Do aboriginal people have the legal right to
sell fish commercially ?

To legally sell fish commercially in British Columbia, an
aboriginal person must have a commercial fishing licence
or belong to a band that has a negotiated sales agreement
with the DFO. As of April 1995, there are approximately
25 bands in B.C. who have a negotiated sales agreement
with the DFO. These bands are part of an AFS study on
legalizing the sale of fish caught by aboriginal people.

However, the law may change when the Supreme
Court rules on the aboriginal right to sell fish
commercially (with the Van der Peet and other court
decisions now being appealed). The government may
also decide to accept or reject the sale of fish caught by
aboriginal people after completing its three AFS pilot
projects. These projects are being carefully watched and
studied by the federal and provincial governments, and
by aboriginal bands and industry groups.

What the courts say —
The Sparrow decision (1990)

In the Sparrow decision, the Supreme Court judge said
the conflict over aboriginal fishing rights will worsen as
the number of available fish drops and the demand for

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