On Friday, Dungeness crab fishing opened for the season, when more than 30 small operators normally go to the waters of Tofino to harvest seafood. They cost about $ 20 each and are popular in markets as far away as China.
This year, however, crab harvesters like Jason Voong, 33, may not be able to gather enough crabs to stay in business after the federal government announced changes in December to redistribute half of the licenses available locally at local First Nations.
Voong has been catching crabs with his father since he was a child. His father immigrated to Canada from Vietnam as a refugee in the mid-1980s.
“Honestly, I lost my sleep over it,” he said. “I fully support and the fishermen support reconciliation, it is just a process that is wrong right now the way DFO has dealt with the merchant fleet and the five nations.”
Jason Voong, left, and his father, Cooc Lung Voong, pose for a photo on the crab fishing boat near Tofino, BC, in this undated photo. (Submitted by Jason Voong)
Voong refers to what some describe as a serious approach by the federal government to comply with a decision by the British Columbia Court of Appeals from April 2021, which upheld parts of a 2018 ruling by the Supreme Court of BC. on the fishing rights of the First Nations.
He found that the regulation and management of regular commercial fishing by Canada unjustifiably violated First Nations rights to harvest and sell fish.
The Canadian Federal Office for Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) said its appeal called for a reassessment of the distribution of the crab trap to the Five Nations of Ahousaht, Ehattesaht, Hesquiaht, Mowachaht / Muchalaht and Tla-o-qua-aht in the west. . coast of Vancouver Island, known as Area E.
This meant reducing the commercial crab traps that would be phased in this year and next.
“This aims to align with the development capacity of the Five Nations and to support a smooth transition of fishing access between commercial fishing and selling fishing based on the rights of the Five Nations,” a DFO spokesman told CBC. News.
Fishermen like Voong – who represents the BC Crab Fishermen’s Association – say they are not against redistribution, but that they are upset about how it is being implemented.
“We are in significant and immediate financial loss due to what the department decided without consulting us and speaking properly,” he said.
‘Not fair’
Wickaninnish (Clifford Atleo), the chief negotiator for the five nations, agrees that the federal government has confused the development of redistribution by not properly advising commercial fishermen or nations. He said he found out from the club in December that the changes were coming for April 1st and he sympathizes with their situation. “It’s not fair to those guys who make a living,” he said. “Can you imagine telling a regular employee that his salary would be cut in half? This is exactly what they have done to these guys. And that is not fair.” Wickaninnish also said it would take time, perhaps years, for nations to acquire the vessels and equipment they needed to catch the extra traps. Voong said a crab, traps, equipment and federal license cost about $ 1.5 million. Ottawa said it was working on mitigation measures to help with the transition, such as buying crab licenses from commercial fishermen, which could be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. “The DFO is taking the crabs seriously,” a ministry spokesman said. Both Voog and Wickaninnish have stated that commercial fishermen and First Nations have a good working relationship, want to continue to support each other and have requested meetings with the DFO. NDP MP for the region Gord Jones said the federal government had spent $ 19 million fighting the First Nations in the infringement court and should have used that money to support the transition. “This government must understand that Canada must bear the cost of reconciliation and not just these individual working crab fishermen,” he said. “We need the government to act quickly to fully compensate the affected crab fishermen.”
