Fishermen work to challenge unique agreement

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Members of the Chippewas of Nawash and Saugeen First Nations are on the water exercising their right to a commercial fishery on Ontario's Bruce Peninsula. But a group of them has problems with the agreement they operate under. They are planning to set up their own fishing co-operative to challenge it.

As many as 12 fishermen are talking to a lawyer and forming a co-op, said fisherman Francis LaValley. A co-op structure would allow non-Native businessmen to invest in their commercial fishing business, currently not allowed under the co-management fisheries agreement signed between the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR), the federal government's department of Indian Affairs and the Chippewas of Nawash and Saugeen in June 2000.

Also under this agreement, the fishermen are not allowed to hire non-Native people to work on their boats. LaValley said it's difficult to find good help these days, because not everyone's cut out to be a fisherman.

"It's hard to run a business when you can't hire people you need to hire because the workers all have to be Native employees."

The problems exist, he said, because an agreement was forged with a group of people who are not fishermen, without getting the fishermen's perspective.

"The government should be negotiating with the people that fish, not with people that don't fish," he said.

Having to stop fishing because there are not enough Native workers to handle the workload takes its toll on the Native commercial fishing industry. Not having enough workers can mean quitting fishing the second or third week in fall and not making the complete run or catch. That causes commercial fishermen to lose a lot of money.

LaValley admited he is sometimes at odds with the leadership on the fisheries issue. He said he's finding he's dealing with two bureaucracies now, instead of just the one he had to deal with before, the MNR.

Having to still get licences and permits, when his fishing right is supposed to be an inherent right, really rubs LaValley the wrong way.

"They're trying to make it a privilege, instead of an inherency for every member of the reserve."

The co-management fisheries agreement is the only agreement of its kind in the province. It came after years of a bitter, often violent, dispute between the Native and non-Native fishing communities.

But still some Nawash fishermen don't like what was negotiated.

"It seems to be political. It's a political thing, and that seems to be the trouble," said LaValley. "Whether it's the MNR, or chief and council, that's the whole trouble."