don't think the SCOC gave First Nations exclusive rights to all fish either but DFO is currently managing it that way.
Has anyone ever stopped to think just how many pounds of salmon a person can eat in a year, have ceremonies with, etc? Then take the first nations population and to some math on it? I haven't but I bet there is no where near the amount of salmon eaten has taken.
I didn't say SCOC did give them rights to all the fish.Another good example of people distorting what I say. It also makes me doubt your claims about dealing with DFO. You also talk like no one other than FNs are catching salmon in BC which is another gross distortion.
One has to consider what the salmon returns that matter to Fraser River FNs have been like for several years;
- a series of years with the worst sockeye returns on record
- consistent high in river temperatures that cause high mortality and reduced spawning success
- the Big Bar slide
- spring and early summer chinooks numbers have fallen off a cliff.
- even late summer Shuswap chinook have had depressed returns
we still have major conservation issues with Interior steelhead and coho.
Even over last 10 years we gotten some kind of fisheries when the numbers supported it - there were openings for sockeye in 2014, 2018 and 2022. We have had a pink opening every cycle since for over 20 years. The only shut down of the Fraser happened sometime in the late 90s when they closed it because a lot of anglers " tell the difference between a wild IF coho and a pink salmon" That was documented.
I am also sure there has been a similar situation on the Skeena and salmon angling has been shut to allow FNs their to harvest springs in place of sockeye.
BTW the number of FNs who are entitled to receive salmon under the FN fishing agreements with DFO are used to calculate their allowable catch. That would be FNs with status who live in the Fraser watershed or historically fished the Fraser. Other FNs in BC or Canada do not have an entitlement to receive fish or fish outside their own traditional territories.