Stewardship on its website says it is "deeply opposed to the past decisions made by the federal government" to remove salmon farms from some First Nations territories.
On the coalition's website, it says there are 17 Nations with agreements with finfish aquaculture companies.
In an interview with Black Press Media on Tuesday, Chamberlin said his group takes issue with the number 17. He said it actually included the agreements from the provincial letter of understanding with First Nations in the Broughton archipelago to remove fish farms.
"I could almost name off all 12 Nations that are supportive, so when they hit the number 17, I thought, 'who else?'"
Chamberlin said he got the his leadership team to reach out, and the coalition had included three from the alliance. He added it made him wonder if the coalition had also included other Nations that had agreed to get rid of fish farms.
"It makes it appear like there's a large group of First Nations that are supportive of this industry when the numbers that oppose it are almost 13-to-one."
At the end of Wednesday's news conference, the Zoom link showed a list of more than 120 First Nations across B.C. that the First Nation Wild Salmon Alliance identified as supporting the transition of open-net pen salmon.
Following the news conference, Black Press Media spoke with Dallas Smith, spokesperson for the Coalition of First Nations for Finfish Stewardship. He said releasing the specific names of the supporters is a "very, very, very dangerous line to play."
"It's not up to us to share the agreements that different individual nations have with proponents of any resource development or any protection development opportunities within their territories, especially with an activist group," Smith said, referring to the First Nation Wild Salmon Alliance.
He said the alliance is "simply an activist group that's funded by rich, well-heeled philanthropists who don't like salmon farming."
However, Chamberlin said the alliance is not activists. He said the group is just looking to protect Aboriginal rights and title.
"We've always focused on the work and how to work with government and advance protection of wild salmon."
