The government of Canada and the A-Tlegay Member Nations have signed a 20-year Reconciliation Agreement for Fisheries Resources (RAFR).
Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) said the new agreement is meant to support diversification and economic development of A-Tlegay Member Nations, which includes the K'ómoks First Nation, Kwiakah First Nation, Tlowitsis Nation, We Wai Kai Nation, and Wei Wai Kum First Nation. According to DFO, the agreement will enable the A-Tlegay Member Nations to acquire commercial fishing licenses and quotas through an open-market process, as well as support for growth in sustainable shellfish aquaculture and other opportunities.
"The A-Tlegay Member Nations have been managing these fisheries for a long time,” Canada Minister of Fisheries Joanne Thompson said in a release. “This agreement recognizes that, creates real economic opportunity, and puts a collaborative governance structure in place to support the work going forward."
Historically, A-Tlegay Member Nations’ traditional territories spanned the central northeast coast of Vancouver Island, which includes the northern part of the Strait of Georgia and Johnstone Strait. Today, those waters support a range of economic activity including commercial fishing and aquaculture.
DFO said the new RAFR is a direct result of an agreement signed in 2021 between Canada and the member nations, and the A-Tlegay Member Nations currently manage a fleet of commercial vessels and are “actively involved in fisheries management.” The new RAFR will not expand the size of the existing commercial fisheries.
“The member Nations of A-Tlegay are proud to have worked together and with Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) to achieve this milestone. Our fisheries have sustained each of our Nations for generations, and we have endured as our long history of sustainable fisheries management has been disrupted in the last century,” the A-Tlegay Member Nations said in a statement. “This Agreement will support us in building upon the considerable track record of the A-Tlegay Fisheries Society in fisheries governance and management and to re-establish the important balance between economic opportunities and stewardship.”
