Yes the google map shows the reserve boundary correctly.
Quite a bit of Soowahlie I.R. #14 is located on the north side of the river and the boundary is situated just west of the store. Therefore, you are crossing their land to access the river behind the store and therefore, while unpleasant in the manner it is conducted, I believe Soowahlie members have the right to ask you to leave their land. It should also be recognized that the frustration, anger and/or bitterness that is witnessed may have been building over many, many years (probably generations) because of the continuous and on-going disrespect for their land and boundaries (not just fishing, but high speed traffic and dumping of garbage in their community).
I do not know if and how the Navigation Act applies in this situation, if you were to walk from upstream or downstream below the high water mark. Anyone know?
If you want to know exactly where the reserve boundaries are located for
any reserve in Canada, do this:
1) Go here:
http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/earth-sciences/geomatics/canada-lands-surveys/11092#CLGoogleEarth2) Scroll down to Canada Lands in Google Earth.
3) Download the Canada Lands Overlay. It is a kmz file compatible with Google Earth 4.2 or later.
4) Make sure you have google Earth installed and just double click the kmz file and it will auto install
5) save in my places and search for any reserve, or just zoom into the map.
As to why people do not know that the reserve extends onto the north side of the river, its probably because they did not, and do not care, until their 'rights' are infringed upon. Also the Soowhalie Nation and membership (on the whole) did not create too much fuss about the public accessing the north side, just the south side.
This is exactly the same situation on Capilano I.R. 5, Squamish Nation, North Vancouver. The members fish the east side of the Capilano estuary and even though the west side is also reserve land, they let others fish the west side (sometimes with a bit of good-natured bantering or sometimes bickering). The Squamish will also take fish by snagging, nets and rock weirs.
I am not sure that DFO is obliged to respond to reports about FN harvesting techniques. This may be a political issue or because it is a harvest (a selective food fishery under DFO permit) and therefore the method of harvesting is not relevant, except for the potential to harm bi-catch?
Does anyone know if the DFO specifies how the fish may or may not be harvested under permit?
If the RCMP got involved, they would most likely ask the angler (as the instigator, i.e. trespasser) to leave Soowahlie land.
There seams to be a lot of outrage on this forum, but it is not clear to me why? Is it because anglers are being told they cannot fish this section of river, because the land owners are getting pissed and mouthing off at trespassers or is it the use of
harvesting techniques that are not sporting? Certainly there may be some Soowahlie members who are bad apples that harvest fish outside of permit conditions and limits and may use inappropriate techniques (which are?) etc, but every group has its bad apples. We do not need to look very far within our own community at how much snagging goes on. I wonder what the FN to Non-FN snag ratio is on the Vedder during salmon season. I suspect the FN members may have less of an impact that us 'sporties', but that's purely a guess.
Now where did I put my Nomex undies.....
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Topic: Soowahlie Netting and Snagging: (Read 27291 times)