And now:[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
From: "chris" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Despite attacks, Natives reject voluntary moratorium
Date: Thu, 7 Oct 1999 13:05:52 -0700
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Fishing moratorium may be tough sell to native fishermen
WebPosted Thu Oct 7 10:57:12 1999
HALIFAX - Native chiefs in Atlantic Canada will try today to persuade their
band members to stop catching lobster for a month. But it could be a tough
sell since many native fishermen have already denounced the idea.
Native chiefs announced late Wednesday they had agreed to a voluntary
moratorium for 30 days to try to restore peace in the East Coast Fishery.
They're hoping a temporary halt in fishing will allow leaders to negotiate
rules with Ottawa and let tempers cool after a series of nasty
confrontations between native and non-native fishermen.
Tension has been high since the Supreme Court ruled that natives have the
right to fish any time in the year without a licence. Reaction to the
moratorium in Burnt Church, New Brunswick, the centre of much unrest between
the two groups, has not been overly positive.
"It's not volunteer. It's a gun to the head. We're united, we're standing
strong and we're committed to staying in the water," a native fisherman told
CBC Radio.
The suspension of fishing has also angered a small group of non-native
fishermen in the Digby area. The proposed date of the moratorium would all
but cancel their fall fishery.
But overall many non-native fishermen were happy with the idea. Reginald
Comeau, of the Maritime Fishermen's Union, says his group thinks the
proposal is the best way to let things cool down and produce a few
solutions.
"If the natives agree to stop fishing then I will stop also," he says.
The voluntary moratorium would affect 35 native bands across Atlantic Canada
and could begin as early as Saturday.
The announcement was the culmination of a long day in which Atlantic chiefs,
along with their national leader Phil Fontaine, met with Fisheries Minister
Herb Dhaliwal, looking for a way out of the dispute over the Atlantic
lobster fishery.
Just two hours before the chiefs' announcement, Dhaliwal emerged briefly
from the meeting to say that only 25 of the 35 bands had agreed to stop
fishing.
It remains unclear what transpired in those two hours since the leaders
refused to accept reporters' questions.
In an interview with the CBC's Alison Smith about an hour after the chiefs'
announcement, Dhaliwal said he was very pleased with the development.
"I think this is great news. The aboriginal communities on their own have
put up a goodwill gesture out there," the minister said. "I applaud all the
chiefs. I'm certainly interested in looking at all the details, but I'm very
happy today."
Fontaine, the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, was also
pleased with the news and says he is confident the moratorium proposal will
be accepted.
"They did the right thing. It's clearly the right thing to do, to take it
home to their constituents and have their people look at this proposition
very carefully. And given the influence that was in that room, I believe
that the right decision will be taken by the fishers and others affected by
this proposal."
Now both sides will have to negotiate a long term plan so that natives and
non-natives can fish together.
Reprinted under the Fair Use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine
of international copyright law.
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Unenh onhwa' Awayaton
http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/
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