Supreme Court of Canada in the case Sparrow v. the
Queen (1990) — known as the Sparrow decision. This
case is the usual starting point for any discussion about

aboriginal fishing rights.

History

The Musqueam Indian Band, which is located in British
Columbia at the mouth of the Fraser River, was issued a
licence in 1984 that allowed its members to fish for food.
The licence listed a number of restrictions, including
fishing times, places and methods of fishing, and the
length of drift nets to be used. In the past the band had
been allowed to use nets that were 75 fathoms long. On
the 1984 licence, the allowed net length was reduced to
25 fathoms.

On May 25, 1984, Ron Sparrow Jr. was fishing with a
45-fathom net in traditional Musqueam fishing territory:
Canoe Pass, in the Fraser River. Sparrow was charged
under the Fisheries Act for using a net longer than the
25-fathom maximum permitted by the band’s food
fishing licence.

The Musqueam Indian Band used Ron Sparrow’s
charge as a test case for an aboriginal fishing rights
defence based on Section 35 of the Canadian
Constitution. The issue was whether the net length
restriction on the Musqueam Band’s Indian Food Fishing
Licence was inconsistent with Section 35(1) of the
Constitution Act, 1982.