Seriously? That's a horrible excuse, as this isn't the 1700's, its 2016. Would you be happy if your doctor went "well a year ago you were perfectly healthy, I know you have cancer but hey, last year you were fine so we won't change anything"?
kinda what your suggesting.
Sandman already answered that for me, so i will just say that FN internal politics when it comes to Fishing, hunting and land are so complicated that any judgments we pass on the situation are so irrelevant its not even funny. Yes that guy obviously knows the Steelhead in that river are low and yes his band probably has told him and the community hey guys lets not fish steelhead for food.
Problem is many people will claim hereditary Chief status and say hey i decide where i can and cant fish and im gona fish. Or the same can be said for parts of the river same guy can claim as his families harvesting grounds dating back pre contact. Since there is virtually no documented history for FN who knows what the truth is. Point is we know nothing about these things and to say oh this guy is poaching is not our place. In the end its not the rules that DFO (who are concerned more about Canadas trade agreements than any real conservation) or Band office sets, but you as the individual that has to make the right choice out there in the wild.
There is a war going on out on all the rivers and parks of Canada as we speak, and that is for our freedoms and rights to fish and hunt. Privet enterprise is being favored by our government and the individual is slowly losing his right to fish for sport and for a meal, hunting is also in the same boat. Last year in BC we lost a big chunk of our moose draw in favor of Guides and Lodges, so that foreign big spenders can come and enjoy killing a moose ( they def dont need the meat) A herring commercial fishery was open last year in the central north coast despite the worries of first nations and none first nation scientist that this would disrupt the recovery of the Eulachon in the area that have been gone for years. Many Provincial parks in the north have been transformed from a place to be enjoyed by the tax payers, to a "NO GO" zone during peak bear viewing season because, people are paying lodges big bucks to see a bear in pristine environment and they dont wana see some guy fishing there or enjoying a early September swim in a nice glazier fed hole.
First nations were stripped of all their right and land and now its happening to the rest of us, so next time you see a picture of some FN with a steelhead or a sockeye realize yah its a shitty situation but hey its only getting worse for ALL of us.